Kate Crawford pulls back the curtain on AI, starting from the minerals and energy necessary for the expansion of the technology, to the workers that make these systems possible, to the methodologies and data sources that drive the sector. Through it all Crawford applies a rigorous, critical eye to the claims of boosters.

While this is a widely accessible book, it does skew towards philosophical phrasing, which reads strangely if you're unfamiliar with that kind of academic discourse. Beyond that, it was a bit unfortunate that Crawford doesn't apply the same rigor to analyzing claims about what company X does with technology or sparse media reports, often relying on a single media report or anecdote to state a point as fact. That being said, this is still an essential book for anyone building, using, or thinking of using any class of AI technology. Highly recommend