Books on AI, Power and Society: The Bigger Picture

Updated 2026-10-07 · 7 books

1. 1

   Supremacy

   Parmy Olson

   Bloomberg columnist Parmy Olson tells the story of the race between OpenAI and DeepMind and the people who led them. The most readable way to understand how the current AI industry came to look the way it does.

   Best for: Anyone who wants the story before the arguments.

   Skip it if: You want practical guidance for your business.

   Business & Management
2. 2

   The Coming Wave

   Mustafa Suleyman

   Mustafa Suleyman, a co-founder of DeepMind, argues that AI and related technologies will be very hard to contain and sets out what he thinks should be done. Worth reading precisely because it comes from inside the industry.

   Best for: Leaders who want to take the risks seriously without reading a technical book.

   Skip it if: You're sceptical of predictions from people who build the technology; read Power and Progress alongside it.

   Politics & SocietyDeep MindArtificial intelligence
3. 3

   The Alignment Problem

   Brian Christian

   Brian Christian explains, through the researchers working on it, why it's so hard to get machine learning systems to do what we actually mean. Clear for non-specialists and the best grounding on bias and unintended behaviour.

   Best for: Leaders responsible for deploying AI fairly and safely.

   Skip it if: You want something short; it's 356 pages and patient with detail.

   Science & NatureScienceArtificial intelligence
4. 4

   Power and Progress

   Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson

   Economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson look back over a thousand years of technology to show that its gains go to whoever has the power to claim them, and apply the lesson to AI. A necessary corrective to the idea that progress benefits everyone automatically.

   Best for: Leaders thinking about AI's effect on jobs and wages.

   Skip it if: You want a quick read; it's long and ranges widely through history.

   Economics
5. 5

   AI Superpowers

   Kai-Fu Lee

   Kai-Fu Lee, who has worked on AI at Apple, Microsoft and Google and as an investor in China, compares how China and the US approach it and what that means for jobs. Published in 2019, so read it as the background to today's rivalry.

   Best for: Leaders whose business depends on global technology supply.

   Skip it if: You want current developments; the field has moved since 2019.

   Business & ManagementSocial ScienceFuture Studies
6. 6

   Life 3.0

   Max Tegmark

   MIT physicist Max Tegmark sets out the range of futures that more capable AI could lead to, from the good to the catastrophic. More speculative than the others here, and good for stretching a leadership team's thinking.

   Best for: Teams that want to argue about the long term.

   Skip it if: You want evidence about the next few years.

   Science & NatureMoral and ethical aspectsTechnological forecasting
7. 7

   If Then

   Jill Lepore

   Historian Jill Lepore tells the story of Simulmatics, a 1960s company that tried to predict and influence human behaviour with computers. A reminder that the promises being made for data and prediction today are older than they look.

   Best for: Readers who like history and want perspective on the hype.

   Skip it if: You want a book about AI itself; this is a history of an earlier idea.

   Data miningAlgorithmsTechnology

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