Understanding the People Behind the Machines
Humans of AI explores the hidden culture of AI workers and reveals the people behind a technology often sold as post-human. Believed to be ushering in an era decentring individuality, this book depicts the vitality of personhood even in the creation of AI.

Unmasking the rituals and cultural norms that define communities of artificial intelligence (AI) workers, Humans of AI demonstrates that there would be no AI without human intervention.

Not a day goes by without breathless commentary on the increasing power of this innovative technology. Hype flows from the sages of Silicon Valley. But who is behind the evolution of this technology, and how does it really work? In Humans of AI, anthropologist Joseph Wilson details his efforts to understand the process and customs of AI development.

Wilson introduces readers to the hidden world of AI - behind the doors of chip design labs, coding bootcamps, and organizations teaching AI to speak dozens of languages. He meets philosophers envisioning a future without disease or death, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who warns of AI’s existential risks, and ghost workers whose invisible labor powers the world’s biggest tech platforms. He also speaks with writers, artists, and developers wrestling with the promise and peril of AI to find out what they really think of ChatGPT. Wilson’s empathetic and thoughtful investigation provides readers a front row view on how AI is actually made.

Humans of AI is indispensable in reminding people that the work of AI is not miraculous or magical, but vividly human.