The mission of Artificial Unintelligence can be summed up with one request: “It’s time to stop rushing blindly into the digital future and start making better, more thoughtful decisions about when and why to use technology” (7). Author Meredith Broussard is a trained computer scientist who has observed the rise of computing from the inside: she was a first-year computer science major at Harvard in 1991, the year Tim Berners-Lee launched the first website (4). Broussard was a data journalist for many years and describes the lens of skepticism she applies to the promises of tech. To describe this honed professional skepticism, Broussard coins the term “technochauvinism,” which she defines as “the belief that tech is always the solution” (8). Artificial Unintelligence brilliantly makes its case with memorable tales through the history of computing and clear language that doesn’t require any previous knowledge of the subject. Although Artificial Unintelligence is a “collection of stories with purpose” (9), Broussard devotes the first three chapters to the basics of how computers and computer programs work. The remaining chapters are “computational adventures,” or case studies in technochauvinism based on reporting done since the early 2000s. The introductory chapters clearly and superbly introduce those with zero background in technology to the basics of hardware, software, programing, and artificial intelligence. By demystifying the building blocks of computer science, Broussard also shows just how socially constructed computing and data are, and how distinct computer processing is from human intelligence (revealing the phrase “artificial intelligence” to be an oxymoron). She also describes how these building blocks of computer science came into being, highlighting how groups and organizations were at the heart of these innovations instead of the oft-valorized individuals whose names we well know (e.g., Steve Jobs). Artificial Unintelligence doesn’t read like a scholarly work and yet its bibliography is a map of important journalism and scholarship on technology in the past thirty years. I cannot recommend the first three chapters highly enough as an accessible introduction for high schoolers, adult learners, and everyone in between in any coursework related to statistics, computer science, information science, political science, government, digital humanities, AI, and more. Similarly, I recommend the whole of Artificial Unintelligence as required reading for every librarian working on and teaching about the web. We should have anecdotes in our back pocket that complicate popular conceptions about technology like the inability for the most advanced robots to navigate a messy floor better than a three-year-old human or how (and why) all voice assistant technology has been branded with femininesounding names (Alexa, Cortana, Siri). These anecdotes demonstrate the importance of deep, interdisciplinary study of technology. Through complicating and challenging popular narratives about technology and information, Artificial Unintelligence and librarians share a mission: to create a more literate, informed citizenry.

中文翻译：

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人工智能

人工智能的使命可以用一个请求来概括：“是时候停止盲目地冲向数字未来，开始就何时以及为何使用技术做出更好、更深思熟虑的决定”（7）。作者 Meredith Broussard 是一位训练有素的计算机科学家，她从内部观察了计算的兴起：她于 1991 年在哈佛大学攻读计算机科学专业一年级，这一年 Tim Berners-Lee 推出了第一个网站 (4)。Broussard 多年来一直是一名数据记者，她描述了她对技术承诺所持的怀疑态度。为了描述这种磨练的专业怀疑主义，布鲁萨德创造了“技术沙文主义”一词，她将其定义为“相信技术永远是解决方案”（8）。人工智能通过计算的历史和清晰的语言出色地讲述了令人难忘的故事，不需要任何先前的主题知识。尽管人工智能是“有目的的故事集”（9），但 Broussard 将前三章用于介绍计算机和计算机程序如何工作的基础知识。其余章节是“计算冒险”，或者是基于 2000 年代初以来所做报告的技术沙文主义案例研究。介绍性章节清晰而出色地向那些零技术背景的人介绍了硬件、软件、编程和人工智能的基础知识。通过揭开计算机科学构建块的神秘面纱，布鲁萨德还展示了社会构建的计算和数据是如何构成的，以及计算机处理与人类智能的区别（揭示“人工智能”一词是矛盾的）。她还描述了这些计算机科学的组成部分是如何形成的，强调了团体和组织如何成为这些创新的核心，而不是我们熟知的名字经常受到重视的个人（例如，史蒂夫·乔布斯）。人工智能读起来不像学术著作，但它的参考书目是过去三十年重要新闻和技术学术的地图。对于高中生、成人学习者以及与统计学、计算机科学、信息科学、政治科学、政府、数字人文、人工智能等相关的任何课程中的任何人，我都高度推荐前三章作为易于理解的介绍。相似地，我推荐整本《人工智能》作为每个从事网络工作和教学的图书馆员的必读读物。我们的后兜里应该有一些轶事，让人们对技术的流行概念复杂化，比如最先进的机器人无法比三岁的人类更好地在凌乱的地板上导航，或者所有语音助手技术如何（以及为什么）被打上烙印女性化的名字（Alexa、Cortana、Siri）。这些轶事证明了对技术进行深入的跨学科研究的重要性。通过使有关技术和信息的流行叙述复杂化和具有挑战性，人工智能和图书馆员有一个共同的使命：创造一个更有文化、更知情的公民。