Understanding AI's real risks is the foundation of meaningful action. These are the books, documentaries, organizations, and newsletters that the people closest to this technology actually recommend.
Stuart Russell · 2019
The definitive case from one of AI's founding researchers for why current AI development is on the wrong track, and what a safer approach would look like.
Brian Christian · 2020
A deeply reported, accessible account of the technical and human challenges of building AI systems that do what we actually want, not just what we tell them.
Max Tegmark · 2017
A comprehensive exploration of what a world transformed by superintelligent AI might look like, and what choices we face now to shape that future.
Kai-Fu Lee · 2018
A former Google China president examines the US-China AI race and the profound economic disruption that automation will bring to workers worldwide.
Shoshana Zuboff · 2019
A landmark analysis of how tech giants harvest and commodify human behavioral data, the economic engine that funds unaccountable AI development.
Cathy O'Neil · 2016
A data scientist exposes how algorithms used in hiring, lending, and criminal justice encode and amplify systemic bias at unprecedented scale.
Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans & Avi Goldfarb · 2022
An economic framework for understanding how AI shifts power, who gains it, who loses it, and how institutions must adapt to prevent harm.
Mustafa Suleyman · 2023
A cofounder of DeepMind argues that the next wave of AI and synthetic biology will be the most transformative and dangerous in history, and that containment is possible.
Former tech insiders reveal how social media platforms are engineered to manipulate behavior, a direct precursor to understanding AI-driven persuasion at scale.
A Norwegian documentary examining how AI is reshaping society, from surveillance to autonomous weapons, featuring interviews with leading AI researchers.
MIT researcher Joy Buolamwini investigates racial and gender bias in facial recognition AI deployed by governments and corporations worldwide.
The story of DeepMind's Go-playing AI, a landmark moment in AI history that showed machines could master tasks previously considered uniquely human.
The clearest, most accessible video series on AI alignment and safety available anywhere. Start with 'Intro to AI Safety' for a comprehensive foundation.
Long-form conversations with leading AI researchers including Yoshua Bengio, Yann LeCun, Max Tegmark, and Sam Altman. Episodes vary widely in depth.
Works to reduce large-scale catastrophic and existential risks from transformative technologies including AI. Published the landmark open letter signed by thousands of researchers.
Supports the technical research needed to make AI systems safe and beneficial. Coordinates the field of AI safety research and runs the ML Safety Scholars program.
Produces influential research on AI's social implications, bias, labor displacement, surveillance, and the concentration of power in Big Tech.
Founded by Joy Buolamwini, AJL works to raise awareness of the harms of biased AI systems and advocates for more equitable and accountable AI.
Stuart Russell's UC Berkeley research center focused on ensuring that AI systems are designed to be provably beneficial and aligned with human preferences.