Artificial intelligence is steadily assimilating into all aspects of life, from business and education to art and culture. For some, this idea may be exciting, for others, terrifying. In this new era of humanity, it is critical that we continue educating ourselves from a variety of sources, namely literature, about how this technology works, who is in control of it and how we might adapt to it.
These three books range from informational to inventive to introspective and give readers an assortment of entry points for learning and thinking about AI. Whether you are already deeply invested in the future of these tools and their impact on society, or looking to kickstart your journey down the rabbit hole, the authors address topics and conversations in these books that are necessary to consider.
“The Age of AI: And Our Human Future” by Henry A. Kissinger, Eric Schmidt and Daniel Huttenlocher
“The Age of AI: And Our Human Future” was published in 2021 as a joint project of former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Dean of M.I.T. 's College of Computing Daniel Huttenlocher. The book explains the state of AI at the time and its history before diving into the economic and societal implications that could manifest in the near future. These include networking platforms’ increased incorporation of AI with data collection, governments embedding AI into surveillance and warfare and humans' role in a world when AI can arguably do everything better than we can.
The writers are clear in conveying their belief in the inevitable and seismic nature of AI. They maintain an objective tone, weighing equally the incredible power AI has for both advancement and exploitation. Though AI has largely evolved in the past 4 years, the book still serves as a great introduction into artificial intelligence for someone trying to learn about its functionality and ramifications.
“AI 2041: Ten Visions For Our Future” by Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Quifan
“AI 2041: Ten Visions For Our Future” is an anthology that places the reader in 10 fictional alternate realities, all taking place in the year 2041. Similarly to “The Age of AI,” the book was written collaboratively in 2021 by Kai-Fu Lee, former president of Google China and senior executive at Microsoft, SGI and Apple, and Chen Qiufan, science fiction writer, scriptwriter and columnist.
The narratives differ drastically in tone and weight but are all anchored by their shared focus on the influence of innovative technologies on society. Each story takes place in a different country, whose varied settings shape the impression of AI integration. While the first centers around a teenager in India’s conflict with an AI insurance agent getting in the way of a crush, the eighth story portrays a terrorist disillusioned by the societal apathy of climate change using AI drones to systematically assassinate politicians and company executives.
After each tale, Lee writes a small afterword providing more details into the technologies mentioned in the book and how he sees them developing from products we already have today. It is striking how some aspects of the authors’ visions have already entered our reality since the book’s publication, from autonomous rideshare services to AI deep fake imagery blurring the lines between reality and simulation.
“Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age” by Vauhini Vara
Journalist and author Vauhini Vara published her most recent book “Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age” earlier this year and takes us through her life in relation to the technologies of the time, from early online chat rooms, to her role as the first Facebook reporter for the Wall Street Journal, to using ChatGPT to write an essay about her sister’s death.
Due to her occupation as a journalist, Vara is able to present a thorough history of the tech companies largely in control of our present and future. Her writing is refreshingly honest, and her inclusion of perspectives of friends, family and colleagues highlights the tension between our resistance to and reliance on the conveniences these firms supply. The tension manifests personally in her complex relationship with large language models and their capacity to generate text, and where the line is drawn between tool and replacement.
The chapters read like essays punctuated by Vara’s personal internet artifacts, including a list of topics X uses for targeted ads and justifications for recent Amazon purchases. Additionally, after every few chapters, Vara feeds her work into ChatGPT to discuss the content. She uses it to summarize overarching themes and provide further analysis, but also to offer critique and suggestions. The book is an engaging reading experience that shines a light on the personal stakes of living through our current acceleration in techno-capitalism.
What threads these books together is their acknowledgement that humanity is currently at an inflection point and within the next 20 years, more breakthroughs may be made than over the last 100. It is imperative we stay informed about AI with the increasingly accelerated technological developments that lie ahead, and it can all start with a book.
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