Since I last posted, I submitted the manuscript of my new book (probably called Socialising AI, nervously waiting for reviews later this month). And then term started, with me running a new Master’s programme and preparing then teaching a new course on ‘digital economics’. I’d hoped to find a textbook but there doesn’t seem to be one – Information Rules by Hal Varian and Carl Shapiro still seems to be the closest but was published in 1999.
All of which is to say I haven’t read as much as usual even though it’s a two-month round-up.
On the work front:
The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State by Jill Lepore. I had very much enjoyed her If, Then. This was a disappointment, however. It covered some of the same territory as the previous book, and didn’t ever clearly define what the artificial state is.
Messy Jobs by Luis Garicano, Jin Li and Yanhui Wu. I’ve just finished this excellent overview of the way generative AI can be expected to change jobs, incomes and organisations. It’s non-technical, and at the same time a very clear exposition of the economic mechanisms. There are plenty of examples to bring these to life. The authors divide jobs into three kinds: straightforwardly automatable because they are simple and well-defined, jobs that combine automatable tasks with other tasks that will change shape, and ‘messy’ jobs that are all about human relationships and persuasion, that may be helped by AI but will not fundamentally change. The book also points out that demand matters too – demand for some services may increase if their price falls but some will be satiated. (After all, how many tax forms do you want to fill out?). I recommend this for its clarity even if you think you’ve read everything about AI and the labour market.
Others:
Twilight of the Dons by Colin Kidd. I quite enjoyed reading about the golden age of being a (male, white, middle to upper class) Oxbridge don, but find it hard to see the book appealing beyond the market of Oxbridge dons.
Indignity by Lea Ypi. A memoir about her grandmother moving from a childhood in 1930s Salonica to Albania. Turned out to be a bad life choice in many ways. It reminded me to go back to the terrific Mark Mazower book Salonica, City of Ghosts.
Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk. Like her other novels, weird but compelling.
Darwin by Janet Browne. I loved this. I had read the 2 volume version when that came out. But then I’m a Darwin groupie.
Peacemaker by Thant Myint-U. This was the mystery book Daunts sent me in September, the latest installment of my book-a-month subscription. Written by his grandson, it’s a biography of the UN Secretary General everybody has forgotten, but who was nevertheless a historically important figure. Very interesting. (I love getting these books. Occasionally it’s one I’ve already read, but more often something I’d never have picked but love the variety and exploration.)
There is No Anti-Memetics Division by qntm. I don’t read a lot of sci fi. This was a random choice in Heffer’s. It’s clever, I enjoyed it and think I understood it to some extent.
The next four are random choices from the new pitfall in my Cambridge life, Bodies in the Bookshop, just around the corner from my new office. So easy to pop in for a paperback before popping next door to Espresso Lane for a coffee.
Black Run by Antonio Manzini
An Accidental Death and But For The Grace by Peter Grainger. A new-to-me police procedural author, set in the East of England.
Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier. (Apparently this has sold many millions, which is mildly bemusing. I read it over several evenings after busy days at work when a novel in which nothing happens was perfect – but – nothing much happens for 500 pages.)