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Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI
Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction
Named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly.
A riveting story of what it means to be human in a world changed by artificial intelligence, revealing the perils and inequities of our growing reliance on automated decision-making
On the surface, a British poet, an UberEats courier in Pittsburgh, an Indian doctor, and a Chinese activist in exile have nothing in common. But they are in fact linked by a profound common experience—unexpected encounters with artificial intelligence. In Code Dependent, Murgia shows how automated systems are reshaping our lives all over the world, from technology that marks children as future criminals, to an app that is helping to give diagnoses to a remote tribal community.
AI has already infiltrated our day-to-day, through language-generating chatbots like ChatGPT and social media. But it’s also affecting us in more insidious ways. It touches everything from our interpersonal relationships, to our kids’ education, work, finances, public services, and even our human rights.
By highlighting the voices of ordinary people in places far removed from the cozy enclave of Silicon Valley, Code Dependent explores the impact of a set of powerful, flawed, and often-exploitative technologies on individuals, communities, and our wider society. Murgia exposes how AI can strip away our collective and individual sense of agency, and shatter our illusion of free will.
The ways in which algorithms and their effects are governed over the coming years will profoundly impact us all. Yet we can’t agree on a common path forward. We cannot decide what preferences and morals we want to encode in these entities—or what controls we may want to impose on them. And thus, we are collectively relinquishing our moral authority to machines.
In Code Dependent, Murgia not only sheds light on this chilling phenomenon, but also charts a path of resistance. AI is already changing what it means to be human, in ways large and small, and Murgia reveals what could happen if we fail to reclaim our humanity.
Named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly.
A riveting story of what it means to be human in a world changed by artificial intelligence, revealing the perils and inequities of our growing reliance on automated decision-making
On the surface, a British poet, an UberEats courier in Pittsburgh, an Indian doctor, and a Chinese activist in exile have nothing in common. But they are in fact linked by a profound common experience—unexpected encounters with artificial intelligence. In Code Dependent, Murgia shows how automated systems are reshaping our lives all over the world, from technology that marks children as future criminals, to an app that is helping to give diagnoses to a remote tribal community.
AI has already infiltrated our day-to-day, through language-generating chatbots like ChatGPT and social media. But it’s also affecting us in more insidious ways. It touches everything from our interpersonal relationships, to our kids’ education, work, finances, public services, and even our human rights.
By highlighting the voices of ordinary people in places far removed from the cozy enclave of Silicon Valley, Code Dependent explores the impact of a set of powerful, flawed, and often-exploitative technologies on individuals, communities, and our wider society. Murgia exposes how AI can strip away our collective and individual sense of agency, and shatter our illusion of free will.
The ways in which algorithms and their effects are governed over the coming years will profoundly impact us all. Yet we can’t agree on a common path forward. We cannot decide what preferences and morals we want to encode in these entities—or what controls we may want to impose on them. And thus, we are collectively relinquishing our moral authority to machines.
In Code Dependent, Murgia not only sheds light on this chilling phenomenon, but also charts a path of resistance. AI is already changing what it means to be human, in ways large and small, and Murgia reveals what could happen if we fail to reclaim our humanity.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published March 21, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 1, 2025
Sehr sehr spannend und gut geschrieben, mir gefällt auch die Aufteilung in 10 Kapitel mit jeweils unterschiedlichen Schwerpunkten sehr gut. Ich hätte mir ggf eine ganz kleine technische Einführung am Anfang gewünscht bzw einen kurzen Überblick über den aktuellen Stand der Technik aber es hat sich auch so beim Lesen erklärt (und vllt ist es auch einfach zu komplex).
Inhaltlich war es tatsächlich terrifying gewesen und es liest sich dann doch auch sehr kapitalismuskritisch, womit ich gar nicht gerechnet hatte. Ab 2/3 hat es langsam angefangen sich immer mal wieder zu wiederholen und ich war mal kurz angenervt von der dann doch STÄNDIGEN Wiederholung mancher Formulierungen (ja mein Gott ich habe es schon beim ersten Mal verstanden…) aber es ist dann im nächsten Kapitel wieder etwas besser geworden. Ich würde es trotzdem empfehlen, eye-opening und wichtig.
PS: Die Rezension hab ich ohne die Hilfe von KI geschrieben - Liebe Grüße
Inhaltlich war es tatsächlich terrifying gewesen und es liest sich dann doch auch sehr kapitalismuskritisch, womit ich gar nicht gerechnet hatte. Ab 2/3 hat es langsam angefangen sich immer mal wieder zu wiederholen und ich war mal kurz angenervt von der dann doch STÄNDIGEN Wiederholung mancher Formulierungen (ja mein Gott ich habe es schon beim ersten Mal verstanden…) aber es ist dann im nächsten Kapitel wieder etwas besser geworden. Ich würde es trotzdem empfehlen, eye-opening und wichtig.
PS: Die Rezension hab ich ohne die Hilfe von KI geschrieben - Liebe Grüße
December 25, 2025
fand gut aber muss sagen das meiste war doch eher oberflächlich, trotzdem natürlich gut sich das nochmal vor augen zu führen und gut um neujahresvorsatz weniger chatty zu nutzen einzuläuten
February 16, 2026
Augenöffnendes Buch zur riesigen AI Welt. Persönliche, wahre Geschichten die uns alle betreffen und Zusammenhänge klar aufzeichen. Sehr gut recherchiert, ring lesbar und spannend. Faszinierend und erschreckend. Unbedingt zu empfehlen.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews