Atlas of AI

Outline

Atlas of AI (2021) shows that artificial intelligence is not just clever software but a system built on physical resources, human labour, and large amounts of data. Kate Crawford follows AI from the mines that supply minerals for computers to the workers who label data and the ways AI is used to classify and monitor people. The book raises important questions about power, fairness, and the true costs of AI.

• Artificial intelligence is not just clever software but a system built on physical resources, human labour, and large amounts of data.
• AI can be traced back to the mines that supply the minerals computers need.
• Workers who label data are a hidden part of how AI systems come to exist.
• AI is also used to classify and monitor people, which raises questions about power and fairness.
• Crawford asks readers to consider the true costs of AI instead of accepting its image as clean and neutral.

Kate Crawford is an Australian scholar and author who studies the social and political effects of artificial intelligence. She has held senior research positions at Microsoft Research and the University of Southern California and co-founded research groups focused on AI and society. Her book Atlas of AI has received international awards.