Here are 100 books that Atlas of AI fans have personally recommended if you like
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Software developers love to question the assumptions that underpin their practice. Some of the most exciting phases of my career have come about as a result of such questions. Often they are revolutionary in the literal sense that they ask you to turn your thinking upside down – to design systems from the bottom up rather than the top down, for example, or to write your tests before your components. I may not adopt every practice, but each challenge enriches the conceptual world in which I work. Over the years, I have come to look for similar shifts and inversions across other subject areas. Here are some recommendations from my reading.
I must have read a hundred books about story structure over the years. Somehow, perhaps because of some story-related blind spot on my part, none of them ever seemed to stick.
My problem was always the middle. Middles can sag. It seems that a story's interior becomes little more than the wasteland a protagonist must traverse to get from the mystery of a beginning to the ultimate challenge of an ending.
Yorke's Into The Woods celebrates the middle. He reminds us that the essential crux of a story lies in its midpoint. Right at the heart of an effective story, he argues, lies a fundamental transformation, a change so great that the protagonist emerges with new powers into a new world.
Furthermore, by analysing stories in five acts rather than three, he allows for an elegant symmetry in which the first and fifth, second, and fourth acts mirror one another.…
'The best book on the subject I've read. Quite brilliant' Tony Jordan, creator/writer, Life on Mars, Hustle
We all love stories. But why do we tell them? And why do all stories function in an eerily similar way? John Yorke, creator of the BBC Writers' Academy, has brought a vast array of drama to British screens. Here he takes us on a journey to the heart of storytelling, revealing that there truly is a unifying shape to narrative forms - one that echoes the fairytale journey into the woods and, like any great art, comes from deep within. From ancient…
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
I spent twenty years as a book publishing executive learning how the trade works before launching myself as a full-time author wanting to make the world a better place. My books use state-of-the-art scholarship for history you can read on the beach, and focus on ‘hinge’ moments, great turnings of the world, as well as on forgotten and unsung heroes.
What ideas do you have about what the first peoples were like, and how human society developed?
Maybe you’ve even read the popular authors on this topic such as Diamond, Harari, Pinker, Hobbes, and Rousseau. Prepare to have all of your notions and received opinions upended and turned to dust by David Graeber (a man universally acknowledged as a genius) and the book he worked on for the last ten years of his life, which brings revolutionary ideas to 30,000 years of civilization.
A dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.
For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike—either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. David Graeber and David Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction…
At age eighteen, as a part-time employee of a prisoners’ rights group, I visited an archipelago of decrepit prisons, all relics of an earlier age. My job was gathering inmates’ accounts of bucket toilets, unheated cells, bugs, molds, and rats. Soon after, I began reading and writing about prison reform and its history. And in the many decades since, whether practicing or teaching criminal law, I never lost sight of prisons and their problems. Several of these five books fed my young fascination with prison reform. All of them still challenge me to imagine true and enduring reform.
Though Foucault’s book appeared at almost the same moment as Ignatieff’s, Foucault painted a far darker image of early penitentiaries. He cast them not as places of reform but as instruments of disciplinary control, rendering inmates docile and amenable to the monastic repression and routine of schools and factories.
Foucault’s book taught me decades ago that history is crafted, not discovered, and that skilled chroniclers can weave very different plotlines from similar facts.
A brilliant work from the most influential philosopher since Sartre.
In this indispensable work, a brilliant thinker suggests that such vaunted reforms as the abolition of torture and the emergence of the modern penitentiary have merely shifted the focus of punishment from the prisoner's body to his soul.
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
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 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…
Software developers love to question the assumptions that underpin their practice. Some of the most exciting phases of my career have come about as a result of such questions. Often they are revolutionary in the literal sense that they ask you to turn your thinking upside down – to design systems from the bottom up rather than the top down, for example, or to write your tests before your components. I may not adopt every practice, but each challenge enriches the conceptual world in which I work. Over the years, I have come to look for similar shifts and inversions across other subject areas. Here are some recommendations from my reading.
