AI in the Wild: Sustainability in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

278 Pages·2020·12.342 MB·English

by  Peter Dauvergne

AI IN THE WILD
One Planet
Sikina Jinnah and Simon Nicholson, series editors
Peter Dauvergne, AI in the Wild: Sustainability in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Vincent Ialenti, Deep Time Reckoning: How Future Thinking Can Help Earth Now
AI IN THE WILD
SUSTAINABILITY IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
PETER DAUVERGNE
THE MIT PRESS CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS LONDON, ENGLAND
© 2020 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any
electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information
storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book was set in ITC Stone and Avenir by New Best-set Typesetters Ltd.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dauvergne, Peter, author.
Title: AI in the wild : sustainability in the age of artificial intelligence /
Peter Dauvergne.
Other titles: Artificial intelligence in the wild
Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2020] | Series: One planet |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019057051 | ISBN 9780262539333 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Artificial intelligence—Social aspects. | Artificial intelligence—
Economic aspects. | Sustainable development.
Classification: LCC Q334.7 .D38 2020 | DDC 303.48/34—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019057051
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Cayte

CONTENTS
SERIES FOREWORD ix
PREFACE xi
1 INTRODUCTION: GENIUS OR MADNESS? 1
PART I: THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AI
2 DATAFYING LIFE ON EARTH 23
3 THE RISING POWER OF AI 35
PART II: THE PROSPECTS AND LIMITS OF AI
4 CONSERVING AND REWILDING THE EARTH 53
5 ENHANCING ECO-B USINESS 71
6 SMART PRODUCTS 85
7 SMART CITIES AND FARMS 101
PART III: THE DANGERS OF AI
8 DEEPENING INEQUALITY AND INJUSTICE 119
9 ACCELERATING EXTRACTION AND CONSUMPTION 133
10 THE INTELLIGENT EYES OF REPRESSION 147
viii Contents
11 WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION 163
12 CONCLUSION: NAVIGATING THE SHOALS OF HUBRIS 179
NOTES 197
FURTHER READING 235
INDEX 249