AI - Not so obvious

Photo of a book on a concrete floor. The book is white, with red and black text on the cover. It is "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI" by Cory Doctorow.

bookpile

Bookpile 12: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI

Bookpile is short posts on Fridays about what I’m reading now and what I’m liking about it. This week, The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI by Cory Doctorow.

A photo of a computer screen, showing a scene. There is a cardboard background with beach umbrellas drawn on it, and other objects in the foreground, all with bounding boxes.

AI

Seeing

Computer vision is everywhere, but gets less public discussion than the other, louder forms of "AI" currently in vogue. Being aware of CV and its assumptions matters.

An illustration of a knight being knocked off his horse by a windmill.

AI

AI defeatism

There seems to be a growing undercurrent of despair and disempowerment in discourse around "AI." The belief that the horse has left the barn encourages apathy and acceptance. But I'm to ready to give in just yet.

The painting "An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump" which is described at length here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Experiment_on_a_Bird_in_the_Air_Pump

AI

When all the air gets sucked out of the room

The last five years have done a lot, in terms of "AI" and its impact on the world. The things I love on the internet are being hollowed out by the effects of scrapers and hyperscale data centres. Education is struggling with a race to the bottom, academic publishing is in the same boat. Now what?

A model of an eye, made of ivory and horn. It sits on a dark surface and casts a shadow.

AI

AI and the terminology land grab

We’re in the middle of a terminology land grab: words are being co-opted and freighted with new meaning. While "AI" can mean a lot of things, it now typically means “whatever helps us sell our product.” I explain why pushing back on the land grab is politically important.

Photo with a garbage bin and light post, both light blue. The sky is a similar shade of blue, and there is a shop in the background selling hats and souvenirs.

ELSA

AI-cologies for everyone

What is an AI-cology, why does it matter, and what is it good for? AI-cologies are a way of thinking about, locating, and questioning the ecologies around and in a particular AI-involving system. This essay takes the example of one specific camera to explain how AI-cologies are constructed.