A Reading List for AI Bros

A handy guide to unlocking the life of the mind for those whose machines think for them

There is a type of person online who you may have encountered, a type I will call the “AI Bro.” This person (not necessarily a man, despite the moniker) is the AI-hyping equivalent of a “Crypto Bro,” someone whose unhampered optimism and penchant for easy solutions and Silicon Valley scams bleeds through into everything they say and do.

This person might be fond of using generative AI tools to respond to text messages or perhaps even to write love letters. They might proudly tell you how they spent dozens of seconds carefully honing a prompt to generate a stunningly mediocre Midjourney picture. They, most of all, look forward to the day when all of their thinking, creating, working, playing, and human interaction can be handled by a machine so they can be free to do… well, whatever is left over, I suppose.

This sort of person needs, I think, a reading list, a handy set of recommendations to enliven their minds to the fact that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in their Large Language Models (that’s a Shakespeare allusion, for those keeping track).¹ In what follows, I will lay out a plan for reading that aims at introducing those I am calling “recovering AI bros” to the wonders of their own intellects and imaginations. I am certain they will be grateful.

Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! By Dr. Seuss

This book is a perfect introduction to the life of the mind for those who have forgotten that they are capable of imagining things independently of artificial intelligence tools. Using clever rhymes and fanciful creatures, as well as colorful illustrations to capture the attention of even the most Tik Tok-ified zoomer, Dr. Seuss invites the reader to think of the whole possible world of things they can think up if “you only try.” A must for any budding independent reader.

How to Read a Book, by Mortimer Adler

Perhaps you have forgotten that you are capable of reading a text on your own without asking an internet chatbot for a summary of it first. Perhaps the thought of reading a book cover to cover fills you with existential dread. Never fear, Mortimer Adler is here to help. You, yes you, can read a book with his expert guidance, and even understand it and carry it forward with you in your developing intellectual life.

The Elements of Style, by Strunk & White

Perhaps you have been wondering, “How can I know if my plagiarism machine is producing good writing, rather than bad writing?” Careful attention to this classic work can help you not only fairly assess the output Claude gives you before you recklessly and dishonestly claim Claude’s work as your own, but could perhaps even inspire you to write something yourself, unaided by the demons that possess these machines.