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1. Our Inevitable Future
   There is a new subgenre of non-fiction I have officially claimed: books written by journalists. They find such interesting and necessary stories, and are able to tell them from an objective standpoint. They can share an incredibly informative narrative without feeling like a textbook. Code Dependent is a perfect example of this.While this book discusses topics directly and tangentially related to artificial intelligence, it does so by interviewing real people (namely women and minorities) to discuss various topics:𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉 𝑱𝒐𝒃𝒔👍🏻The Good: Introducing digital literacy to communities that would not otherwise have access, educational opportunities.👎🏻The Bad: Outsourcing trauma-inducing content moderation jobs to North African and Middle Eastern that can break a person’s spirit.𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏👍🏻The Good: Finding kidnapped children using age progression technology, and trafficked children using makeup removal filters👎🏻The Bad: Governmental monitoring of citizens, such as the social credit system in China𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐/𝑽𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏👍🏻The Good: CGI in movies (could prevent another Alec Baldwin situation, for example)👎🏻The Bad: Deepfake porn. Enough said.𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕👍🏻The Good: Radiological evaluations of BIPOC patients using raw medical imaging to reduce systemic racism by trained doctors.👎🏻The Bad: UberFoods shortchanging the paychecks of (often disadvantaged) drivers due to ever-changing variables that AI couldn’t possibly keep up with.This is not just a book about AI. This a book is about our inevitable future as AI becomes more and more integrated here and around the world.I recommend this book to anybody interested in topics related to disenfranchised communities, racism, & social commentary!

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2. A stunner of a book that goes into the dangers of AI
   A stunner of a book that goes into the dangers of AI. Now shortlisted for the inaugural women’s prize for nonfiction, Madhumita Murgia’s “Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI” divides explores the effects of AI on underrepresented people: data miners, deep fake victims, shift workers, the disenfranchised, the poor, children, minority populations. etc. She methodically details how uses of AI have contributed to what she terms data colonialism–“human lives converted into continuous streams of data.” Corporations will often use the talents of “low-wage workers” to data mine and do the work needed for these AI programs to prosper. The companies hire vulnerable people (usually refugees or immigrants) who often have no other source of income. It’s maddening to read Murgia’s interviews with these workers, and how they are treated by the companies who profit so much from their work. As Murgia writes, “Data workers are the invaluable human links in the global AI supply chain.”Murgia shows us how uber drivers, doctors, researchers, teenagers, and mothers struggle with and are often harmed by AI and its uses. We read about women who are stalked and harassed by men who use their images as part of pornographic deep fakes. Delivery drivers who are cheated and underpaid. Young girls in an impoverished part of Argentina who are scanned into databases because they are allegedly at risk for teenage pregnancy (a faulty and another cruel use of AI). We see young immigrant boys treated as criminals by programs that use AI. Again and again, Murgia highlights how AI has become so prevalent in our society, and how it has become a tool for corporations. As Murgia writes in the book, corporations now have more power than governments.If there’s a tiny drawback to the book, it’s that the epilogue is a bit too long, as it makes points Murgia already covered. By the end of the epilogue, Murgia has made her case and she leaves us with ten important questions. The book is a warning to all of us who don’t pay attention to the dangers because we think it won’t impact us. It has and it will.

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3. Every year, there’s one book I read that I end up not being able to shut up about. This year, it’s Code Dependent.I read mostly non-fiction written by women, and I was delighted when the Women’s Prize for Non-fiction was announced – this was absolutely worthy of being on the shortlist.AI has been a hot topic for a while, but I’ve understood little beyond the very basics. This book does a great job of explaining a variety of applications of this emerging technology, as well as behind the scenes of development. It’s eye-opening, without being wildly terrifying, and it’s also an engaging read. I feel much better informed without having been either patronised or overwhelmed.

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4. Great book to reflect on the role of AI.

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5. I bought this on Amazon, I should have bought it from a remote farmer in bogglestan. Great Job Garry. Hurrah!

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6. Accessible writing style, could have been a little shorter.

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7. This book opened my eyes on what is truly happening with AI. I had never truly understood what “cookies” were about and I certainly did not know some poor people are paid a pittance to have nightmares having to watch endless footage with violent, pornographic etc content to as to ensure it does reach us. I did not know who was behind driverless cars. And so, so much more. This book is written in plain, accessible language and I am in awe at how courageous the author and the people who contributed are.. Do read! You will never quite behave in the same way on line.. Bravo to the author!

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