A couple of interesting tech-related books have arrived. I’ve started [amazon_link id=”0300213557″ target=”_blank” ]Humans Need Not Apply: A guide to work and wealth in the age of artificial intelligence[/amazon_link] by Jerry Kaplan & am enjoying it. He is a tech entrepreneur now teaching at Standford’s computer science department. The book starts with a useful overview of the history of AI, which is as far as I’ve got. It’s very engagingly written and is good at bringing the subject to life.

[amazon_image id=”0300213557″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence[/amazon_image]

The other is [amazon_link id=”0262029510″ target=”_blank” ]A Prehistory of the Cloud[/amazon_link] by Tung-Hui Hu, which looks fascinating, a part of the history of the internet that is rather unfamiliar. For example, there’s a chapter on data centers. I’m fascinated by the relationship between the embodied and the disembodied parts of the networks & we know so little about the buildings and wires. There is [amazon_link id=”014104909X” target=”_blank” ]Tubes: Behind the Scenes at the Internet [/amazon_link], which was a good read but disappointed me in terms of hard information. So I’m looking forward to reading this new book. Paging through, it clearly covers social and institutional issues as well as the technology – or in other words the humans too.

[amazon_image id=”0262029510″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]A Prehistory of the Cloud[/amazon_image]