I have been dreaming about Artificial Intelligence (AI) since a young age. I am currently Professor of AI at UNSW, Sydney. I was named by the Australian newspaper as one of the ”rock stars” of Australia’s digital revolution. Although this is highly improbable, I have spoken at the UN, and to heads of state, parliamentary bodies, company boards, and many others about AI and how it is impacting our lives. I've written three books about AI for a general audience that have been translated into a dozen different languages.
By Toby Walsh
Can we build moral machines? Toby Walsh examines the ethical issues we face in a future dominated by artificial intelligence. Professor Toby Walsh, a world-leading researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, explores the ethical considerations and unexpected consequences AI poses – Is Alexa racist? Can robots have rights? What happens if a self-driving car kills someone? What limitations should we put on the use of facial recognition? Machines Behaving Badly is a thought-provoking look at the increasing human reliance on robotics and the decisions that need to be made now to ensure the future of AI is as a force for good, not evil.
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By Max Tegmark
This book looks into a distant future when machines are much more capable than humans of doing absolutely everything. How do we ensure humanity continues to flourish? Max is a physicist and he thinks on a much longer time scale than the rest of us. But he does so in an entertaining and provocative way.
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By Kazuo Ishiguro
It is perhaps not surprising but one of the best books about Artificial Intelligence is written, in my view, not by a technologist but by a Nobel Laureate of literature. This is a poignant look at what it is to be human in a time of intelligent machines, of love, and loss. This is a tale as much about humanity as it is about Artificial Intelligence.
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By Ian McEwan
This is another wonderful book about Artificial Intelligence written not by a technologist but by one of the greatest living writers, Ian McEwan. Again the story is as much about what it is to be human as it is about super-intelligent machines. But this is not surprising. AI is ultimately one of the most important scientific questions of the next 100 years for precisely this – what it tells us about us, as much as what it tells us about intelligent machines.
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By Douglas R. Hofstadter
This is the book that enticed many of my colleagues into working on Artificial Intelligence. A polymath's exploration into fundamental and beautiful ideas in mathematics, music, and the mind. I was lucky enough to spend some time working in the same lab as Hoftstadter, a polymath who draws together art, science, and philosophy in this thought-provoking exploration of three great minds.
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By Brian Christian
This is an entertaining and lighter read than my other recommendations about AI. It is specifically about chatbots trying to pass the Turing Test, and ultimately is a witty story of what it means to be human. For anyone who has ever mistaken an answerphone for a person, or a person for an answerphone!
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