Stop talking about AI ethics. It's time to talk about power.

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Abstraction: Kate Crawford argues AI must be analyzed as material power, not just ethics

Key points:

Crawford's Atlas of AI (2021) reframes AI as neither artificial nor intelligent—it is built from physical mines, human labor, and statistical analysis at scale, not cognition
Book traces AI supply chain from Nevada lithium mines to Amazon fulfillment centers, documenting geomorphic environmental harm and labor exploitation as core AI costs
"AI ethics" framing is a cul-de-sac; Crawford calls for shifting from ethics principles to interrogating labor rights, environmental justice, and democratic accountability
Crawford and Meredith Whittaker cofounded AI Now Institute (2017), one of the first organizations dedicated to studying AI's social implications
AI classification systems parallel 19th-century craniologist Samuel Morton's racial skull categories—both impose social hierarchies as if objective
Power concentration in tech now rivals early railways; requires collective action across climate justice, labor rights, and data protection movements

Connections: Kate Crawford · AI Now · AI Ethics · Algorithmic Bias