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Man-Made

How the Bias of the Past Is Being Built into the Future

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Man-Made

By: Tracey Spicer
Narrated by: Tracey Spicer
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About this listen

Walkley Award-winning journalist Tracey Spicer exposes the next frontier of feminism through the lens of artificial intelligence. Man-Made aims to open readers’ eyes to a transformative technological shift in society and give them the tools to make positive change.

Winner, 2023 Australian Business Book Awards, Social Responsibility

Longlisted for the 2023 Walkley Book Award

'Mum, I want a robot slave.'

Broadcaster Tracey Spicer had an epiphany when her young son uttered these six words. Suddenly, her life’s work fighting inequality seemed futile. What’s the point in agitating to change the present, if bigotry is being embedded into our futures?

And so began a quest to uncover who was responsible and hold them to account. Who is the ultimate villain? Big Tech, whose titans refuse to spend money to fix the problem? The world’s politicians, who lack the will to legislate? Or should we all be walking into a hall of mirrors and taking a good, hard look at ourselves…?

This is a deeply researched, illuminating and gripping ride into an uncertain AI-fuelled future, culminating in a resounding call to action that will shake the tech sector to its foundations.

Praise for Man-Made

‘Exhilarating … The book we need as we grapple with how AI will change our lives and our world.’ Dame Quentin Bryce

‘Brilliant, hilarious and terrifying. You’ll never see Alexa the same way again.’ Juanita Phillips

‘Tracey Spicer uses her unmistakably human voice to warn us all about the deeply sexist Frankenstein’s Monster that is modern AI.’ Yumi Stynes

©2023 Tracey Spicer (P)2023 Simon & Schuster Audio
Gender Studies Technology & Society

Critic Reviews

"Brilliance! Artificial Intelligence has been thrust upon us by the tech bros, in their own image and – terrifyingly – with Silicon Valley vested interests. No one consulted us; the ethics and existential risks have not been thought through. Tracy Spicer bravely leads us through this conversation, the biggest of our era… and one we need to have fast!" (Sarah Wilson, author of This One Wild and Precious Life and First, We Make the Beast Beautiful)"

"Finally, a book on AI that is accessible to all people. In Man-Made Tracey Spicer, in a fabulously conversational style, delves into the history and development of artificial intelligence and maps out the absolute lack of consideration of women and minorities in the design and development of the machines that are running our world. Man-Made will put fire in the bellies of women and girls and will surely cause the tech men-folk to sit up and review the role they play. Essential reading for all people interested in the future of humanity." (Dr Catriona Wallace, Responsible AI expert, Founder of the Responsible Metaverse Alliance and Adj. Professor)

"The world is made in man’s image and the creators of tech are making sure it stays that way . . . This fascinating, alarming, intelligent and ultimately hopeful read is for anyone who uses tech (yep, that’s all of us!)." (Ginger Gorman, journalist and author of Troll Hunting: Inside the world of online Hate and its human fallout)

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Eyes Wide Open

Every person should read this book and research other books that inform us of the potential for a dystopian future with AI running the world. Scary stuff contained within but with knowledge gained we can make change happen - pressure our governments and politicians to ensure a fair and non-bias connection to the future.

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Overwhelmed with facts in a good way

Impeccably researched, well told, thorough, fabulous. I might have to read it again just to pick up the stuff I missed. And this time I’ll take notes 

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Well researched and insightful

Quite a lot to get through with deep insights and broad research. Very interesting and challenging.

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Man Made

It was a challenge to get entrenched but the topic was so frightening I had to keep going ,to really is the unknown !! As usual it’s looking awesome for the usual cohort ,but clearly not females or people of colour .

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Some interesting thoughts, drowned

There is some great simple arguments in this book for us to consider how AI is built and how it should be shaped going forward. In summary be careful with historical training data because of the massive amount of imbedded bias and have diversity in teams working on new products. This point is great and there’s some strong examples where this hasn’t happened and the bad consequences.

Then there’s the whole other and way too long part of the book that sounds like it was written by a Luddite - just because the author can’t see a need for particular technology, for themselves.

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