I have spent over a decade studying and teaching digital media, communication, and technology policy, while also working in journalism and media production. My passion for this topic comes from watching how technology quietly reshapes everyday life, from how people form relationships to how societies govern themselves. I am fascinated by the space where media, culture, and human behavior intersect, especially when change feels invisible but profound. Writing and reading about AI helps me make sense of these transformations, and I care deeply about helping people remain thoughtful, ethical, and human in an increasingly algorithmic world.
I love this book because it presents AI as friendly and approachable, more like a helpful neighbor than something scary robot.
Reading it made me realize that I don’t need to be a computer scientist to benefit from AI; I just need to know how to talk to it. I found his "rules" for interacting with AI incredibly practical for my own daily tasks. It shifted my perspective from worrying about being replaced to figuring out how to be a better "co-pilot" with the technology.
I appreciate how he uses real-world examples that any professional or student can start using immediately. It’s the most "hands-on" book I’ve read on the topic.
From Wharton professor and author of the popular One Useful Thing Substack newsletter Ethan Mollick comes the definitive playbook for working, learning, and living in the new age of AI
Something new entered our world in November 2022 — the first general purpose AI that could pass for a human and do the kinds of creative, innovative work that only humans could do previously. Wharton professor Ethan Mollick immediately understood what ChatGPT meant: after millions of years on our own, humans had developed a kind of co-intelligence that could augment, or even replace, human…
I was fascinated by how this book explains the "glitches" in AI as reflections of our own human flaws.
It made me look at my own biases in a whole new way. I love how the author tells stories about the history of technology to show why it is so hard to teach a machine what humans actually value.
Even though the topic sounds technical, I found the writing very conversational and gripping. It felt like reading a detective story where the "mystery" is our own morality. It left me thinking deeply about what it really means to be a "good" person in a world where machines are learning from us and sometime ask us are you human?
Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us-and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Recent years have seen an eruption of concern as the field of machine learning advances. When the systems we attempt to teach will not, in the end, do what we want or what we expect, ethical and potentially existential risks emerge. Researchers call this the alignment problem.
Systems cull resumes until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole-and appear to assess Black…
I found this book incredibly powerful because it comes from a true "insider" who helped build the very technology he’s now warning us about.
I love the honesty in his voice; he doesn't sugarcoat how fast this "wave" of change is coming. It made me feel a sense of urgency, but also a sense of responsibility to stay informed. I appreciated that he looked beyond just the "cool gadgets" and talked about how AI will change governments and global power.
It’s a sobering read, but I found it essential for understanding the sheer scale of the transformation we are all living through right now.
*An Economist, Financial Times, Guardian, Prospect and Sunday Times Book of the Year* Shortlisted for the FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year
This is the only book you need to understand our new world - from the ultimate AI insider, the CEO of Microsoft AI and co-founder of the pioneering AI company DeepMind.
'Important' YUVAL NOAH HARARI 'Excellent' BILL GATES 'Astonishing' STEPHEN FRY 'Stunning' RORY STEWART
Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. In a world of quantum computers, robot assistants and abundant energy, they will organise your life, operate your business, and run government services.
I loved this book because it completely reframed how I think about AI’s physical and environmental footprint.
While reading, I realized how often discussions about artificial intelligence ignore the material world behind the screens. Crawford’s perspective pushed me to think beyond software and consider labor, extraction, energy, and global inequality. It challenged my own assumptions as a technology scholar and reminded me that every algorithm is embedded in real-world systems.
This book expanded my understanding of AI from a technical issue into a planetary one, which I found both unsettling and essential.
The hidden costs of artificial intelligence-from natural resources and labor to privacy, equality, and freedom
"This study argues that [artificial intelligence] is neither artificial nor particularly intelligent. . . . A fascinating history of the data on which machine-learning systems are trained."-New Yorker
"A valuable corrective to much of the hype surrounding AI and a useful instruction manual for the future."-John Thornhill, Financial Times
"It's a masterpiece, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."-Karen Hao, senior editor, MIT Tech Review
What happens when artificial intelligence saturates political life and depletes the planet? How is AI shaping our…
I loved this book because it spoke to my emotional relationship with technology, not just my intellectual one.
As I read, I kept reflecting on how values, empathy, and intention shape the tools we create. Gawdat’s writing made me slow down and think about responsibility in a deeply personal way. It reminded me that AI systems learn from us, including our flaws.
This book made me ask harder questions about the kind of humanity we are encoding into machines, and it stayed with me as a moral reflection rather than a technical manual.
ONE OF THE SUNDAY TIMES' BUSINESS BOOKS OF THE YEAR
Technology is putting our humanity at risk to an unprecedented degree. This book is not for engineers who write the code or the policy makers who claim they can regulate it. This is a book for you. Because, believe it or not, you are the only one that can fix it. - Mo Gawdat
Artificial intelligence is smarter than humans. It can process information at lightning speed and remain focused on specific tasks without distraction. AI can see into the future, predicting outcomes and even use sensors to see around…
ALGORITHMIC SAGA: UNDERSTANDING MEDIA, CULTURE, AND TRANSFORMATION IN THE AI AGE We live in an algorithmic world—where technology doesn’t just support our lives, it defines them. Algorithmic Saga takes you inside this digital transformation, exploring how media, culture, and artificial intelligence are reshaping human experience. From the rise of meme culture and digital footprints to the hidden influence of algorithms, Dr. Muhammad Atique uncovers the forces driving our online lives. He explains how FOMO, echo chambers, and information overload shape our choices, while delusionships and cyber intimacy challenge how we connect. But this book is more than critique—it offers practical ways to regain balance through digital fasting, digital detox, and mindful engagement. Looking ahead, it explores agentic AI, AGI, and projects like AI-2027 that will redefine society itself. This book also explores digital transformation on a broader scale—showing how governments, healthcare systems, and industries are being reshaped by technology, and how these shifts raise profound questions about ethics, power, and human autonomy. Timely, insightful, and accessible, Algorithmic Saga is a guide to thriving—not just surviving—in the age of AI.
