AI 2041

By Kai-Fu Lee, Chen Qiufan,

Book cover of AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future

Book description

A WALL STREET JOURNAL, WASHINGTON POST, AND FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

In this ground-breaking blend of imaginative storytelling and scientific forecasting, a pioneering AI expert and a leading writer of speculative fiction join forces to answer an imperative question: How will artificial intelligence change our world within…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

4 authors picked AI 2041 as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

While my own genre is historical fiction, my background is in technology, and the rise of Artificial intelligence is at the forefront of what is happening today. This book brings together a technology pioneer and a visionary writer of science fiction to describe via short stories how AI could, and probably will, impact the human race and its ability to both add and destroy value to our lives. 

I enjoyed the stories and particularly the mind-stretching concepts developed within them. A book for the age.

AI is arguably the most disruptive technology that humankind has ever developed. AI development has come in different waves since the 1950s and, over time, the machine intelligence has increased.

Where will this ongoing trend lead us in the future? I love Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan’s book for two chief reasons: On the one hand, I found it highly rewarding as a reader to learn about the future of AI and its practical impact on our everyday life by gaining insights into today’s variety of AI methods, the challenges they pose as well as into how those challenges will…

From Christian's list on making sense of the I in AI.

This incredible book consists in 10 future topics. Each one starts with a short story from a science fiction writer, that delves into a topic – deepfakes, AI as a tailored educational companion, the impacts of Big Data applied to insurance premiums…

The stories usually leave the reader full with a sour taste in the mouth. Each is then followed by an analysis by futurist Kai-Fu Lee. The combination of science fiction and a cold study of the potential routes and ethical impacts of the tech at stake is a powerful recipe that makes for an enjoying, thought-provoking read.

I…

From Ashley's list on AI and the future of work.

A Diary in the Age of Water

By Nina Munteanu,

Book cover of A Diary in the Age of Water

Nina Munteanu Author Of Darwin's Paradox

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Writer Ecologist Mother Teacher Explorer

Nina's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

This climate fiction novel follows four generations of women and their battles against a global giant that controls and manipulates Earth’s water. Told mostly through a diary and drawing on scientific observation and personal reflection, Lynna’s story unfolds incrementally, like climate change itself. Her gritty memoir describes a near-future Toronto in the grips of severe water scarcity.

Single mother and limnologist Lynna witnesses disturbing events as she works for the powerful international utility CanadaCorp. Fearing for the welfare of her rebellious teenage daughter, Lynna sets in motion a series of events that tumble out of her control with calamitous consequence. The novel explores identity, relationship, and our concept of what is “normal”—as a nation and an individual—in a world that is rapidly and incomprehensibly changing.

A Diary in the Age of Water

By Nina Munteanu,

What is this book about?

Centuries from now, in a post-climate change dying boreal forest of what used to be northern Canada, Kyo, a young acolyte called to service in the Exodus, discovers a diary that may provide her with the answers to her yearning for Earth’s past—to the Age of Water, when the “Water Twins” destroyed humanity in hatred—events that have plagued her nightly in dreams. Looking for answers to this holocaust—and disturbed by her macabre longing for connection to the Water Twins—Kyo is led to the diary of a limnologist from the time just prior to the destruction. This gritty memoir describes a…


Ten Visions for Our Future took a long time to read – and was worth it. Each of these futures is an immersion in a way of life that the technology makes possible.

Kai-fu Lee is an AI legend in the US (Google and Apple) and China; Stanley Chan (Qiufan’s other name) is a haunting, award-winning science fiction writer who portrays the personal impact of machine technology. Their stories stayed with me, because they go so far beyond the usual scenarios and have such emotional depth.

People are struggling not with an impersonal robotic technology, but with intensely personal worlds…

Want books like AI 2041?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like AI 2041.

Browse books like AI 2041

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

Technology Explore 122 books about technology
Artificial Intelligence Explore 289 books about artificial intelligence
Machine Learning Explore 50 books about machine learning