Artificial Intelligence, and the Problem of Control
by Stuart Russell
Recommended by 5 notable people, including Elon Musk and Tim O’Reilly
Check price on AmazonRecommended by public sources
Amazon availability
See customer reviews on Amazon →Reading experience: a brisk, authoritative voice from a researcher that mixes accessible technical primers with ethical and policy argument. Main value: forces you to confront the AI-control question by tying concrete technical concerns to broader societal stakes and proposing a different way to think about machine objectives. Main limitation: leans into technical detail and sustained philosophical discussion that can feel dense or repetitious, and it offers few immediate, hands-on steps for implementers.
This summary and audience guidance are AI-generated from the book's description and its recommendation history, last updated May 2026. Recommendations, quotes and sources elsewhere on this page come from published material and are not generated.
A leading Artificial Intelligence, researcher lays out a new approach to AI that will enable us to coexist successfully with increasingly intelligent machines In the popular imagination, superhuman Artificial Intelligence, is an approaching tidal wave that threatens not just jobs and human relationships, but civilization itself. Conflict between huma...
Difficulty:hard
Check formats, pricing, and availability options for Kindle, physical print, or audiobooks directly.
View available editions on AmazonWhy recommended
Recommended by 6 sources and appears in Best Artificial Intelligence Books, Books Recommended by Elon Musk, and Most Recommended Books.
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Check formats, pricing, and availability options directly on Amazon.
Consider The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. Recommended by 8 sources.
“Soft-spoken, heavily illustrated fable built from short dialogues and watercolor sketches. Each spread pairs a spare line of text with a loose drawing, so the pleasure is visual and aphoristic rather than narrative; readers collect felt-true sentences more than plot. Most useful when you want quick consolations, a prompt for conversation with a child, or a pause during a rough day. Limiting if you want sustained argument, concrete advice, or tightly plotted storytelling: the repetition of gentleness can feel sentimental or thin after a while.”
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.
