Top AI books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite AI books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of AI

Understanding the concepts of AI starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Deep Learning for Natural Language Processing: Creating Neural Networks with Python

Discover the concepts of deep learning used for natural language processing (NLP), with full-fledged examples of neural network models such as recurrent neural networks, long short-term memory networks, and sequence-2-sequence models. You’ll start by covering the mathematical prerequisites and the fundamentals of deep learning and NLP with practical examples. The first three chapters of the bo…

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Artificial Intelligence for Humans

Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. Specific applications of AI include expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition and machine vision.

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Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile

A historical study of Chile's twin experiments with cybernetics and socialism, and what they tell us about the relationship of technology and politics. In Cybernetic Revolutionaries, Eden Medina tells the history of two intersecting utopian visions, one political and one technological.

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Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, Global Edition

Thelong-anticipated revision of ArtificialIntelligence: A Modern Approach explores the full breadth and depth of the field of artificialintelligence (AI). The 4th Edition brings readers up to date on the latest technologies,presents concepts in a more unified manner, and offers new or expanded coverageof machine learning, deep learning, transfer learning, multi agent systems,robotics, natural …

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Knowledge Representation, Reasoning, and the Design of Intelligent Agents: The Answer-Set Programming Approach

Knowledge representation and reasoning is the foundation of artificial intelligence, declarative programming, and the design of knowledge-intensive software systems capable of performing intelligent tasks. Using logical and probabilistic formalisms based on answer set programming (ASP) and action languages, this book shows how knowledge-intensive systems can be given knowledge about the world …

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Human Compatible

Human Compatible by Stuart Russell is a thought-provoking read on the future of artificial intelligence. It delves into the risks that AI poses to our civilization, and proposes solutions for ensuring a safe and desirable outcome.

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Additional AI Reading

These books are not required for you to learn AI, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

The Alignment Problem

The alignment problem describes the problems associated with building powerful artificial intelligence systems that are aligned with their operators. The concept was popularised by Brian Christian in his book The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values

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Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans

Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans is a 2019 nonfiction book by Santa Fe Institute professor Melanie Mitchell. The book provides an overview of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and argues that people tend to overestimate the abilities of artificial intelligence.

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Reinforcement Learning

Reinforcement learning is an autonomous, self-teaching system that essentially learns by trial and error. It performs actions with the aim of maximizing rewards, or in other words, it is learning by doing in order to achieve the best outcomes.

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A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going

The somewhat ill-defined long-term aim of AI is to build machines that are conscious, self-aware, and sentient; machines capable of the kind of intelligent autonomous action that currently only people are capable of. As an AI researcher with 25 years of experience, professor Mike Wooldridge has learned to be obsessively cautious about such claims, while still promoting an intense optimism abou…

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On Intelligence

Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

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The Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence

What happens when artificial intelligence saturates political life and depletes the planet? How is AI shaping our understanding of ourselves and our societies? Drawing on more than a decade of research, award‑winning scholar Kate Crawford reveals how AI is a technology of extraction: from the minerals drawn from the earth to the labor pulled from low-wage information workers to the data taken …

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Specializations and Deeper AI Knowledge

You've got your basics in order – time to move on to some advanced and specialized concepts. AI is evolving every day, these books can help you master it.

Artificial Intelligence By Example: Acquire Advanced AI, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning Design Skills, 2nd Edition

AI has the potential to replicate humans in every field. Artificial Intelligence By Example, Second Edition serves as a starting point for you to understand how AI is built, with the help of intriguing and exciting examples. This book will make you an adaptive thinker and help you apply concepts to real-world scenarios. Using some of the most interesting AI examples, right from computer progra…

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The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World

In the world's top research labs and universities, the race is on to invent the ultimate learning algorithm: one capable of discovering any knowledge from data, and doing anything we want, before we even ask. In The Master Algorithm, Pedro Domingos lifts the veil to give us a peek inside the learning machines that power Google, Amazon, and your smartphone. He assembles a blueprint for the futu…

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This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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Hi 👋 I’m Raul — a software engineer with over a decade of experience in the tech industry. Throughout my career, I’ve developed a strong blend of technical expertise and soft skills that have helped me grow, adapt, and thrive in different roles and environments. Like many others, my journey …

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As a Board Director, startup coach, and technology executive, I bring over two decades of experience advising governments, founders, and legal teams across Asia and Europe. My work sits at the intersection of infrastructure, law, and emerging technology—particularly AI, blockchain, and tokenisation. I coach startup founders, operators, and leadership teams …

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Across my 16+ years in product management at Google, Microsoft, and assorted venture-backed startups, I've had the privilege of receiving mentorship from luminaries including Paul Graham, Sam Altman, and Kai Fu Lee. I know not everyone gets these mentorship opportunities, so I am here to share my experience with a …

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I've been in the GenAI space for 3+ years now and the ML space for nearly 10 years. I've worked across the whole lifecycle of ML Science, ML Engineering, and MLOps. Through both hard and smart strategic work, I've risen through the ranks from being an intern to now a …

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