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

336 Pages·2021·11.733 MB·English

by  Kate Crawford

Atlas of AI
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Atlas of AI
Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs
of Artificial Intelligence
KATE CRAWFORD
New Haven and London
Copyright © 2021 by Kate Crawford.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including
illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by
Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by
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e- mail [email protected] (U.S. office) or [email protected]
(U.K. office).
Cover design and chapter opening illustrations by Vladan Joler.
Set in Minion by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020947842
ISBN 978- 0- 300- 20957- 0 (hardcover : alk. paper)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Elliott and Margaret
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Contents
Introduction 1
ONe. Earth 23
twO. Labor 53
three. Data 89
fOur. Classification 123
fIve. Affect 151
SIx. State 181
CONCluSION. Power 211
COdA. Space 229
Acknowledgments 239
Notes 245
Bibliography 269
Index 315

Introduction
The Smartest Horse in the World
At the end of the nineteenth century, Europe was
captivated by a horse called Hans. “Clever Hans”
was nothing less than a marvel: he could solve math
problems, tell time, identify days on a calendar, dif-
ferentiate musical tones, and spell out words and sentences.
People flocked to watch the German stallion tap out answers
to complex problems with his hoof and consistently arrive at
the right answer. “What is two plus three?” Hans would dili-
gently tap his hoof on the ground five times. “What day of the
week is it?” The horse would then tap his hoof to indicate each
letter on a purpose-b uilt letter board and spell out the correct
answer. Hans even mastered more complex questions, such as,
“I have a number in mind. I subtract nine and have three as a
remainder. What is the number?” By 1904, Clever Hans was an
international celebrity, with the New York Times championing
him as “Berlin’s Wonderful Horse; He Can Do Almost Every-
thing but Talk.”1
Hans’s trainer, a retired math teacher named Wilhelm
von Osten, had long been fascinated by animal intelligence.