Eleanor Drage’s AI Book Urges Citizen Control, Questions Big Tech’s Utopian Claims
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 27
Eleanor Drage’s AI Book Urges Citizen Control, Questions Big Tech’s Utopian Claims
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 27
Summary
Eleanor Drage’s “What If We Got AI Right?” argues people should see AI as human-made infrastructure and labor—not mystical intelligence—to better challenge the power of tech companies.
Drage says Silicon Valley’s promises of salvation or apocalypse obscure practical debates over data use, model training and regulation, while distracting from climate change, inequality and geopolitical conflict.
The review says her critique of bias, exploitative supply chains and unchecked executive power is forceful, drawing on research into AI hiring and law-enforcement risks.
It also faults the book for rushed arguments and thin alternatives, saying examples such as the Mumkin and Kuini apps do not clearly show why AI is the best tool.
That leaves the book pressing a sharp ethical case for fairer AI governance, but offering only a limited answer to how AI itself would build a better future.