Colossus
#1158 of 2,654 all-time
Colossus
D. F. Jones
6 people recommended it in 5 threads, 2019–2025.
What people on Hacker News said
a bit like Wargames but more swanky, the US and Russia each create artificial super-intelligence then let them talk to each other, which goes about as well as you can imagine. The story hints at the notion that as soon as politics gets involved with science, things tend to get really cocked up, resulting in hostile takeovers, or worse, annihilation. It's a short read, and should be on the to-do list of anyone experiencing existential dread over the AI race today.
One thing I learned from the "Colossus" book was the contribution of British engineers to early computers (Tommy Flowers in particular). They didn't get the credit they deserved because their work was kept secret for so long.
There is course Colossus the Forbin Project which is also pretty canonical.
Where it comes up
- Hard comp-fi reading list 2019 · 2 recommendations
- My favorite cult sci-fi and fantasy books you may not have heard of before 2025 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things 2025 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year? 2024 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books? 2020 · 1 recommendation