Confused about AI? We’ve put together a short reading list that’ll get you up to speed, fast. Go ahead, throw around some AI singularity knowledge at your next cocktail party.
“Whether we are based on carbon or on silicon makes no fundamental difference; we should each be treated with appropriate respect.”
– Arthur C. Clarke, 2010: Odyssey Two
Start Here
If you want the basics of artificial intelligence in the shortest time possible, then grab a cup of coffee and spend two hours reading Tim Urban’s two-parter on the topic. As always with Urban’s articles, they’re both enormously readable and very comprehensive:
- “The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence“
From “Wait But Why” [35-minute read] - “The AI Revolution: Our Immortality or Extinction“
From “Wait But Why” [78-minute read]
Then Try
Some of the more specialized areas where AI is already having an impact on our lives:
- “The Three Breakthroughs That Have Finally Unleashed AI on the World“
Kevin Kelly, Wired [17-minute read] - “Will a Robot Take Your Job?“
Gary Marcus, The New Yorker [6-minute read] - “Ethical Guidelines for a Superintelligence“
Ernest Davis, New York University [8-minute read]
Dive Deeper
Some of our favorite AI reads, in no particular order:
- “The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era“
Vernor Vinge, San Diego State University [7-minute read] - “The Singularity Isn’t Near“
Paul Allen, MIT Technology Review [13-minute read] - “Don’t Underestimate the Singularity” (Kurzweil’s response to the above)
Ray Kurzweil, MIT Technology Review [13-minute read] - “How We’re Predicting AI–Or Failing To“
Stuart Armstrong and Kaj Sotala, Machine Intelligence Research Institute [19-minute read] - “Why We Should Think About the Threat of Artificial Intelligence“
Gary Marcus, The New Yorker [6-minute read] - “Hyping Artificial Intelligence, Yet Again“
Gary Marcus, The New Yorker [6-minute read] - “Killer Robots: The Soldiers That Never Sleep“
Simon Parkin, BBC [15-minute read] - “Is Artificial Intelligence a Threat to Humanity?“
Katy Bowman, Cogito [4-minute read] - “This is Probably a Good Time to Say That I Don’t Believe Robots Will Eat All the Jobs“
Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz blog [9-minute read] - “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us“
Bill Joy, Wired [35-minute read]
Books
- Ray Kurzweil–The Singularity is Near
- James Barrat–Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era
- Nick Bostrom–Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
Movies
Ex Machina
2001: A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
How We Get To Next was a magazine that explored the future of science, technology, and culture from 2014 to 2019. This article is part of our Robots vs Animals section, which examines human attempts to build machines better than nature’s. Click the logo to read more.
