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Created December 7, 2013 17:50
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This is an AI/Cognitive Science reading list from discussions at RobotsConf 2013. Please add to this list in the comments. Bonus point if all y'all keep 'em in chronological order. I'll update the master list later today! (Saturday December 7th 2013) Format: { Title } { Year_of_Publication } { Amazon_Link } { Short_Description}
How to Create a Mind
2013
http://www.amazon.com/How-Create-Mind-Thought-Revealed/dp/0143124048/
Great pop-cogsci book on Kurzweil's pattern recognition theory of mind. AI concepts such as hierarchal-hidden-markov-models and neural nets are discussed.
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Consciousness: An Introduction
2003
http://www.amazon.com/Consciousness-Introduction-Susan-Blackmore/dp/019515343X/
Excellent overview of Cognitive Science and the study of consciousness. Used as a textbook for COGS300 at Simon Fraser University. Easy to read and lots of interesting thought experiments.
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Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach
2002
http://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Intelligence-Modern-Approach-2nd/dp/0137903952/
A text for those with considerable logic/computing background. Considered the 'AI Bible' and used as curriculum in many computing/AI courses. Expect terse/dense/academic language.
@pierrelux
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Probably Approximately Correct: Nature's Algorithms for Learning and Prospering in a Complex World
2013
http://www.amazon.com/Probably-Approximately-Correct-Algorithms-Prospering/dp/0465032710
The PAC framework in machine learning theory. Leslie Valiant received the Turing award in 2010

Causality: Models, Reasoning and Inference
2009
http://www.amazon.com/Causality-Reasoning-Inference-Judea-Pearl/dp/052189560X

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
20 Anv edition 1999
http://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B6del-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0465026567

@jergason
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jergason commented Dec 7, 2013

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
1979
http://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B6del-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0465026567
Consciousness, computation, recursion, grammars, and allegory. Written for the interested layman, but some passages about complex grammars may be a little tough to parse.

@jergason
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jergason commented Dec 7, 2013

Hey @pierrelux nice recommendation.

@leostratus
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For some reason my memory failed here: I thought one could submit PRs to gists for revisions since they are forkable. I can integrate suggestions from the comments. :)

@chani3
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chani3 commented Dec 7, 2013

Steve grand wrote a couple of nice books. I forget the titles but I'm sure google knows.

@leostratus
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@pierrelux Could you add a simple one-line description to each of those? Also: Thanks!

@programmarchy
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Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology
1986
http://www.amazon.com/Vehicles-Experiments-Psychology-Valentino-Braitenberg/dp/0262521121

Each of the vehicles in the series incorporates the essential features of all the earlier models but represents an evolutionary advance to a higher plateau of complexity (including the designer's accidents or mistakes that sometimes resulted in a better machine). Along the way, they come to embody the instincts of fight or flight, the characteristic behaviors impelled by love and by logic, manifestations of foresight, concept formation, creative thinking, personality, and free will.

@prasincs
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prasincs commented Dec 7, 2013

Society of Mind
1988
http://www.amazon.com/The-Society-Mind-Marvin-Minsky/dp/0671657135
In a step-by-step process, Minsky constructs a model of human intelligence which is built up from the interactions of simple parts called agents, which are themselves mindless. I think it lines up very well with how people write concurrent software these days. Worth revisiting

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
1968
http://www.amazon.com/Androids-Dream-Electric-Sheep-MASTERWORKS-ebook/dp/B000SEGTI0/
Well.. Blade Runner.. but the book conveys a little more in some aspects.. still very thought provoking albeit easy read

I am a Strange Loop
2008
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Strange-Loop-Douglas-Hofstadter/dp/046503079
I like to think of this as an easier to read "Gödel, Escher, Bach" -- it gets to the gist without too many allegories and pages.

(Also, Alan Kay has a reading list here.. I refer to this occasionally when I can't think of my next book.. http://www.squeakland.org/resources/books/readingList.jsp)

@pierrelux
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Control Theory

An Introduction to Cybernetics
2011 (reproduction of 1923)
http://www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Cybernetics-William-Ross-Ashby/dp/117862191X


Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
1965
http://www.amazon.ca/Cybernetics-Control-Communication-Animal-Machine/dp/026273009X


Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction
1998
http://www.amazon.ca/Reinforcement-Learning-Introduction-Richard-Sutton/dp/0262193981
Seminal book by Sutton and Barto. A new edition was announced by Sutton himself at the RLDM conference this year.

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