- great reddit post/thread i like
Foundational & Futurist (Vinge Vibes)
- Nick Bostrom – Superintelligence
- Probably the book that defines AI alignment worries. Think Vinge but with more philosophy and potential scenarios of doom (and hope).
- Eliezer Yudkowsky – essays on LessWrong
Especially:- “The AI Does Not Hate You, But You Are Made of Atoms”
- “Meditations on Moloch” by Scott Alexander (this one is a must-read if you want to understand how civilization can spiral under pressure from AI, markets, and incentives)
Messy Now vs Distant Future
- Tim Urban – The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence
- Jaron Lanier – You Are Not a Gadget
- Less about the future, more about the present damage of tech on humanity. Great for regaining some critical distance and reminding yourself you’re still a person.
- Tristan Harris (via The Center for Humane Tech)
- His talks and writings are about tech ethics, AI influence, and digital attention. Very grounded in “how tech is shaping society right now.”
Weird/Cool Speculative Fiction
Sometimes fiction says more than nonfiction:
- Ted Chiang – Stories of Your Life and Others
- Especially the story “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” — explores what it means to raise and emotionally bond with growing AIs.
- Greg Egan – Diaspora
- Hard sci-fi that explores post-human minds and identity in the deep future. It’s like Vinge but with even wilder physics and ideas.
- Cory Doctorow – Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
- A very readable novel about post-scarcity society, immortality, and reputation economies. Fun and disturbing at once.