The Best New(ish) Books about AI: By Women & Non-Binary Authors
By Leah Morris, Editor.
It was tech journalist Karen Hao who I first observed comparing the feudalistic tech world with ancient Rome; dramatic and patriarchal with a centre that (surely) can't hold.
Since listening her book 'Empire of AI' over several days while painting my mother's house, I've found much solace in women's perspectives on AI.
Many of them critique the rampant social and environmental negligence and egoistic individualism of its leaders and their flawed ethos. Unforgiving of the broligarchy whose products continue to adversely impact women and minorities through built-in bias, stereotyping, labour inequality, digital abuse, and healthcare risks to cover it broadly.
Men hold 8 in 10 artificial intelligence jobs and almost 9 in 10 AI senior leadership positions. – UN Women
At Mavens, we believe that by expanding our AI literacy, we can vote in better leaders and help educate the next generation to do the same. Here's a round-up to get you started.
What if we got AI right? How to stop catastrophising and build an ethical future
By Eleanor Drage
If AI doom is getting you down, try picking up this contemporary opinion read by AI ethicist Dr Eleanor Drage. She unpacks the very human motivations driving the AI race, and demystifies it to present new language and ideas that could point us toward a more ethical future where feminism, reparative justice and climate politics show up in conversations and subsequent actions.
Empire of AI: Inside the reckless race for total domination
By Karen Hao
Tech journalist Karen Hao details the rise of the tech broligarchy with a sensationalist storytelling flare not unlike Shakespeare's Julius Caesar – albeit with a journalistic prose. Key players like Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Demis Hassabis are treated like characters in a play, each act more unbelievable than the last.
This book is proof that truth is stranger than fiction, and it’s all told with great empathy for those people harmed in the creation of AI, like content moderators in the global south. Hao’s contention is clear: AI is a new form of colonialism.
“In the simplest terms, empires amassed extraordinary riches across space and time, through imposing a colonial world order, at great expense to everyone else.” – Karen Hao
How Not to Use AI: 50 Contrarian Principles for the Imagination Age
By Abi Awomosu
An ex-big tech insider, Abi Awomosu spent nearly twenty years inside Meta, Apple, Uber, Microsoft, eBay and Google. This book began as a Substack amassing over 16k followers and growing (subscribe here). A self-described contrarian, her writing boldly unpacks human truths behind the machines and encourages us to cultivate technological sovereignty. As its self-published, this edition is not readily available but you can find it at independent Australian bookseller Readings.
“AI is a medium, not a maker. There is no mastering of AI. There is only mastering yourself.” – Abi Awomosu
The New Age of Sexism: How the AI revolution is reinventing misogyny
By Laura Bates
A revealing blend of research, anecdotes and cautionary tales about the impact of AI on women and girls today. We found this book highly triggering, as it described in detail the heartbreaking abuse of young girls and women via deep fakes. The author also shares firsthand accounts of abuse endured as a visible advocate in this space. Nevertheless, it’s an important read, especially for dads and men working in tech who have a duty of care to their users.
Unmasking AI
By Dr Joy Buolamwini
Dr Joy Buolamwini is a researcher, academic and leader whose groundbreaking research was among the first to expose racial and gender bias in AI services by big tech. She coined the term ‘coded gaze’ to facilitate community understanding of these issues, founding The Algorithmic Justice League, a movement advocating for the prevention of AI harms. You can also watch the related documentary 'Coded Bias' (2020) and follow Dr Joy Buolamwini on LinkedIn for brilliant and ongoing thought leadership.
“The rising frontier for civil rights will require algorithmic justice. AI should be for the people and by the people, not just the privileged few.” – Dr Joy Buolamwini
Blockchain Chicken Farm And Other Stories of Tech in China’s Countryside
By Xiaowei Wang
Technologist, writer and coder Xiaowei Wang identifies as a non-binary American with Chinese heritage. Their first book ‘Blockchain Chicken Farm’ reads like a travelogue rooted in culture, identity and family. It approaches Eastern culture with the acceptance, love and curiousity of someone who has lived it mostly through family connections. Wang is comedic at times as they recount anecdotes about rural people and their use of emerging technology, often innovated through economic necessity. With nine fascinating stories you have definitely never read elsewhere, this non-fiction novella will will leave you with a broadened understanding not only of China’s technological outlook but of its broader history and culture.
Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World
By Parmy Olsen
Much like Hao’s ‘Empire of AI’, tech journalist Parmy Olsen (Forbes, Wall Street Journal) has witnessed the patriarchal race to build god-like, super intelligent machines in real time. She uses her network of high ranking sources to deliver exclusive insights wrapped in journalistic cohesion, albeit with less criticism and perspective. A great book for anyone compelled by the absurdity of the AI race, although we felt it lacked boldness and solidarity.
MAN-MADE: How the bias of the past is being built into the future
By Tracy Spicer
An Australian take on AI bias by Walkley Award-winning journalist Tracy Spicer, ‘MAN-MADE’ is a strong research piece peppered with historical facts (women weavers invented the first code) and personal anecdotes (‘mum, I want a robot slave’).
It’s difficult to tell what Spicer’s contention is throughout – we sensed a push-pull of AI boom versus doom which is, perhaps, the point. The great writer Joan Didion famously once wrote, ‘I write entirely to understand what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means’, and we suspect Spicer was on a similar journey while writing this book. It's an entertaining and educational journey to join her on and we love to support Australian authors.
The Gospel of a Mad Woman
By Jane Evans
Earlier this year, Mavens hosted legendary advertising creative director and 7th Tribe founder Jane Evans for her Australian speaking tour also titled ‘The Gospel of a Mad Woman’. Both our Sydney and Melbourne events sold out, and this book is the next best thing.
In Evans' words, the reader traverses a path worn by the feet of women since the birth of Western civilisation, ending with a tantalising glimpse of a not‑too‑distant future. A future in which we have the power to reject war, empire, caste and the repression of women in favour of matriarchy and the divine feminine. AI is a consistent theme throughout the book, with Jane Evans leading important conversations, experiments and research in this space.
Limited copies available, get yours via Mavens online store here.
This article's hero image was shot by Jessie Brinkman Evans, and styled by Madeleine Aldridge and Asha Barr (with thanks to Poppet).
