Books like The Kraken Project — picked by fans

William Gibson’s latest novel Agency is as prophetic as his establishment of cyberspace and cyberpunk culture in the 80s and 90s. His latest novel chronicles reality-busting skirmishes among gangsterish multi-generational families based in a glitzy post-apocalyptic 22nd century London. In this future, nano-machines conjure luxuries from nothing while sky-high scrubbers struggle to restore a ravaged atmosphere after the jackpot, a global environmental catastrophe. Agency tells a heist-type story about the emergence of Eunice, a sentient AI born in our stub out of American special operations research. Leading a cross-dimensional band of techies, publicists, hipsters, and hackers, ace software designer Verity fights to introduce Eunice to her world in order to save it. Yet Gibson is telling us about today's ecological and technological forces. He writes of pre-jackpot life in our era: “‘Did we ever come to terms with the sheer cluelessness of it?’

How Long 'til Black is a collection of short stories all worthy of your attention. "Red Dirt Witch" takes you through a journey of history. The main character’s dreams give her the ability to see when danger is about to touch her family (I mean, how fascinating is that!), so of course I wanted to read more about this superpower. While Emmaline used her gift to protect her daughter, her daughter used hers to protect the family. Surprisingly, this did not have them at odds with each. As it turns out, they worked as a cohesive team to secure the future of the civil rights movement. I was fascinated from the start. 

This book speaks to the opportunities and challenges for the participants in today’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) competition. It highlights the barriers to entry in this tech war—high costs, advanced hardware such as semiconductors and high-performance computing, and perhaps most importantly, access to human capital.

This book provides a roadmap for thinking about the current AI tech competition. It also highlights what is at stake if the United States does not lead in this space. The idea of AI development led by an authoritarian regime or a nation that does not place humanity first could arrive at solutions that are unfriendly and perhaps even hostile to humanity. 

This was the first book I read that brought the concept of artificial intelligence to my attention. The staggering amount of property damage that these massive war machines are capable of redefined my understanding of battlefield carnage. Laumer’s insightful portrayal of what AI can be still holds up today. I really like the way these machines are imagined; they are so very human.

This book, unlike the others, is less about theory and more about the contemporary reality of automation. It thus functions as an interesting test piece for the theoretical works preceding this one. Gray and Suri show that automation is not simply a progressive replacement of human by machine, but rather that each new automation application tends to generate a need for new kinds of labour which cannot (yet) be automated. The empirical work done here is a prime example of understanding what automation really is.

A primary reason to love math is because of its usefulness. This book shows two sides of math’s applicability, since it is so ubiquitously used in various algorithms.

On the one hand, such usage can be good, because statistical inferences can make our life easier and enrich it. On the other, when these are not properly designed or monitored, it can lead to catastrophic consequences. Mathematics is a powerful force, as powerful as wind or fire, and needs to be harnessed just as carefully.

Cathy O’Neil’s message in this book spoke deeply to me, reminding me that I need to be always vigilant about the subject I love not being deployed carelessly.  

I must confess the book title drew me to the book as I sought to understand and learn more about the ethics of the misuse of AI. 

Having worked on committees in the AU and advised various entities in the United States, the subject of ethics is front and center. The expanding use of large language models and rise of generative AI makes the potential for harm stronger than ever.  

AI is poised to change our lives and society in ways we have not imagined much like the iPhone when it first arrived. Understanding its potential is useful but understanding its potential for harm is mandatory. 

I found this book to be enlightening on the ethical components of AI and technology.

Artificial intelligence is, of necessity, an academic pursuit, at least initially. McCorduck’s book is her account of the history and development of AI. She was not a historian coming to events after the fact but a living witness. Her circle of friends included all the key figures, the people those of us who fell into AI later didn’t have the opportunity to know.

This book, personal and human, not technical and heavy, reveals the humanness of the process. Yes, artificial intelligence was the goal, but human intelligence (and frailty) were central to its emergence.

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.

I believe the artificial intelligence Singularity is coming and is super important.

The recent essay by Matt Shumer, Something Big Is Coming, that got 84 million views, highlights that importance. I love futurist author Ray Kurzweil’s book that describes that future. Kurzweil predicts the Singularity will occur in 2045. I believe it may be sooner.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called AI "the single most serious national security threat we've faced in a century, possibly ever." I love how Kurzweil’s book lays out the issues we will face. He predicts AI will expand human intelligence a millionfold and change human life forever, including our employment.

I believe we need to understand and be prepared for how that future will unfold, and his book helps us do that.