Anatomy of an AI System
Article

Anatomy of an AI System

The Amazon Echo As an Anatomical Map of Human Labor, Data and Planetary Resources

Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler
Share Lab, 2018

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8

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Professors Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler have created a map that visualizes the many processes that make the Amazon Echo work. In this essay, which accompanies their map, they take you on a fascinating journey outlining the global networks of raw material, human labor and data behind today’s popular gadgets. 

Summary

Operating AI-powered devices involves massive amounts of resources: raw material, human labor and data. Rare earth minerals, for example, are indispensable components of many electronic devices. Minable ore deposits of rare earth minerals are concentrated in only a few places, and their extraction is cumbersome and highly polluting. Yet these minerals, which took billions of years to form in the Earth’s crust, are used in devices with a lifespan of only a few years. The minerals then end up back underground in electronic waste dumps. The chains of production from mine to product are so complex that technology companies are hard-pressed...

About the Authors

Kate Crawford is a professor at New York University. Vladan Joler is a professor at the Academy of Arts at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia.

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