Daniel Kahneman

“Kahneman’s most well-known book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, as well as his seminal work in the field, explore…how we can recognize our biases…Noise is a really cool sequel. It’s what the second book of Dune was to the first book of Dune…Noise is about the fact that while we have a lot of cognitive biases, in many cases the world is random. It’s what gamers call RNG or random number generator — a fun shorthand way to describe all the randomness in a game’s world, randomness that’s mirrored in ours. It creates this variability in our observation of the world and makes it even harder to make good decisions, because not only do we have to fix for all our biases and get all the systematic priors out of the way, but even accounting for all of that, testing the same samples six times may sometimes yield very different results.” Read more...

The best books on Making Good Decisions

Sebastian Park, Entrepreneurs & Business People

“Thinking, Fast and Slow is a book about the psychological and cognitive factors that influence how humans make decisions and solve problems. It is relevant to artificial intelligence (AI) because many AI systems are designed to assist with decision-making and problem-solving tasks. In Thinking, Fast and Slow the author, Daniel Kahneman, describes two systems of thinking that the human brain uses: System 1, which is fast and automatic, and System 2, which is slower and more deliberate. Kahneman discusses how these two systems work and how they can influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. He also discusses how these systems can lead to biases and errors in judgment, and how they can impact our ability to make good decisions. Understanding these psychological and cognitive factors can be useful for those working in the field of AI, as it can help them design systems that are more effective at assisting humans with decision-making and problem-solving tasks. By taking into account the ways in which the human mind works, AI designers can create systems that are more intuitive and easier for humans to use.” Read more...

The best books on Artificial Intelligence

ChatGPT, AI Chatbot

“This is another really good set of essays in a rapidly growing branch of intellectual enquiry called behavioural economics where they look at the irrationalities in the way that humans behave. I thought this was brilliant. One essay in particular on irrational optimism caught my eye. It’s the idea that individuals who have slightly inflated expectations of their own abilities tend to persevere longer and perform better. These top sportsmen when they perform under pressure – if they believe they are going to win they often will. This belief makes them more efficacious and the book is a really interesting look at that whole idea of positive thinking.” Read more...

The best books on Champions

Matthew Syed, Journalist