Books Fight Back Against AI: A Reading List for the Digitized Age
Dan Warner, author of the forthcoming speculative fiction novel 'Wither' about a blackbox technology that creates a perfect twin of its user, has compiled a list of books that explore AI, consciousness, surveillance, and language. The list includes Meghan O'Gieblyn's 'God, Human, Animal, Machine', which examines humanity in a technological world; Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Klara and the Sun', about an Artificial Friend; Karen Hao's 'Empire of A.I.', which questions the moral fiber of AI builders; Ray Nayler's 'The Mountain and the Sea', a sci-fi thriller about extrahuman intelligence in octopuses; Ted Chiang's 'The Lifecycle of Software Objects'; Martha Wells' 'All Systems Red', about a self-aware android; Samanta Schweblin's 'Little Eyes', on interconnectedness; and Peter Godfrey-Smith's 'Other Minds', on consciousness and cephalopods. The article, published on Forbes on July 12, 2026, by Caroline Reilly, argues that books are essential to humanity amid rising anti-intellectualism and phone addiction, and warns that outsourcing understanding of texts to AI narrows perspectives and undermines democratic participation, citing a University of Chicago report.
Key facts
- Dan Warner authored 'Wither', a speculative fiction novel about a blackbox technology that builds a perfect twin of its user.
- The article was published on Forbes on July 12, 2026, by Caroline Reilly.
- The reading list includes eight books: 'God, Human, Animal, Machine', 'Klara and the Sun', 'Empire of A.I.', 'The Mountain and the Sea', 'The Lifecycle of Software Objects', 'All Systems Red', 'Little Eyes', and 'Other Minds'.
- The University of Chicago report states that AI mediation of texts influences judgment formation and narrows perspectives.
- The article claims that voluntary reading is declining and technology shapes engagement with literature.
- Critical interpersonal skills like empathy are developed through reading, which is lost when AI mediates understanding.
- Warner recommends Ted Chiang as an award-winning author who thinks deeply on AI topics.
- The list includes both fiction and non-fiction works.
Entities
Artists
- Dan Warner
- Meghan O'Gieblyn
- Kazuo Ishiguro
- Karen Hao
- Ray Nayler
- Ted Chiang
- Martha Wells
- Samanta Schweblin
- Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Caroline Reilly
Institutions
- Forbes
- University of Chicago