Click the pic to see the book on Amazon (associate link)
This review was first published in Teach Secondary magazine in September 2021.
One of the purposes of learning computing is to ensure pupils can evaluate IT by delving below the surface. This ‘Atlas’ takes students deep into the field of artificial intelligence which, according to Crawford, is actually neither artificial, nor intelligent. Venturing beyond considerations of algorithms with built-in biases, she goes on to explore the larger projected costs of AI in terms of both physical and human resources. Her observations are highly readable, and will likely to give teachers a wider and a more in-depth knowledge of what can be a difficult topic to grasp. Crawford pointedly queries certain applications of AI, such as emotion recognition, and firmly rejects the notion of techno-determinism. On the whole, Atlas of AI is a well-researched well-written, and enlightening – if somewhat depressing – read.
