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Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence

by Kate Crawford (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 366 ratings
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The hidden costs of artificial intelligence—from natural resources and labor to privacy, equality, and freedom
 
“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
 
“A valuable corrective to much of the hype surrounding AI and a useful instruction manual for the future.”—John Thornhill, Financial Times
 
“It’s a masterpiece, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”—Karen Hao, senior editor, MIT Tech Review
 
What happens when artificial intelligence saturates political life and depletes the planet? How is AI shaping our understanding of ourselves and our societies? Drawing on more than a decade of research, award‑winning scholar Kate Crawford reveals how AI is a technology of extraction: from the minerals drawn from the earth to the labor pulled from low-wage information workers to the data taken from every action and expression.
 
Crawford reveals how this planetary network is fueling a shift toward undemocratic governance and increased inequity. Rather than taking a narrow focus on code and algorithms, Crawford offers us a material and political perspective on what it takes to make AI and how it centralizes power. This is an urgent account of what is at stake as technology companies use artificial intelligence to reshape the world.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0300264631
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0300264630
  3. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  4. Publication date
    August 16, 2022
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
  7. Print length
    336 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“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

“As Kate Crawford’s trenchant Atlas of AI demonstrates again and again, artificial intelligence does not come to us as a deus ex machina but, rather, through a number of dehumanizing extractive practices, of which most of us are unaware.“—Sue Halpern, New York Review of Books

Named one of the “Five Best Books to Read to Get Smart about AI” by the Wall Street Journal

“One of the world’s most thoughtful researchers on the impact of AI delivers a sobering, but essential, read about how AI is accelerating undemocratic governance and increased inequality.”—John Thornhill, Financial Times, Best Books of 2021

“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

“Reveals the hidden costs of artificial intelligence, from the consumption of natural resources to the more subtle costs to our privacy, equality and freedom.—Simon Ings, New Scientist, “Best Books of the Year”

“A compelling new book.”—Stephanie Wood, Sydney Morning Herald

“Atlas of AI is a seminal work that brings AI within our circle of care. . . . Crawford’s book is a great contribution to the field, as efforts are made at various levels, national and international, in companies and educational institutions, to mitigate the harms of this technology. Crawford underlines that this can only happen if we ‘challenge the structures of power that AI currently reinforces and create the foundations for a different society.’”—Anais Resseguier, AI and Ethics

“Presents an insightful perspective coupled with in-depth analysis. . . . Essential reading for those who are interested in the real-world effects of AI development, along with its political ramifications. More importantly, Atlas of AI draws attention to widely ignored aspects of policy debates, namely the human and planetary costs of AI. This book should be welcomed by AI enthusiasts, students, scholars and policy-makers seeking to grasp the fundamentals of the relationship between AI, politics and society.”—Muhammed Can, International Affairs

“Crawford . . . takes AI from the world of Star Trek and makes it thick, human, and visceral.”—John Slattery, Commonweal

“Brilliantly drawn case studies of data acquisition and processing methods. . . . This eloquently written book will keep readers engaged long after finishing the last page.”—J. Brzezinski, Choice

“An excellent book. . . . I could go on for pages about why this is essential reading to understand what’s at stake with this emerging technology.”—Patricia Gestoso, Certain Age

CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles 2021

Winner of the 2022 Sally Hacker Prize, sponsored by the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT)

Winner of the 2022 Best Information Science Book of the Year Award, sponsored by ASIS&T

“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 make possible.”—Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, SFU’s Canada 150 Chair in New Media

“It’s a masterpiece, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”—Karen Hao, senior editor, MIT Tech Review

“In this eloquent and revelatory survey, Crawford limns the dire stakes of unbridled technological expansion. Methodologically original and keenly intelligent, Atlas of AI is an indispensable map of the present that boldly calls readers to chart a more just and sustainable future.”—Alondra Nelson, president, Social Science Research Council

“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

“By brilliantly tracing the history, mythology, ethics and politics of artificial intelligence, Atlas of AI reminds us that the stories we tell about AI are just as vital as the mathematical models that comprise these systems.”—Ruha Benjamin, author of Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code

About the Author

Kate Crawford is a leading scholar of the social implications of AI. She is a research professor at USC Annenberg, a senior principal researcher at Microsoft Research, and the inaugural chair of AI and Justice at the École Normale Supérieure.
 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press (August 16, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300264631
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300264630
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 366 ratings

About the author

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Kate Crawford

Kate Crawford

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Kate Crawford is a leading scholar of the social and political implications of artificial intelligence. Her work has focused on understanding machine learning and AI in the wider contexts of history, politics, labor, and the environment.

She is a Research Professor at USC Annenberg, a Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research New York, and she currently holds the inaugural Visiting Chair for AI and Justice at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

Her academic research has been published in journals such as Nature, New Media & Society, Science, Technology & Human Values and Information, Communication & Society. Kate’s work also includes collaborative projects and visual investigations. Her project Anatomy of an AI System with Vladan Joler – which maps the full lifecycle of the Amazon Echo – won the Beazley Design of the Year Award in 2019, and is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the V&A Museum in London. Her collaboration with the artist Trevor Paglen produced the first major exhibition on training data, "Training Humans" and their investigative essay, Excavating AI, won the Ayrton Prize from the British Society for the History of Science.  

