Reading: Artificial Intelligence
In my personal newsletter (in Russian), I regularly choose the best longreads about tech, media, and design. Recently, I’ve started a new section where I publish lists of longreads worth reading created by different interesting people from all over the world. Since my newsletter is in Russian, I decided to post these lists in English on Medium, too. The fourth selection of interesting articles is created by Olia Lialina, a net.art pioneer and a GIF-model.
Olia Lialina:
“Here are some of my favorite books I read before teaching a section about AI as a part of my Digital Culture class at Merz Akademie. These books are also a primary reading for the series of lectures called How Deep Is Your Dream that I organized last fall.”
Computers and Common Sense: The Myth of Thinking Machines by Mortimer Taube
It’s one of the oldest books on AI, but it’s not well-known among both AI enthusiasts and critics. I think it’s a must-read for everyone who uses phrases like “machine learning,” “natural language processing,” “deep learning,” etc. Taube analyzes the faults of mechanical/machine translation research made after WWII and pleads for investing money into the education for people instead of education for computers / Amazon / 136 pages
Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment To Calculation by Joseph Weizenbaum
It’s the most bitter book on AI that I have ever read. It was written by one of the “fathers” of AI, Joseph Weizenbaum (he created ELIZA, one of the first chatterbots). The author doubts if people are ready to share their expertise with algorithms and let machines make decisions / Amazon / 300 pages
Affect and Artificial Intelligence by Elizabeth A. Wilson
It’s a relatively new book that doesn’t answer or even ask questions about machines’ ability to think or feel. The author gives a great overview of the works dedicated to the role of emotions in the field of artificial intelligence: from Imitation Games to ELIZA Effect and Deep Blue’s “I don’t have emotions.” The book can be really helpful for user experience folks who want to work in the fields of emotional design and affective computing / Amazon / 200 pages
Networks of Control. A Report on Corporate Surveillance, Digital Tracking, Big Data & Privacy by Wolfie Christl and Sarah Spiekermann
The report isn’t fully dedicated to AI. It’s more about big data and (personal) data mining and processing. I decided to include it to the list because it tells a lot about the financial interests of corporations in our everyday interaction with computers. The report also shows that a lot of things that are called artificial intelligence are in reality corporate or government intelligence. Last week Wolf Christi also published a new report called Corporate Surveillance in Everyday Life / Cracked Labs / 150 pages
Artificial Fear Intelligence of Death by Lauren Huret
A very special collection of interviews with AI evangelists and critics. This series was produced by the Swiss artist Lauren Huret during her trip to Silicon Valley. Read conversations with Monica Anderson, Erik Davis, R.U. Sirius and Dag Spicer. They are speculating about the future and uncovering their hopes and fears / Amazon / 128 pages
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chang
Ted Chang’s novel doesn’t have an extravagant AI scenario. It’s rather old-fashioned even for 2010. But I think this book is one of the greatest novels of our century. I read it 5 years ago, and I still hear bots, robots, and people talking to each other like they never did before / Amazon / 150 pages
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Would you like to share you thoughts or suggest a subject for a reading list? Please feel free to contact me: anysavina [at] gmail [dot] com.
