288 pages
English language
Published Jan. 21, 2021
The hidden costs of artificial intelligence, from natural resources and labor to privacy, equality, and freedom
“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
What happens when artificial intelligence saturates political life and depletes the planet? How is AI shaping our understanding of ourselves and our societies? In this book Kate Crawford reveals how this planetary network is fueling a shift toward undemocratic governance and increased racial, gender, and economic inequality. Drawing on more than a decade of research, award‑winning science, and technology, Crawford reveals how AI is a technology of extraction: from the energy and minerals needed to build and sustain its infrastructure, to the exploited workers behind “automated” services, to the data AI collects …
The hidden costs of artificial intelligence, from natural resources and labor to privacy, equality, and freedom
“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
What happens when artificial intelligence saturates political life and depletes the planet? How is AI shaping our understanding of ourselves and our societies? In this book Kate Crawford reveals how this planetary network is fueling a shift toward undemocratic governance and increased racial, gender, and economic inequality. Drawing on more than a decade of research, award‑winning science, and technology, Crawford reveals how AI is a technology of extraction: from the energy and minerals needed to build and sustain its infrastructure, to the exploited workers behind “automated” services, to the data AI collects from us.
Rather than taking a narrow focus on code and algorithms, Crawford offers us a political and a material perspective on what it takes to make artificial intelligence and where it goes wrong. While technical systems present a veneer of objectivity, they are always systems of power. This is an urgent account of what is at stake as technology companies use artificial intelligence to reshape the world.
De una forma original y certera Kate Crawford nos guía por las capas que debemos analizar cuando pensamos en IA. Es un informe que se lee como una novela, y eso pocas veces pasa. Muy recomendado.
Des mines de lithium à l'investissement public en matière de défense en passant par les conditions de travail des crowdworkers, les pratiques de recel de données des GAFAM ou encore les modèles racistes et sexistes sous-tendant les classifications soi-disant universelles des comportements dans les algorithmes, ce livre propose une immersion critique dans ce que l'autrice appelle les "systèmes planétaires de l'extraction computationnelle". En montrant que l'Intelligence Artificielle "n'est ni artificielle, ni intelligente", Kate Crawford souligne, contre les visions dématérialisantes promues par cette industrie prédatrice, que celle-ci est avant tout le reflet et un outil de production de relations de pouvoir qui affectent l'environnement comme l'ensemble de la société. Ce livre est du début à la fin une merveille d'érudition, capable de rendre accessible en quelques mots les fonctionnements complexes des chaînes de fabrication mobilisées par l'IA ou encore la généalogie des présupposés anthropologiques sur lesquels reposent les systèmes d'apprentissage automatiques, …
Des mines de lithium à l'investissement public en matière de défense en passant par les conditions de travail des crowdworkers, les pratiques de recel de données des GAFAM ou encore les modèles racistes et sexistes sous-tendant les classifications soi-disant universelles des comportements dans les algorithmes, ce livre propose une immersion critique dans ce que l'autrice appelle les "systèmes planétaires de l'extraction computationnelle". En montrant que l'Intelligence Artificielle "n'est ni artificielle, ni intelligente", Kate Crawford souligne, contre les visions dématérialisantes promues par cette industrie prédatrice, que celle-ci est avant tout le reflet et un outil de production de relations de pouvoir qui affectent l'environnement comme l'ensemble de la société. Ce livre est du début à la fin une merveille d'érudition, capable de rendre accessible en quelques mots les fonctionnements complexes des chaînes de fabrication mobilisées par l'IA ou encore la généalogie des présupposés anthropologiques sur lesquels reposent les systèmes d'apprentissage automatiques, sans pour autant perdre de vue une perspective d'émancipation et de recherche de "solidarités alternatives" ancrée dans des histoires multisituées.
Atlas of AI manages to dig deep into the systems and cost of Artificial Intelligence without ever overcomplicating the ideas for a general reader. Using contemporary feminist philosophy, Crawford compares extraction of minerals to extraction of data to extraction of labour, and concludes that a revised understanding of technology is needed.
One of the main arguments, which is very well developed throughout, places AI research by big tech companies in line with much eugenic and colonial thought systems, highlighting how they are embedding outdated and bigoted ideas in the underlying bias of supposedly neutral systems. Similarly, the colonial patterns of extractive human labour that are used to train such systems, and that provide the materials needed to operate them, are overlooked by most companies who develop or sell these systems.
A couple of small complaints: the last couple of chapters become a little journalistic and US-centric, and while Crawford hits …
Atlas of AI manages to dig deep into the systems and cost of Artificial Intelligence without ever overcomplicating the ideas for a general reader. Using contemporary feminist philosophy, Crawford compares extraction of minerals to extraction of data to extraction of labour, and concludes that a revised understanding of technology is needed.
One of the main arguments, which is very well developed throughout, places AI research by big tech companies in line with much eugenic and colonial thought systems, highlighting how they are embedding outdated and bigoted ideas in the underlying bias of supposedly neutral systems. Similarly, the colonial patterns of extractive human labour that are used to train such systems, and that provide the materials needed to operate them, are overlooked by most companies who develop or sell these systems.
A couple of small complaints: the last couple of chapters become a little journalistic and US-centric, and while Crawford hits out at many big tech companies, she seems reluctant to criticise her own employer, Microsoft (this may be contractual, but is pronounced). But these are minor issues in a book that covers more ground than most, presenting complex and long-considered research.
