Atlas of AI

Atlas of AI examines the physical and social infrastructure underlying artificial intelligence systems, challenging the notion that AI is purely digital or immaterial. Crawford traces the supply chains, mining operations, data centers, and human labor that enable machine learning, from rare earth mineral extraction to content moderation work in the Global South. The book argues that understanding AI requires mapping these often-invisible dependencies and their environmental and social costs.

Published in 2021, the work has become influential in critical AI studies and technology ethics, shaping how researchers, policymakers, and the public understand AI's true footprint. Crawford combines investigative journalism with academic rigor, visiting sites of extraction and labor to document firsthand the human and environmental toll of AI development.