Person
Every book Ethan Mollick recommended on podcasts
Across 2 podcasts. Every show Ethan Mollick appears on, in one place — not just one.
Ethan Mollick is a Wharton associate professor, artificial intelligence (AI) researcher, and the author of New York Times bestseller Co-Intelligence. His work focuses primarily on the impact of AI on work and education, and he was named one of TIME Magazine's Most Influential People in Artificial Intelligence of 2024. During an appearance on The Ezra Klein Show, Mollick offered three distinct book recommendations. He first recommended Robert J. Gordon’s The Rise and Fall of American Growth, noting its argument regarding historical industrial revolution growth rates. Second, he recommended Lewis Dartnell’s The Knowledge, describing it as an interesting survival guide. Third, he recommended Peter Watts’s Blindsight, characterizing it as a depressing yet fascinating thriller available for free. On the Big Technology Podcast, Mollick discussed his own written works, including Co-Intelligence and Co-Existence. He contrasted his previous book, which focused on the chatbot era, with his newer book examining the agentic era and the capabilities of modern AI models. Furthermore, he referred to concepts from Co-Existence to explain the organizational elements, leadership alignment, and societal negotiations required to adopt artificial intelligence effectively in various contexts, including professional and religious settings.
Books recommended by Ethan Mollick
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Co-Existence
Co-Existence is a book by Wharton professor Ethan Mollick that examines the agentic era of artificial intelligence and the practical steps society must take to integrate AI into daily life, business, and organizations.
Discussed“I mean, in the book, I talk about leadership lab and crowd being three things you need aligned. You need a leadership team that actually buys into this and starts making organizational change.”
Where to get it
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Blindsight
Blindsight by Peter Watts is a grim, thought-provoking hard science fiction novel that explores themes of first contact, consciousness, and artificial intelligence.
Recommended“I want to recommend a much more depressing book that's available for free uh which is Peter Watts's blindsight and it is not a fun book but it is a fascinating Thriller”
Where to get it
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The Knowledge
The Knowledge by Lewis Dartnell is a practical and imaginative guide detailing how to rebuild human civilization from scratch using fundamental scientific and technological principles in the aftermath of an apocalyptic scenario.
Recommended“the second book I'd recommend is the knowledge by Darnell which is kind of a really interesting book it is ostensibly a um a survival guide”
Where to get it
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The Rise and Fall of American Growth
The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Robert J.
Recommended“one of them is the rise and fall of American growth which is it's two things it's an argument about why we will never have the kind of growth that we did in the first part of the Industrial Revolution again”
Where to get it
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Co-Intelligence
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick is a practical guide that explores how generative artificial intelligence is transforming productivity, education, and human collaboration in the modern era.
Discussed“My last book, Co-Intelligence, was really about the chatbot era, because that's as good as models were. This book is about the agentic era in a lot of ways, because that's where models are today.”
Where to get it
Books Ethan Mollick wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| This AI Expert Argues We're Underestimating AI's Productivity Impact — With Ethan Mollick | Big Technology Podcast | 2026-10-28 | 6 |
| How Should I Be Using A.I. Right Now? | The Ezra Klein Show | 2024-04-02 | 3 |
Other mentions (5: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I'm a professor at Wharton where I run the generative AI labs and I wrote the books coexistence and co-intelligence about AI.”
“I'm a professor at Wharton where I run the generative AI labs and I wrote the books coexistence and co-intelligence about AI.”
“For the new book, I had to come up with a third term. And I came up with conjurer, which looked good on paper cuz the other two were Cwords, but it turned out a hard C and a soft C.”
“The interesting thing is most people who use these systems use them to produce really boring stuff. And it's not necessarily clear that it's because the AI is boring. It's just clear that there's a lot more demand for people to create Star Wars fanfiction or alternate Harry Potter jokes than there is for creative media.”
“and that's why the book's called co-intelligence”