Summer Reading List: AI & Business
Summer is a great time to spend some time outdoors with a book, and there has been no shortage of exciting new releases lately. My personal interest areas are tech and business, and I have complied a brief list below for those looking for some new reads!
The Worlds I See, by Fei-Fei Li
Dr. Fei-Fei Li, who teaches computer science at Stanford and serves as the founding director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, is one of the pioneering scientists in AI. Known to the computer science world as the creator of ImageNet, Dr. Li is, as Wired aptly identified her, “one of a tiny group of scientists - a group perhaps small enough to fit around a kitchen table - who are responsible for AI’s recent remarkable advances”. Her memoir tells an inspiring personal story that deeply resonates with all international students who left their homes to pursue their research and learning interests.
What is remarkable about Dr. Li’s narration in this book is not only that she explains the evolution of key concepts in big data and deep learning clearly, but that she does so in a distinctly personal and deeply moving way. At the heart of the book lies her central argument: “it matters what motivates the development of AI, in both science and industry, and I believe that motivation must explicitly center on human benefit” (8).
Rapid advances in NLP and LLMs have made it clear that AI will transform our existence in the coming years: how we work, how we live, and how we organize society. As Dr. Li puts it, “the sheer speed and scope of AI’s emergence is arguably unprecedented in all of history” (2). Dr. Li’s traces the foundations of this technology to spotlight possibilities for its future in a human-focused way, and in my opinion, that makes this book a must-read.
If you are interested in learning more about AI, I also recommend following Percy Liang, Andrew Ng and for an economist’s perspective, see the work of Susan Athey.
The Bankers’ New Clothes, by Anat Admati & Martin Hellwig
This new and expanded edition of the 2013 edition expands on a critical topic not just for those interested in the inner workings of the financial system, but for all who care about our society: why our banking system remains susceptible to crises.
Reflecting on learnings from the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, Dr. Admati and Dr. Hellwig highlight the dangerous structural problems of the financial system and underscore that political will is the essential element for true reform.
This recently released edition includes a new preface and four additional chapters that feature a thoughtful discussion of the critical connections between the financial system and democracy itself. These insights make the new edition essential reading, including for owners of the original 2013 release.
The Venture Mindset, by Ilya Strebulaev and Alex Dang
Dr. Ilya Strebulaev, professor of private equity at Stanford, and senior technology executive Alex Dang, team up to produce a very interesting and data-driven book with insights that prove useful to anyone interested in business.
The learnings they present will be of interest to those in the venture capital and start-up world, as well as individuals in more traditional corporate environments. The authors achieve this difficult task by conceptualizing what they coin as the venture mindset, which is essentially an impact-focused framework that anyone can use in decision-making.
Throughout the book, the authors use plenty of interesting examples from Silicon Valley and beyond. They explain key practical advice such as the ‘agree to disagree’ concept, the ‘consensus minus x’ rule, and best practices for successful team communication. I also recommend listening to Dr. Strebulaev’s recent appearance on Harvard Business Review’s podcast, where he shares key insights from the book.