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
366 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ckalba22
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for ALL world citizens A must read again!!
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2023
Verified Purchase
Fabulous book. Wide ranging, every page full of information that ALL modern citizens should already know or should learn as we go to green technologies and even more dependence on AI and computers. These techs look 'all clean' and 'socially fair' when in fact at every stage (she takes us from design, to engineering to mining, to sales to production of techs) in this 'atlas' of AI we see pollution, inequality, power relationships hidden just beneath the surface. The tip of the AI/computer/green tech iceberg looks all white and clean........the rest (the filth, pollution and inequaity) are all hidden away. Just a tremendous book and not too hard to read. This book should be required reading for all college students, whatever their field!
2 people found this helpful
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Michael J. Bernaski
5.0 out of 5 stars A Critical Perspective on the Hype and Reality of AI
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2021
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Of the many books I have read on AI, having been interested in the topic for 35 years, this is perhaps the most profound. When I read the abstract I thought the goals for the book were going to be almost impossible to achieve. But Kate Crawford has succeeded wonderfully. I find myself referring back to marked sections of the book — and perhaps most importantly questioning some long-held beliefs I have had on the topics. I have shared the book with friends with less time invested in the topic — and they were equally glowing. I hope this finds its way onto the summer reading lists of people with far-flung interests.
13 people found this helpful
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A M
3.0 out of 5 stars Embitterment in regard to AI
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2021
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AI is one of the most important innovations in the last decades. But the author of this book claims that the current application of AI is bad. It requires computers that use rare material, the mining of which harms the environment, and it uses inaccurate training data, to list some of the arguments presented in this book. But when considering these drawbacks against AI's blessing (automatic translation, contribution to medical research, etc.), the criticism seems to be not justified. The author blames AI for searching order in an infinitely complex world (in the Conclusion chapter), but she ignores that this is exactly what science does. The book also includes many interesting reviews of the history of science and AI. I enjoyed very much reading these reviews.
15 people found this helpful
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John Spritz
4.0 out of 5 stars My reading group read this.
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2024
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I wasn't that into it, but, to be fair, everyone else thought it was compelling, scary stuff. So I shall consider myself to be an outlier and them to be the true take on the book.
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Jill
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging study of the underpinnings of AI
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2021
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This “atlas” maps what is often forgotten when discussing AI: material needs like the extraction of lithium and other minerals from the earth with the destruction of nature that requires and the workers, as well as the epistemological constraints of classification and the false proxies of data. The book is engagingly written and easy to follow while richly sourced. I’ll probably assign at least a couple of chapters to undergrads in our digital culture program. I would have loved an audio book version - but I listened to it using automatic text to speech on my phone and it was surprisingly not awful. This is the first time I’ve done that with a whole book.
12 people found this helpful
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Cliff
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Book
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2021
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Brilliant! Unlike any book on technology I’ve read. It opened my mind to new ways of thinking about AI. I've followed AI and machine learning closely for many years and this book lays out a unique roadmap for the next ten years, such as how to address the core questions of environmental harm, work and automation, and data harvesting. It’s beautifully written.. a rarity for books written by academics.
14 people found this helpful
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Michael Anshel
5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Monograph
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2021
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Liked a very much. As a former academic it filled in many details on AI.
6 people found this helpful
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shane higgins
5.0 out of 5 stars The many layers AI has on every level of society.
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2021
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Fantastic overview of AI and ramifications on rhe planet!
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Davor
5.0 out of 5 stars Important read
Reviewed in Canada on March 20, 2023
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Very informative. Should be read by all who are interested in the future affecting the present.
One person found this helpful
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Um excelente e abrangente livro
Reviewed in Brazil on August 15, 2021
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Com apoio em ampla pesquisa, o livro, elegantemente escrito, traz uma abrangente e crítica apreciação da utilização da inteligência artificial, expondo-a a um diálogo com as ciências humanas. Um livro muitíssimo atual, que nos faz abrir os olhos para as graves consequências decorrentes do uso indiscriminado e pouco debatido da inteligência artificial.
2 people found this helpful
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David Arturo Cruz Sanchez
3.0 out of 5 stars Unusual
Reviewed in Mexico on July 21, 2021
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The book has a lot of personal opinions from the author. There’s not enough scientific evidence backing up her statements. It doesn’t really talk about AI. It’s half fiction and half truth.
2 people found this helpful
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Domingos Soares Farinho
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente livro sobre a exigência da IA quanto a recursos naturais
Reviewed in Spain on February 3, 2023
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O livro chegou dentro do prazo acordado e em ótimas condições.
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JOASSARD
5.0 out of 5 stars Behind Ai
Reviewed in France on February 25, 2022
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One of the best Ai book describing what is not said about AI reality
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