Artificial intelligence has been affecting the way people think, work and create, and the questions that have arisen in its wake are as pressing as they are uncomfortable. Who benefits from this new technology? Who is left behind? And what happens when the tools we build begin to govern us?
In an age where humans are dazzled by machines that seem to think, Jibu Elias -researcher, writer and advisor on AI governance-peels back the glossy surface to reveal systems driven more by prediction than true intelligence; and a world where algorithms redesign economies, redraw social boundaries and challenge the very idea of human agency. Drawing on nearly a decade of experience across the Indian and the global AI governance landscape, Elias points squarely at the widening gaps between promises and reality: from mass job displacements and deepening biases embedded in AI systems to the rapid consolidation of power by tech giants shaping our future and the heavy environmental costs of unregulated innovation.
Moving beyond Silicon Valley optimism, The New Divide is a vital perspective from the Global South. There is a very small window of action open to us in the face of the rapidly accelerating use of AI. Ethical governance and regulation are imperative, and we need guidelines now. This book is a call to action. As AI reshapes what it means to be human, we must reclaim control. Before it's too late.