In between other projects, I have been conducting research for a non-fiction book about the particular kinds of parallel universe that every story world creates. And that's how I came across Reality+.
The question as to whether we are living in a simulation is beloved of moviegoers, stoners, and undergraduates (quite a large intersection in that Venn diagram). It's also worthy of serious philosophical and scientific inquiry. David J Chalmers is a philosopher, and his book treats the question with entertaining rigour.
The book goes beyond the simulation hypothesis, though, to examine the philosophical implications of our inevitable colonisation of the virtual realm. At the heart of Chalmers' argument is a rejection of the opposition between the real and the simulated.
Lived experience, Chalmers claims, is real experience, as freighted with value and possibility in the virtual world as it is out here in the probably real, possibly simulated universe.
Virtual reality is genuine reality; that's the central thesis of Reality+. In a highly original work of "technophilosophy," David J. Chalmers gives a compelling analysis of our technological future. He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds, and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be in a virtual world already.
Along the way, Chalmers conducts a grand tour of big ideas in philosophy and science. He uses virtual reality technology to offer a new perspective on long-established philosophical questions. How do we know that there's an external world? Is there a god?…
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 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.
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
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 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 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…
I’ve always been drawn to science books that ask the big questions - about the universe, humanity, and the challenges we face. As a kid, I would spend hours reading about the mysteries of space, technology, and philosophy, captivated by the way these fields intersect. My fascination with AI and complex systems deepened during my time in the Army, where I began to see how technology could shape global security in profound and often unpredictable ways. Today, I explore these ideas as a researcher and educator, focusing on the risks and ethical dilemmas of AI and autonomous systems. I hope the books on this list spark your curiosity.
Susan Schneider’s exploration of AI and consciousness raises profound questions about what it means to be human in a future shaped by intelligent machines.
I’m especially drawn to her thoughtful analysis of the possibility of mind-uploading, AI consciousness, and the ethical implications of merging human and machine intelligence. Her work ties directly to themes that I like to explore in my writing. Schneider and I both grapple with the unknowns of delegating decision-making to AI, particularly in high-stakes realms like warfare.
Hailed by the Washington Post as "a sure-footed and witty guide to slippery ethical terrain," a philosophical exploration of AI and the future of the mind that Astronomer Royal Martin Rees calls "profound and entertaining"
Humans may not be Earth's most intelligent beings for much longer: the world champions of chess, Go, and Jeopardy! are now all AIs. Given the rapid pace of progress in AI, many predict that it could advance to human-level intelligence within the next several decades. From there, it could quickly outpace human intelligence. What do these developments mean for the future of the mind?
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I'm an author, advisor, speaker, podcaster, and citizen concerned about humanity’s relationship with advanced artificial intelligence. After following developments in AI for many years, I noticed a disconnect between the rapid rate of progress in AI and the public’s understanding of what was happening. The AI issue affects everyone, so I want everyone to be empowered to learn more about how AI will have a large impact on their lives. As a senior policy advisor and a member of the Board of Advisors for Canada's leading safety and governance network, books such as these help me stay informed about the latest developments in advanced artificial intelligence. I hope my recommendations will help you to critically consider how humans should co-exist with this revolutionary technology.
AI continues to be further integrated into our professional lives, and this is a great introductory book for those in business or the public sector to consider the ethical implications of using various AI systems.
It nicely introduces key concepts and provides step-by-step instructions for thinking about and having ethical AI standards, processes, and metrics.
Broadly, it is a call for the importance of ethics in decision-making and business processes and does well to offer guidance in this age of AI.
The promise of artificial intelligence is automated decision-making at scale, but that means AI also automates risk at scale. Are you prepared for that risk?
Already, many companies have suffered real damage when their algorithms led to discriminatory, privacy-invading, and even deadly outcomes. Self-driving cars have hit pedestrians; HR algorithms have precluded women from job searches; mortgage systems have denied loans to qualified minorities. And often the companies who deployed the AI couldn't explain why the black box made the decision it did.
In this environment, AI ethics isn't merely an academic…
