Reading

A few books I’ve enjoyed or have read this year. This isn’t comprehensive, just titles worth sharing from this year.

If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares - So far, a clear distillation of the central thesis of Less Wrong style “rationalism”. In general I think recent developments in AI have followed some of the predictions of that group, but that the LLM basis for current AI just does not seem susceptible to the same sort of misalignment that their mental models expect. Is doom certain the moment model capabilities exceed some threshold? So far I remain unconvinced.
Defiance of the Fall, Book 16 by JF Brink - Historically a good example of the westernized cultivation novel sub-genre, I have to admit my patience is running out here. (16 books in, perhaps it should have run out a while ago!)

Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle - Outside my usual zone, but a Christmas gift, and well written. A heavy read, on learning to live with the consequences of a seemingly senseless decision. Effectively reads backwards, from the present day to the original inciting incident.
Throne Hunters, Book 4 by Phil Tucker - Tucker consistently rises above the dreck of the “progression fantasy” genre, and Throne Hunters is his second best, losing only to the Bastion series. As Jim Butcher has shown for years, wish fulfillment fantasy novels are better the more you torment the protagonist, and there’s plenty of that here.