I'm reading through the MIRI course list. I've been reviewing the books as I go. The primary goal is to become capable of working on open problems in FAI. A secondary goal is to provide useful data, both to other readers and to the maintainers of the course list.
With respect to the secondary goal, you are encouraged to chime in on relevant threads with personal reactions to the same books or suggestions for alternative books. On my own, I can only speak for the experience of a single person.
I have often found that teaching a subject improves both comprehension and retention. If you are reading any of the books that I have reviewed and you are having trouble understanding a concept (or if you would like to check your answers to exercises, or if you just want to chat), please PM me. I am by no means an expert on these subjects, but I appreciate any opportunity to articulate what I have read.
A number of people have noted that the course list does not contain the books most relevant to MIRI's current research. I will in fact be taking a number of detours. I've been collecting suggestions from people close to the research, further suggestions are welcome.
You can find the first four book reviews here:
I'm reading through the MIRI course list. I've been reviewing the books as I go. The primary goal is to become capable of working on open problems in FAI.
Why do you believe this particular book list is relevant to that goal (other than the list itself suggesting so)? It seems like a set of initial directions that might be useful for someone who knows little on these topics, and otherwise too sparse/arbitrary to be helpful "out of the box", without significant modification. Based on your reviews, you are not in that category.
This is the supposedly-bimonthly-but-we-keep-skipping 'What are you working On?' thread. Previous threads are here. So here's the question:
What are you working on?
Here are some guidelines: