[bonoboTP]

Papers are meant for when you're already familiar with the basics. It also depends on your knowledge of prerequisites and goals.

But it's best to take courses and read textbooks. There are good free courses from reputable universities out there. I'd recommend starting with some math and CompSci foundations. The internet is full of recommendations because everyone and their mom is asking the same question. How to learn AI from zero. Most of those people then don't stick with it of course because it takes time and effort.

The other way is to just read "easy" tutorials and "instant" courses without any foundation, learn just the buzzwords and then be totally confused about what is actually going on.