Recommendations on AI or Blockachain
A few general recommendations that cover both fairly regularly: patio11‘s Complex Systems and Bits about Money and Patrick Boyle
Artificial Intelligence
Advances in Financial Machine Learning (summary) is the go-to book for finance, but it is technical and will require a background in Artificial Intelligence. I’d start by Learning how AI works from a real LLM implemented entirely in Excel, maybe following up with Artificial Intelligence for Beginners. AI is a large subject. You can start by looking at Generative AI, Deep Learning for Finance and AI for time series.
The State of AI Report is worth a look for an overview of where things are, as is The Gradient for some current work being done.
Blockchain
I made a post about blockchain years ago aimed more at software engineers. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is still my go-to link for anyone new to blockchain. They have since made a follow-up episode.
I’d start with Money in the Twenty-First Century. It is a short and easy read that gives a good overview of the landscape. A couple of other takes on the same area Web3 in Financial Services and From Hoodies to Suits. Two different views of blockchain: The Politics of Bitcoin and Check Your Financial Privilege. Central banks are also looking at this area. The Bank of England is looking at a digital pound and BIS has some notes on cryptoasset.