Atlas of AI

This study argues that [artificial intelligence] is neither artificial nor particularly intelligent. . . . A fascinating history of the data on which machine-learning systems are trained. --New Yorker Crawford argues passionately that while AI is presented as disembodied, objective and inevitable, it is material, biased and subject to our own outlooks and ideologies. --David A. Shaywitz, Wall Street Journal A valuable corrective to much of the hype surrounding AI and a useful instruction manual for the future. . . . Crawford creates a strong framework to understand the dangers of this technological revolution as well as its environmental costs and suggests how we can best steer it towards more positive outcomes. --John Thornhill, Financial Times Mapping out the political, economic, environmental and societal contours of the technology, this senior researcher at Microsoft smartly reframes the technological debate: AI is a registry of power. --John Thornhill, Financial Times Exposes the dark side of AI's success. . . . Meticulously researched and superbly written. --Virginia Dignum, Nature A sweeping view of artificial intelligence that frames the technology as a collection of empires, decisions, and actions that are together fast eliminating possibilities of sustainable future on a global scale. . . . A timely and urgent contribution. --Michael Spezio, Science Eloquent, clear and profound--this volume is a classic for our times. It draws our attention away from the bright shiny objects of the new colonialism through elucidating the social, material and political dimensions of Artificial Intelligence. --Geoffrey C. Bowker, University of California, Irvine A must read. Moving from lithium mines to data extraction, from labor exploitation to government surveillance, Atlas of AI eloquently reveals how intelligence is 'made.' It displaces anemic calls for 'ethics' with probing investigations into the environmental degradation, capital accumulation, and labor conditions that AI makes possible. --Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, SFU's Canada 150 Chair in New Media An insightful excursion into the processes, implications and ethics of data creation and manipulation in the 21st century. Ranging across terrains as diverse as mineral mines, server farms, distribution warehouses, and AI startups, Crawford shows vividly how our systems have grown to be 'dangerous when they fail and harmful when they work.' --Joseph Turow, author of The Voice Catchers Showing Artificial Intelligence as a technological achievement and cultural promise that spans politics, labor, land, and data, Crawford draws a unique and actionable map for seeing and challenging AI's power. --Mike Ananny, University of Southern California Kate Crawford looks at Artificial Intelligence with a humanist's eye and an artist's sense of what really matters. If you think AI is all about big data and machine learning, this marvelous book will remind you: it's about the natural world, and politics, and history, and sometimes, even beauty too. --Fred Turner, author of The Democratic Surround: Multimedia and American Liberalism from World War II to the Psychedelic Sixties