James and I connected to compare notes about our respective reading experiences with AI 2041. The format of AI 2041 is one that should be followed by more writing teams, and perhaps even by academics thinking about curricular innovation. Despite that oversight, AI 2041 does seem almost perfectly designed to tempt a certain subset of readers with professional interests in technology and a passion for all things science fiction. Alas, which books we choose to invest our time reading is not one of the topics covered in AI 2041. Maybe in 20 years, we will see better book recommendation AI. I would argue that facilitating trusted network connections and an improved reading journey would create tremendous value. How could platforms facilitate this more effectively in a digital age? Perhaps Amazon would see this benefit as a trade-off at odds with guiding optimal purchasing patterns.

Reading has always been a social learning experience. If Amazon’s algorithms want me to spend my money on digital books (ebooks and audiobooks) sold on their platform, then the system should be pointing me to reviews by people in my extended network. I continue to wonder why recommendations from friends are so much more accurate and persuasive than those generated by AI? I’m much more likely to pursue a book endorsed by you than one surfaced by Amazon. I know James as a reliable source of book recommendations. Or perhaps as a writer and thinker who appears with some regularity on Inside Higher Ed. You might know James as the associate vice provost for academic innovation and founding executive director for the Center for Academic Innovation at the University of Michigan. This weekend, as I was finishing AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future, the following tweets from my friend James DeVaney floated across my screen. AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan

Ai 2041 review