Three kinds of questions
75 · Any group
AI problems fall into three parts: the tool, the people it touches, and who holds the power. A talk that stays in only one part will miss the point.
Opening question
When a tool fails, is that a problem of the tool, of the people it touches, or of who holds it?
To hold together
- Which of the three parts does our work or our family already live in?
- Which part do we avoid, and why?
- What would a second part add to a story we think we already understand?
A practice
Open the map. Name the three parts. Each person points to the one they would start with, and the one they know least. Do not correct each other.
Principles to sit beside the facts
Reading reality
See symptoms, patterns, structures, and the mental models that hold them.
Unity
Many perspectives, one shared picture.
Humility
The map is larger than any one of us.
Read or watch beforehand
One piece is enough. Save the rest for later.
Kate Crawford
Research professor · USC Annenberg
Maps AI as an extractive industry: minerals, energy, labour, and classification. Atlas of AI is the book most groups can start with.
Meredith Whittaker
President · Signal
Connects concentration of compute, surveillance business models, and labour. A voice for groups asking who owns the stack.