Atlas of AI
by Kate Crawford
Kate Crawford maps AI's hidden infrastructure and its human costs.
"AI depends on exploiting energy and mineral resources from the planet, cheap labor, and data at scale.".
Editorial Summary
Kate Crawford, an AI researcher at USC Annenberg and principal researcher at Microsoft Research, offers a sweeping investigation into artificial intelligence's material and social foundations in Atlas of AI. Rather than treating AI as abstract algorithms, Crawford traces the physical infrastructure, labor systems, and geopolitical supply chains that enable machine learning systems—from rare earth mining to data annotation sweatshops to energy-intensive server farms. The book argues that understanding AI requires mapping these hidden networks of extraction, exploitation, and environmental damage that remain invisible in corporate narratives. Crawford examines how companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft deploy AI while obscuring the human and planetary costs embedded in their systems, making this work essential for readers seeking to understand AI beyond the hype.
Perspective
"Read this if you've been seduced by promises of artificial intelligence's transformative potential but want to understand what's actually being transformed—and who pays the price. Crawford's unflinching examination of AI's supply chains and labor exploitation is mandatory reading in an era where OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepMind dominate headlines while their material dependencies remain unexamined."
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