What If We Got AI Right? by Eleanor Drage review – avoiding apocalypse
Eleanor Drage's new book argues that AI is best understood as a product of human labor — mines, factories, and data work — rather than as an abstract technological force, and that this framing can help citizens push back against tech industry power. A reviewer finds the book ambitious but ultimately limited in the practical answers it delivers.
Why this matters: The core idea here is worth sitting with. When AI gets treated as magic, the people who built it stop being visible — and so does the exploitation behind it. Supply chains, labor conditions, and corporate control all disappear into the mystique. Drage's reframe matters because accountability follows clarity. You cannot hold anyone responsible for something you cannot see clearly. The reviewer's critique — that the book does not deliver on its promise — is its own signal. Ethical frameworks for AI are everywhere. Concrete answers about who is responsible and what citizens can actually do remain scarce.
Who should care: AI governance · Lawyers · Administrators · General readers · Policy
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