The most recommended robotics books

Full disclosure: Adrienne Mayor is my wife. But that is not why I chose this book: It is a mind-blowing account of ancient dreams of technology and ancient scientific wonders. Mayor is a master storyteller. She recreates the ancient myths to reveal the timeless fascination with “artificial life” – with beings that are like us in some ways, except that they are “made, not born.” Long before humans could create real mechanical men and thinking machines, the Greeks dared to imagine what that would mean for humans and our relations with one another. And they imagined the inner lives and torments of the semi-machines themselves. Read this book and shiver to learn that our modernity was dreamed of 2500 years ago. 

A noir Cyberpunk book set in the UK (which itself makes it distinctive). Great characters, crazy technology, and lots of drama make Auxiliary seriously gripping. If you like Cyberpunk, robotics/Artificial Intelligence, and dark, dystopian thrillers, you will love this! Just a word of warning, though, this is not for the faint of heart...

This book is one of the nuttiest I’ve read in its imaginings of a modern world on steroids. The part that teases most is that its predictions might come true.

I know our smartphones and laptops have changed our world, but cures that would extend longevity ad infinitum? Neural interfaces that would connect us directly to the internet? Nanobots that would reduce the cost of goods to zero?

Because the topic of modernity has come to engross me so, the big question always is, “How far will it carry us?” The answer to which (according to Kurzweil) is much farther than you can possibly imagine and much sooner than you think. One should have one’s mind blown every couple of years, and Kurzweil does exactly that.

This book is one of two of Lambert’s books that I reread often and find myself reflecting on long after finishing it (the other is Mind Over Water, which I wholly recommend too!)

But Shadow Work deserves its place in my top of the year canon because of its clear-eyed, damning look at the many ways we human beings willingly donate our time to businesses by doing the “self-service” things—like self-check at the supermarket, or “please listen carefully because our menu has changed” customer service calling systems—that used to require real human interaction.

This book is a wakeup call and an excellent read about the often-blurred lines between our leisure and our work.

What holds the future of globalization in store?

I learned a lot from Baldwin’s insightful book, which posits a fast and dramatic rise of digital service trade between high- and low-wage countries.

Such services could range from well-known digital back-office services, such as airline ticketing in India, to more speculative “global robotics”, dubbed “globotics”, such as cross-border controlling of robots via virtual reality devices.

Baldwin points to new opportunities emerging to developing economies that hitherto were unable to gain from the globalization of manufacturing value chains. But he also warns of potentially dramatic social consequences in high-wage countries.

Whether you agree or disagree with his diagnosis, this is essential reading to be prepared for the next wave of globalization and its potential social disruptions.

If you're looking for a fantastic book to engage kids in STEM, Lamar and Maya Build a Robot is the perfect pick!

Picture recommending this book to a friend, you'd rave about its celebration of teamwork and robotics. Personally, I loved this book because it beautifully teaches kids about collaboration, problem-solving, and perseverance in a fun and exciting way.

As I read through Lamar and Maya's journey, I learned the importance of working together and following instructions while exploring the world of robotics. It made me feel inspired and reminded me of the joy of friendship and the power of imagination.

This book is an excellent resource for young readers, and they'll be captivated by the story while unknowingly absorbing valuable STEM concepts. Grab this gem for the little ones!

Paul Scharre explains the military use of autonomous weapons and AI-driven platforms in a book that’s accessible and comprehensive. He’s a former Army Ranger who helped write the US military’s guidelines for unmanned systems and military autonomy. I have other, more recent books about individual technologies; but Scharre’s is the only one that melds an insider’s understanding of lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs) with clear analysis of their pros and cons. He’s a skeptic of arms control but sees the need to reduce their downsides. My students like the book—even those deeply opposed to LAWs. Scharre’s explanations of autonomy and AI in military weapons are especially valuable for non-specialists. They are an antidote to all the loose AI terminology that just confuses everyone. 

Though this book came out a little while ago, I first listened to it this year. Little Eyes is a near-future novel in which the latest technological fad are Kentukis (the novel’s original title in Spanish), networked devices that allow strangers to either be “keepers” or “dwellers” of these household objects (picture what you’d get if you combined Chatroulette, Furbies, and Roombas).

The popularity of this seemingly innocuous toy soon has a massive social impact throughout the globe, and the novel traces a range of unanticipated uses and consequences of this merger of public and private life.

The plausibility of this future makes the story all the more compelling

Arguably, Bill McKibben has been this nation’s preeminent environmentalist since 1989 when he published The End of Nature. Falter is his latest book and it is a numbing take on our species and how we have damaged the environment, perhaps, to the point of no return. On the other hand, McKibben is as much an activist as an environmentalist and as such he cannot and, so far at least, has not lost hope no matter how dire the straits.  

If sci-fi is not really your thing, worry not! Charming robots have crept into romance too and as a romance, The Plus One doesn’t disappoint. The robot love interest, Ethan, is everything a woman could look for—attentive, handsome, intelligent. But is he too good to be true? I loved how this book took a sci-fi trope and rewrote it for a romance reader, while still addressing some of the fundamental questions raised by AI, in this instance, not just “what is human?” but also “what is love?”