Deep Unlearning: My Journey from AI Idealist to Tech Realist
Synopsis
Part autobiography, part manifesto: Timnit Gebru is one of the fiercest critics of silicon valley's current dominance of Artificial Intelligence. As a true insider who has worked for some of the major players in the field, as co-lead on the Ethics in AI team at Google, she exposed the racism, sexism, and unscientific practices pervading Silicon Valley, demonstrating how current AI systems perpetuate bias against marginalized communities.
The book traces her journey from refugee to prominent AI researcher, culminating in her high-profile firing from Google in 2020 for co-authoring the "Stochastic Parrots" paper warning about large language models like ChatGPT. She challenges those currently in control and questions the ideologies beneath the hype. She critiques how billionaires like Sam Altman and Elon Musk pursue "AGI" (artificial general intelligence) as a "machine god" while exploiting labour, consuming massive resources, and centralizing power-all in the name of the new technological age.
In response, she offers an alternative vision of what AI can be and who owns it: a community-rooted, distributed system that serves actual human needs. It is the offer of a technology for all, that truly benefits everyone.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Verso Books
- ISBN: 9781836740780
- Number of pages: 368
- Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm
- Weight: 450g
- Languages: English


















