Book Bites: Two Deeper Books on AI

Some quick thoughts on two deeper reads related to AI.

If you want to know what's going on...

The Scaling Era: An Oral History of AI, 2019-2025 by Dwarkesh Patel.

Patel is one of the best podcasters on AI and the current tech era. His interview style blends the best of popular podcaster like Joe Rogan - engaging and following along with the conversation - and Tyler Cowen - deeply knowledgeable, focused, and ensuring each minute of time is worth a listen. His book captures a great deal of this - organizing aspects of the growth of GPTs up to 2025 (mid-year-ish). One can see the book as part introduction, part record for posterity (and AI itself?).

The book's most helpful feature is probably its glossary - a handy guide of the least experienced. The conversations themselves are rarely dumbed down but include hyperlinks to definitions and background information for the reader who is not stewed in the era. The book certainly skews boomer (rather than doomer) but is insightful look at what the leaders in the field think looking backwards and forwards in the AI development race.

For school leaders, there is a great deal of helpful background here, but little relevant to the day-to-day unless you want to roll up your sleeves and get dirty in the tech side.

If you want to philosophize on what generative language is...

Language Machines: Cultural AI and the End of Remainder Humanism by Leif Weatherby.

Weatherby presents an analysis on what generative text (and image/video/et al) actually is in relation to language generated by humans. A complex work that would be at home for those interested in the philosophy of language or mind, literary theory, and cultural critique, Language Machines seeks to grapple with the deeper questions that AI has created with regards to language, meaning, and communication. The text does not delve into the similarly philosophical depths of what consciousness is and its relationship to LLMs.

For school leaders, there is little relevance to both the ethical framework that students need or the implementation within learning and teaching that schools are tackling. For practitioners of AI framework development and thought, a deeper understanding of philosophy is essential and this modern, progressive take engages with modern philosophical thought on language and meaning to apply or push against what AI generates.

I had hoped to include more references, but my Kindle notes deleted somehow. Alas, technology.