AI: the people behind the machine

The bubble; Thirst for data; Ghost workers in the machine.

Is AI really an unstoppable force? Paula Lacey unpicks the complex web of companies, investments, and ideologies behind the ‘bubble’.

Tech companies are building enormous data centres and reconfiguring energy infrastructure across the US, all to power the burgeoning AI industry. On a road trip, Maia Woluchem and Livia Garofalo trace the impacts of – and resistance to – this development push.

Adio-Adet Dinika explores the hidden stories of the workers who prop up artificial ‘intelligence’, and their efforts at organized resistance.

AI is making warfare even more deadly. Decca Muldowney speaks to Chris Cole of Drone Wars about the risks of weapons that make their own decisions.

Is the artistic process in danger? Novelist Rémy Ngamije considers the role of human creativity in a world embracing generative AI.

Kojo Koram places the abduction of Venezuela’s leader within the long history of US drug policy being used against Latin American governments that resist its geopolitical or economic interests.

Would a separate state improve the lives of Indigenous communities in India? Fabio Lovati reports on the movement that thinks it would.

While Caribbean governments have been quiet about US intervention in Venezuela, and the build-up of military activity in the region, activists have been taking a stand, writes Colin Bogle.

Through ports, militias and business deals, the United Arab Emirates has built an architecture of control stretching across the Red Sea, writes Eiad Husham.

The hijab debate India won’t let go, writes Tarushi Aswani.

More than a game, by Rosebell Kagumire.

Femicides are skyrocketing, writes Leonardo Sakamoto.

Is the Canadian prime minister’s famous Davos speech as radical as it’s being portrayed? New Internationalist editors share their take.

Half a century after US bombs fell on Cambodia, nationalist brinkmanship has reignited a border war with Thailand, driving civilians from their homes and reducing Preah Vihear’s ancient stones to rubble. Rodrigo Rosales reports.

After years as Washington’s frontline ally against Isis, Syria’s Kurds find themselves abandoned to a resurgent central state and a former jihadist now recast as president. Zac Larkham reports.

Patagonia in flames; Unlikely allies; Catch me if you can; ‘Vegas-ification’ of Gaza; Journalism under fire; Freedom for the Filton.

From Chicago drill to narcocorridos, a new report argues that blaming music for gun crime obscures the deeper injustices – poverty, racism and weak gun laws – that pull the trigger. Amy Hall reports.

As Morocco embraces Amazigh identity in law and symbol, mountain communities marking Yennayer say recognition rings hollow without justice for land, language and livelihoods. Peter Yeung reports.

With José Antonio Kast poised to govern, Chilean activists warn that promises of order and austerity mask a looming rollback of human, Indigenous and women’s rights hard won since the Pinochet era. Ali Qassim reports.

From Shëngjin to Gjadër, Italy’s offshore detention centres in Albania revive colonial shadows as Europe pushes its borders – and its responsibilities – ever further from view. Dalia Ismail reports.

Bolivia’s traditional political class president. By Richard Swift.

From Berlin’s Stasi files to Aleppo’s courtrooms, Syria’s fragile reckoning with decades of repression hinges on rescuing the paper trail before memory – and justice – slips away. Paul Hefel-James reports.

As Ghana courts the green transition with its first lithium mine, farmers in Cape Coast say the promised boom has already delivered dispossession, delay and deepening poverty. Amanda Sperber reports.

Feminist Pharma; Solidarity vindicated; Grounded.

Praise, blame and all points in between? Give us your feedback.

Mariam Barghouti opens her series from Ramallah by examining the Palestinian city’s coffee boom – and what it says about life under occupation.

‘Delivery’ by Thiago Lucas (Brazil)

Work-life imbalance, by Maxine Betteridge-Moes.

Protesters gather in Minneapolis demanding justice for Renee Good. By Edwige Moses.

Sander Feinberg and Summer McClinton uncover a family history of the Hungarian Resistance

Highlighting the work of artists and photographers from the Majority World.

The photos, facts, and politics of Senegal.

Indigenous land defender Lia Yewen talks to Maxine Betteridge-Moes about West Papuan identity, confidence and humour in the face of Indonesian military occupation.

Omnicorp lab rats, by Marc Roberts.

The triumph of evil, by Kate Evans.

Stepping back from the brink. Will more countries sign up to a fossil fuel phase-out? Words by Danny Chivers.

Screens, by P J Polyp.

Policy advisor to Donald Trump.

Struggling with an ethical dilemma? New Internationalist’s Agony Uncle can help you find answers in our troubled political times.

Why Christian should be Leftists; Landscape with Landscape; Big Kiss, Bye-Bye; Notes From a Lost Country.

The Stranger; The Secret Agent.

Tilaye’s Saxophone With The Dahlak Band; Nuevos Ríos.

A new study of transgender experiences finds both diversity and common ground. By Jennie Kermode.

Words by Subi Shah.