One of the ways we can make AI legible is to trace the largely unseen life cycle of a tech object, from the mine to the dump. Physical materials make their way around the globe, are refined, combined, and eventually disposed of and separated, passing through many hands along the way. For example, e-waste, the …
Author: Cat Tassini
Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500 (ongoing)
Atlas of AI author Kate Crawford maintains an ongoing data visualization piece with artist Vladan Joler called Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500. Crawford and Joler map the evolutions of ideas, devices, infrastructures, and systems of power over the centuries and across the globe, contextualizing the current technological moment in which …
AI Ads and Public Reaction
During my commutes, I’ve noticed advertisements for AI products or that use AI imagery on subway cars, in transfer tunnels, and in stations. I’ve made a practice of pausing to take photos of them. What I’m really looking for is not just the ads themselves but where people have interacted with them somehow using graffiti, …
Scholarship: Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence
One of Big Tech’s most frustrating and dangerous habits is portraying artificial intelligence as abstract and immaterial, beyond the grasp of those outside of the tech industry. The imagery associated with AI clearly demonstrates this: translucent blue disembodied robots and decontextualized circuitry. This is an intentional strategy to distract us from the real world costs …