> An algorithm isn't really AI then.

But they are though. For a seminal book discussing why and detailing many algorithms categorized under the AI umbrella, I recommend:

  Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach[0]

And for LLMs specifically:

  Foundations of Large Language Models[1]

0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_Intelligence:_A_Mod...

1 - https://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.09223