Stuart Russell is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where his faculty page also lists the Smith-Zadeh Professorship in Engineering and appointments in Cognitive Science and Computational Precision Health. He is best known to generations of students as co-author, with Peter Norvig, of “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach,” widely known as AIMA.
AIMA is the most widely used introductory AI textbook in the world; the book’s own site describes it as adopted by over 1,500 schools. First published in 1995 and now in its fourth edition, it covers the field from search and logic through machine learning, perception, and chapters on AI philosophy and ethics, making Russell a central figure in how the discipline teaches itself.
Russell later became one of the most prominent voices arguing that the standard model of AI - building machines that optimize a fixed objective - is dangerous as systems grow more capable. In his 2019 book “Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control,” he proposes designing machines that are uncertain about human preferences and defer to human correction. He founded and directs the Center for Human-Compatible AI (CHAI) at Berkeley, dedicated to ensuring AI systems remain beneficial to people.