The Evolution of Statistics

Kate Crawford joins PTO to talk about her book, Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence. We talked about why some proponents of AI are so convinced - against so much evidence - that systems of machine learning will truly be able to replicate human intelligence, and how the extraordinary material impacts of AI systems - from rare earth mining to electrical power needs - tend not to be discussed. We also talked about the early history of statistical analysis and the new discipline's relationship to eugenics. And finally we discussed how workplace surveillance systems, in spite of their apparent novelty, are in some ways replicating the practices of managerial control of the early factory system.