Books worth circling back for.
Here are some of the books that made a mark on me. It's far from complete. Most of these books made me feel something, and I hope they do the same for you.
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Karen Hao is an amazing journalist, and the whole book reads like a single, cohesive article. It takes you through the ridiculous journey of OpenAI, a good reminder of how this push for generative AI started. It’s troubling that so many people believe we can ruin the planet today because artificial intelligence will fix it later.
If you ever thought, “I would love to learn how they stole from millions, psychologically broke thousands and destroyed the environment in the most fragile places”, this is your book!
Maybe you’re like me, and you remember ChatGPT as the “moment it started”. Give this book a read and prove yourself wrong.
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If you don’t know what a chickenized reverse-centaur industry is, this is definitely worth a read! This is one of those books that gives you the words you need to describe what you already saw happening. I can also recommend subscribing to Doctorow’s newsletter.
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I remember sitting by the water on a Finnish island, part of a wilderness trail. I was contemplating how I could possibly embed what I learned there in my very technical consulting job. When I told our guide Kristian de la Riva about this, he told me about this book. I wrote it down and got a copy when I got home.
With all the tech bro’s promising us “intelligent machines”, this book is the best reminder that we’re ignoring actual intelligence in the world, and more importantly, the non-human world. The parts we now refer to as “nature”, as if intelligence is just a human trait. Enjoy!
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I don’t think these stories are mine to share, so just go get a copy!
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I don’t think these stories are mine to share, so just go get a copy!
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It’s not up to me to share the stories in this book, so just get a copy. The stories around reciprocity really hit home for me.
I’ll have to re-read the chapter on lichen, because only when I learned to recognise the various forms of lichen I became really interested in them.
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This book was required reading when I joined Xpirit (Now Xebia). It describes three fears:
- Fear of Losing the Business
- Fear of Being Embarrassed
- Fear of Feeling Inferior
Safe to say I’ve seen a lot of “professionals” do some pretty weird stuff because of these fears.
The book resonates with me because so many of the things I loathe in business stem from these fears. My takeaway: no matter where you work, people would rather work with real humans than with PowerPoint decks and talk. Instead of telling a potential client what they will get if they hire you, just come out swinging and start helping them; the business will follow.