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Artificial Whiteness

Politics and Ideology in Artificial Intelligence
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( 31 ratings, 7 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Artificial Whiteness by Yarden Katz explores the ideological underpinnings of artificial intelligence, revealing how AI serves and mimics the logic of white supremacy. Katz traces AI's evolution from its Cold War military origins to its current prominence in Silicon Valley, arguing that AI is not merely a technical endeavour but a reflection of racial and imperialist worldviews. The book merges theories of race and whiteness with the history and practice of science and computing to challenge prevailing narratives about AI's transformative potential, urging readers to recognise and contest the social hierarchies it reinforces.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This incisive critique will appeal to readers interested in the intersections of technology, race, social justice, and the politics of knowledge. It is suited for scholars, students, and informed general readers seeking a deeper understanding of AI beyond its technical facets, particularly those engaged with critical race theory, social sciences, and contemporary cultural studies.

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Yarden Katz reveals the ideology embedded in the concept of artificial intelligence, contending that it both serves and mimics the logic of white supremacy. Only by seeing the connection between artificial intelligence and whiteness can we prioritize alternatives to the conception of AI as an all-encompassing technological force.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Dramatic statements about the promise and peril of artificial intelligence for humanity abound, as an industry of experts claims that AI is poised to reshape nearly every sphere of life. Who profits from the idea that the age of AI has arrived? Why do ideas of AI's transformative potential keep reappearing in social and political discourse, and how are they linked to broader political agendas?

Yarden Katz reveals the ideology embedded in the concept of artificial intelligence, contending that it both serves and mimics the logic of white supremacy. He demonstrates that understandings of AI, as a field and a technology, have shifted dramatically over time based on the needs of its funders and the professional class that formed around it. From its origins in the Cold War military-industrial complex through its present-day Silicon Valley proselytisers and eager policy analysts, AI has never been simply a technical project enabled by larger data and better computing. Drawing on intimate familiarity with the field and its practices, Katz instead asks us to see how AI reinforces models of knowledge that assume white male superiority and an imperialist worldview. Only by seeing the connection between artificial intelligence and whiteness can we prioritise alternatives to the conception of AI as an all-encompassing technological force.

Bringing together theories of whiteness and race in the humanities and social sciences with a deep understanding of the history and practice of science and computing, Artificial Whiteness is an incisive, urgent critique of the uses of AI as a political tool to uphold social hierarchies.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised by George Lipsitz as a timely, compelling, and eye-opening work, Artificial Whiteness exposes AI as a technology of power shaped by raced, classed, and gendered logics. Katz's analysis uncovers how whiteness organises AI's ideological agenda, disguising racist and capitalist projects as neutral technological progress. The book offers a chilling warning about AI's entanglement with white supremacy and calls attention to its hidden role in perpetuating inequality.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780231194914

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 November 2020

Country: United States

Imprint: Columbia University Press

Illustration: 25 b&w figures

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 352

About the Author

Yarden Katz is a fellow in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. He received his PhD in brain and cognitive sciences from MIT in 2014.

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