A review by serendipitysbooks
Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia

informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

 

Code Dependent is a look at the impact AI is having on our lives worldwide. Call me naive, but parts of it were truly shocking - artificially created pornographic images of actual people (let’s be honest, it’s mostly women) can be made and shared at will, there’s nothing illegal about it virtually anywhere in the world. One of my big takeaways from this book was the connections between AI and colonisation - the way first world countries are using labour from the third world, cheaply and with very little concern for worker’s health, well-being or agency. 
I worried this book would be too technical for me. That was not the case. It was very humanity focussed, looking at people whose lives had been impacted by AI, for better and for worse. I also appreciated the author’s balanced approach. She clearly had no compunctions highlighting the issues associated with AI - the way facial recognition software is problematic for people of colour for instance - but equally she could see many positives including in the medical field. This book was widely researched, engagingly written and the take home message - proceed but with caution, awareness, and some necessary checks and balances - felt fair, balanced and justified.