Description
Atlas of AI
Book Summary
This book dismantles the apparent neutrality of artificial intelligence to reveal the physical, political, and social framework that sustains it. The result of over a decade of research, Kate Crawford draws a complete map of the real costs of AI: from the mining of rare earth minerals and the massive consumption of natural resources to the precarization of human labor and the perpetuation of cultural biases. The reader will discover that artificial intelligence is not an immaterial phenomenon, but an industrial system with profound ethical, ecological, and power implications.
What is it about?
The work examines artificial intelligence not as an abstract technology, but as a material and political ecosystem. Crawford analyzes who the true agents creating meaning in these systems are, questioning the supposed scientific objectivity of their results. Through a rigorous approach, the author breaks down every piece of the machinery: the extraction of natural resources such as lithium and coltan, the energy and water consumption of data centers, labor exploitation in content moderation, and the social and cultural biases embedded in algorithms. The book reveals how this technology, far from being a neutral advancement, perpetuates existing power structures and creates new global imbalances.
Key Themes
- The material and ecological cost of artificial intelligence (mining, energy consumption, carbon footprint).
- Labor exploitation and working conditions in the AI value chain.
- Social, racial, and gender biases in algorithmic systems.
- Concentration of power and corporate control in technological development.
- False neutrality and the construction of scientific authority in AI results.
- Large-scale data extraction and its implications for privacy and individual autonomy.
Who is it recommended for?
For readers interested in technology from a critical perspective, digital sector professionals, students and academics of social sciences, philosophy, ethics, or science and technology studies, as well as anyone who wants to understand the true impact of artificial intelligence beyond the commercial narrative.
What this book offers
- A grounded and documented vision of the hidden costs of AI, beyond the dominant technological narrative.
- Tools to critically question the supposed neutrality and objectivity of automated systems.
- An understanding of the power and control dynamics that underlie the development of artificial intelligence globally.
- A detailed analysis of the ecological and social consequences of data and resource extraction.
- An interdisciplinary perspective that connects technology, politics, economics, and ethics.
Technical Specifications
- Author: Crawford, Kate
- Publisher: Nuevos Emprendimientos Editoriales S L
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: Ethical issues: scientific discoveries
- Collection: Huellas y Señales
- Publication date: April 2023
- Number of pages: 448
- Weight: 597 g
Editorial Review
An essential reference work for anyone seeking a deep and critical understanding of artificial intelligence. Crawford not only describes the problems but contextualizes them within a web of economic and political interests. Her rigorous and documented approach makes this atlas a valuable tool for professionals, academics, and citizens who wish to participate in the debate on the technological future with solid and well-founded information.