I have enjoyed reading about Artificial Intelligence (AI), data science and related topics long before these topics became mainstream. In the process, I have come across a few books that I highy recommend, quite a few that had some useful info and a few that were a waste of time. Some even seem to have been heavily “written” exclusively by generative AI. Below are some that fit into the first two categories with a few brief comments. I hope this is helpful, if it is, please share it!
Weapons of Math Destruction Cathy O’Neil 2017
While not specific to AI, this book is an essential read if you are concerned about bias in source data used to train AI. Highly recommended.
Co-intelligence Ethan Mollick, 2024
This book provides a great overview of contemporary AI. I especially like his framing as “co-intelligence”. This is a great starting point.
AI for Good Juan Ferres, William Weeks 2024
Written in an academic format, this is a good collection of examples from environmental and health applications of AI. The authors are affiated with Microsoft and do a nice job of acknowledging the risks and limits of AI while focusing on beneficial applications.
The Singularity is Nearer Ray Kurzweil, 2024
While I don’t like or agree with the concept of merging with AI, this book has some strong and useful content, including a section about AI and healthcare.
Radically Human Daugherty, Paul and Wilson, H. James, 2022
This book provides a good overview from the perspective of 2022.
Power and Prediction Agrawal, Ajay, Grans, Joshua and Goldfarb, Avi, 2022
These economists focus on how AI contributes to decision-making. and provide a helpful, business-oriented, approach. They do not give a deep discussion to the risks and limitations of AI.
The Age of AI Kissinger, Henry, Schmidt, Eric and Huttenlocher, Daniel, 2022
Henry Kissinger isn’t the first person you think of for abook about AI. However, combined with a former Google CEO and an MIT professor, the team provides important perspectives, including the geopolitical that you would expect from Kissinger.
Machine, Platform, Crowd McAfee, Andrew and Brynjolfsson, Erik, 2017
This is a nicely balanced book. While some of the topics are not as current as they were in 2017, I appreciated their approach and expertise.
AI Superpowers Lee, Kai-Fu, 2021
This book provided an interesting geopolitical and economic perspective on AI.
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