Deep Learning

This recent but already reference textbook for Deep Learning is an excellent introduction (and then some) to the concept of this emerging field. It gets very technical but the first chapters explain well the context and revisit the concepts needed to understand what this new approach is, and how it relates to previous machine learning endeavors.

The Second Machine Age

What will the rise of AI imply for our social model? Probably chaos… This is an interesting overview of the economical sectors that will be hurt first by the AI wave, but also by those less obvious. It ultimately shows that we must rethink our economy if we expect it to adapt to this new world order.

La Relativité

Impressively accessible book on Einstein’s relativity theory - by Einstein himself. I always thought there was no way I could get it, but honeslty a curious highschool student could easily follow, up until about half the book. However, by the end, he extends the theory to talk about the whole universe, even citing Kant, and even reading it twice I’m still not sure where he was going.

The End of Alchemy

This “non-memoir” from the former governor of the Bank of England is a unique insider take on the 2008 financial crisis, and the state of the world economy today. While this is a view of the banking system by someone who helped it stay afloat an thrive, it offers some excellent insights on how the system as a whole - and not just the banking system - was geared towards the crisis, and why it hasn’t yet changed enough to ensure that it won’t happen again. It also offers ideas as to how to push the system towards a safer state.

Life 3.0

In the midst of a huge hype on AI, this book by MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark approaches various aspects that we may be concerned about. Whether in the short, medium or very long term, AI will have many impacts on our lives, and ultimately on mankind. While many scenarios can be imagined and no one knows which will prevail, this book opens the discussion on which scenarios we would prefer, and what we should do to make them happen.

The Annotated Turing

The famous paper of Alan Turing On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem is often considered to be the foundational paper for what we call a computer today. However, it can be very hard to read without appropriate the mathematical background or the historical context. This book offers both, and it is well written. I just need to finish it…

Thinking in Systems

Systems everywhere! Lots of great examples to introduce the concept of systems modelling. Starts very simple and builds systems 101 concepts. I think anyone can see the insights that this approach offers to many real world issues we are concerned about every day.

Révolution

Why not learn a bit about our new president? Interesting read, as he takes the time here to say some things he cannot in the public sphere. Beyond his personal life, his vision for the future of politics and the role of the state in France is enlightening.