Where to learn politically about AI?

TL;DR; List of books to learn about the political world of AI:

Skepticism, activism and technical vision are an interesting combination for the current market moment: while I am able to take advantage of and get excited about the developments in the area of artificial intelligence, it is inevitable to follow a political path to see the larger context in which we, in Brazil and in the world, are inserted - we cannot close our eyes to reports of abuse and to the journey we are heading towards as a society.

Even though my role in the Master's degree is to technically understand the technologies that dominate the news today, my mind always seeks to understand how increasingly influential and dominating companies are using AI to direct everything we access online: your timeline, your e-commerce discounts, the videos you watch, the movie you watch on Friday with your husband, the news that reaches you, the ads you see. There is no longer any information space that is not influenced by algorithms , there are no longer any communities that do not need to behave differently to generate engagement.

The launch of Project Stargate , the dreams of AGI, and the corporate drive to automate everything have in common a complex system of closed-door meetings, government lobbying, and a lot of money on the table to keep Big Tech companies from being held accountable for their actions in the world. Whether it’s influencing elections, causing political destabilization, or widespread violence, BigTechs seem untouchable when it comes to being punished for the products they build.

Despite the conspiratorial tone of this post, I want to offer a path of knowledge for those seeking more information on how, having lost the war to Social Networks and their ability to polarize entire countries, we are doing the same with Artificial Intelligence, leaving the world at the mercy of the unregulated influence of this possible new world order.

I have prepared a list of books for you, whether you are a technologist or interested in learning more about the fascinating world of Artificial Intelligence from a political perspective, to offer you tools to discern what is real and what is just cheap marketing for financial speculation. I believe it will help you in your day-to-day technology work and build a more skeptical view of the industry.

All of these books have reviews right here on the site, and they always provide a perspective beyond a summary. I invite you to browse the posts, which are always full of references. None of the books expect the reader to have any in-depth technical knowledge.

This list is not definitive, and I recognize that it is very much skewed toward an American perspective of the world. I am super interested in receiving new references and learning more about other authors; feel free to suggest readings!

The Chaos Machine - Max Fisher

The first book on the list is no coincidence. It defines a common line of action for all tech companies today: Defy, Defend, Depose .

Despite ample evidence of the impact of social media on a wide range of acts of violence, companies have done very little to prevent more incidents like the one in Sri Lanka from happening.

School bombings, genocide, conspiracy theories, online hate - all are maximized by social media, without them even being held properly accountable for it.

From the moment algorithms began to maximize engagement on the platform, all types of extreme content began to be massified, and the real impact only worsens.

Unmasking AI - Joy Buolawini

Facial Recognition and Computer Vision are among the hottest topics in recent years. We need to get serious about this!

What is the cost to the life of a person who is wrongly identified by Facial Recognition systems? What responsibility should the technology companies that develop such systems have? What compensation should the State provide to those who are wrongly imprisoned? There are already MANY cases of people being arrested due to failures in facial recognition systems.

In her book Unmasking AI, Dr. Joy Buolamwini delves deeper into the topic from the perspective of her master's and PhD research, presenting a compelling argument about the problem of the use of these systems by state agents. The book is also complemented by the work of Tarcízio Silva, whose book Raciso Algoritmo I highly recommend .

In the book, a very interesting term explored is “Excoded”, as a technological synonym for expelled, segregated, left aside. I don’t know if there is a translation, but it would be something like “excoded”. And why is this important?

As we hand over most of the decision-making regarding access to services and products to autonomous agents, these systems will have a greater influence on the segregation inherent in our social structure: excluded in the real world, excluded in the digital world. Excoded is a term that refers to how, through our systems, we may be amplifying and reproducing problems in our society.

The Nine Titans of AI - Amy Webb

In the global division of labor, we are data providers for large-scale probabilistic systems. We continue to be a colony.

Amy Webb describes in depth who the 9 Titans of Artificial Intelligence are, and what can happen when we hand over our decision-making ability to systems created by a few people:

We give up to algorithms our power to decide what we eat, what we watch, who we hire, what route we take to work, who partners we have, where we invest, how much we pay and receive for services. We are dominated by the decisions of teams that do not know us, and believe they are doing something good for humanity.

We are in a modern arms race, and software will be the main weapon: Artificial Intelligence will impact our lives in the coming decades. How are 2 countries leading the way in this journey, and 9 companies representing all the digital power to disrupt the modern world?

An extremely important book to understand how the world will shape itself from now on

Work Without the Worker - Philip Jones

Phil Jones writes in the book Work Without the Worker, a very important book to describe the current moment of AI development:

The dream of General Artificial Intelligence hides an army of forgotten workers , in precarious conditions of near survival, who become dependent on platforms with the sole objective of extracting the maximum from their data and work capacity.

The only way AI works is by not paying the real cost of producing and operating the technology:

- With data restricted by intellectual property without authorization

- With precarious workers to save what AI cannot do

- Consuming almost all the water in the world.

Knowing where the prompt comes from is the best way to build a fairer future.

Taming Silicon Valley - Gary Marcus

Gary Marcus is one of the main critics of the current approach to artificial intelligence, having even testified in the American Congress about the risks of LLMs and technology companies being left free to develop their technologies, without any regulatory or auditing process.

In this book from late last year, the author explores how we can ensure that AI development is positive, and where we are failing to hold companies accountable for its spread .

A great book to serve as an example of what we can do today to stop the unbridled path of this current approach with LLMs without any accountability or regulation. The book makes an argument for innovation through regulation that seems quite coherent to me and can serve as a guide for the future.

AI Snake Oil - Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor

The book AI Snake Oil, released in October 2024, by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, will become a staple in my library on Artificial Intelligence.

With a very skeptical approach, the book explores how much of what exists today in AI is pure propaganda, and how we may be being fooled by the hype . As two academics with experience also in large technology companies, the duo brings a blunt view on the subject.

Dividing the analysis into Predictive AI, Generative AI and Content Moderation AI, the book describes what works and especially what doesn't work in Artificial Intelligence. Important for those looking to invest in technology, or those who work in the discussion of AI usage policies. Spoiler: practically no Predictive AI product works correctly.

The book is very good, and totally recommended for anyone who wants to understand the current state of the artificial intelligence market in a direct and skeptical way, with hundreds of references to delve even deeper than the many pages of content that the book presents.

I believe this list will provide many arguments to understand when to use AI safely, and when to question what we are receiving every day from marketing departments and government lobbyists.

As I continue on this path of study, this site serves as a repository and showcase.