As we spend more and more time on our phones and as AI becomes more prevalent, there are concerns about technology's impact on our ability to be creative, think critically, and foster social relationships.
For more on AI, algorithms, and the devastating downsides of spending too much time on social media, check out these titles.
"A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech--and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood..."
"How the rich and powerful use math to exploit you, and what you can do to beat them at their own game..."
“AI is not coming, it’s here. If we answer the beautiful call inside these pages, we can decide who we are going to be and how we’re going to use technology in service of what it means to be fully human.”--Brené Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"If you are an educator or a parent, you’ll want to read this book to understand how technology is changing education and changing children.” - Jonathon Haidt, Author of The Anxious Generation
“It’s a masterpiece, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”--Karen Hao, senior editor, MIT Tech Review
"In The Algorithm, Emmy-award winning Wall Street Journal and Guardian contributor Hilke Schellmann delivers a shocking and illuminating exposé on one of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time: how AI has quietly, and mostly out of sight, taken over the world of work..."
"Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us..."
"By highlighting the voices of ordinary people in places far removed from the cozy enclave of Silicon Valley, Code Dependent explores the impact of a set of powerful, flawed, and often-exploitative technologies on individuals, communities, and our wider society..."
“A useful primer on how social media and the attention economy have warped our democracy and reshaped our lives.” --Barack Obama
"The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption."
"Eye-opening and empowering, The New Age of Sexism is a rallying cry for awareness and action in a world where the battle for equality has entered a dangerous new frontier."
"An urgent warning of the unprecedented risks that AI and other fast-developing technologies pose to global order, and how we might contain them while we have the chance..."
"From a brilliant longtime AI insider with intimate access to the world of Sam Altman’s OpenAI from the beginning, an eye-opening account of arguably the most fateful tech arms race in history..."
"Tech billionaires have decided that they should determine our futures for us...In More Everything Forever, science journalist Adam Becker investigates these wildly implausible and often profoundly immoral visions of tomorrow..."
"Our world is dominated by a handful of tech platforms. They provide great conveniences and entertainment, but also stand as some of the most effective instruments of wealth extraction ever invented..."
"Paul Leonardi maps out an achievable path to reducing your digital exhaustion, drawing on extensive research to show how real people can use technology in healthy ways."
| # | Title | Subtitle | Author(s) | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Anxious Generation | How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness | Jonathan Haidt | 2024 | "A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech--and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood..." |
| 2 | Robin Hood Math | Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life | Noah Giansiracusa | 2025 | "How the rich and powerful use math to exploit you, and what you can do to beat them at their own game..." |
| 3 | Unmasking AI | My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines | Joy Buolamwini | 2024 | “AI is not coming, it’s here. If we answer the beautiful call inside these pages, we can decide who we are going to be and how we’re going to use technology in service of what it means to be fully human.”--Brené Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author |
| 4 | The Digital Delusion | How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids' Learning -- And How To Help Them Thrive Again | Jared Horvath | 2025 | "If you are an educator or a parent, you’ll want to read this book to understand how technology is changing education and changing children.” - Jonathon Haidt, Author of The Anxious Generation |
| 5 | Atlas of AI | Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence | Kate Crawford | 2022 | “It’s a masterpiece, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”--Karen Hao, senior editor, MIT Tech Review |
| 6 | The Algorithm | How AI Decides Who Gets Hired, Monitored, Promoted, and Fired and Why We Need to Fight Back Now | Hilke Schellmann | 2024 | "In The Algorithm, Emmy-award winning Wall Street Journal and Guardian contributor Hilke Schellmann delivers a shocking and illuminating exposé on one of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time: how AI has quietly, and mostly out of sight, taken over the world of work..." |
| 7 | Careless People | A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism | Sarah Wynn-Williams | 2025 | "Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us..." |
| 8 | Code Dependent | Madhumita Murgia | 2025 | "By highlighting the voices of ordinary people in places far removed from the cozy enclave of Silicon Valley, Code Dependent explores the impact of a set of powerful, flawed, and often-exploitative technologies on individuals, communities, and our wider society..." | |
| 9 | The Sirens' Call | How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource | Chris Hayes | 2026 | “A useful primer on how social media and the attention economy have warped our democracy and reshaped our lives.” --Barack Obama |
| 10 | Dopamine Nation | Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence | Anna, MD Lembke | 2021 | "The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption." |
| 11 | Prophecy | Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI | Carissa Veliz | 2026 | "A book like Prophecy — roving, intelligent, irreducibly idiosyncratic — can expand our sense of possibility, starting now." |
| 12 | The New Age of Sexism | How AI and Emerging Technologies Are Reinventing Misogyny | Laura Bates | 2025 | "Eye-opening and empowering, The New Age of Sexism is a rallying cry for awareness and action in a world where the battle for equality has entered a dangerous new frontier." |
| 13 | The Coming Wave | Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma | Mustafa Suleyman | 2023 | "An urgent warning of the unprecedented risks that AI and other fast-developing technologies pose to global order, and how we might contain them while we have the chance..." |
| 14 | Empire of AI | Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI | Karen Hao | 2025 | "From a brilliant longtime AI insider with intimate access to the world of Sam Altman’s OpenAI from the beginning, an eye-opening account of arguably the most fateful tech arms race in history..." |
| 15 | More Everything Forever | AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity | Adam Becker | 2025 | "Tech billionaires have decided that they should determine our futures for us...In More Everything Forever, science journalist Adam Becker investigates these wildly implausible and often profoundly immoral visions of tomorrow..." |
| 16 | The Age of Extraction | How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity | Tim Wu | 2025 | "Our world is dominated by a handful of tech platforms. They provide great conveniences and entertainment, but also stand as some of the most effective instruments of wealth extraction ever invented..." |
| 17 | Digital Exhaustion | Simple Rules for Reclaiming Your Life | Paul Leonardi | 2025 | "Paul Leonardi maps out an achievable path to reducing your digital exhaustion, drawing on extensive research to show how real people can use technology in healthy ways." |
| 18 | Alone Together | Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other | Sherry Turkle | 2017 | "MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues that as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down." |
| 19 | The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State | Jill Lepore | 2026 | “How lucky are we to be alive at the same time as Jill Lepore? Generations to come will marvel that anyone could think so clearly amidst such chaos. At a moment when the AI takeover feels new and strange and inevitable, Lepore shows it to be anything but. She connects dots from different eras, different stories, different technologies, even different species. The result is a profound reframe of what we really mean by ‘artificial.’" ― Latif Nasser, co-host of Radiolab | |
| 20 | Data Empire | The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate | Roopika Risam | 2026 | “For most of history, data infrastructures were largely state-driven. Today, they are increasingly owned and operated by private corporations, even as they structure public life. This shift raises urgent questions about accountability, sovereignty, and the future of public life.” |