The New Divide: Power, Control & the Cost of AI

About the Book THE NEW DIVIDE IS A POWERFUL BOOK THAT EXPLORES WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE, WORK AND CREATE WITH THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LOOMING OVER THE HORIZON. 'Behind each miracle of artificial intelligence lies the same old sleight of hand, a performance that persuades us to see thought where there is only pattern, care where there is only code.' 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. About the Author Jibu Elias is an AI governance researcher, writer and policy advisor. He co-built India AI in 2018, a platform that helped lay the groundwork for what later became India's national AI mission, one of the most significant government-backed AI efforts in the developing world. He currently leads the Responsible Computing Challenge in India at the Mozilla Foundation, where he works with universities to embed human-centric AI principles into the education of future technologists. As a Responsible AI Fellow at the Stimson Center, in partnership with Microsoft's Office of Responsible AI, he examines how the risks and uneven benefits of AI play out across developing nations. His international work spans the OECD Working Party on AI Governance, the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on AI and the Global Partnership on AI. He is also the founding editorial board of Springer Nature's AI and Ethics journal. Through his nonprofit, CodoSapiens, he works to protect endangered languages and cultures from erasure in the age of generative AI. In 2025, he was featured on MIT Sloan Management Review India's Tech/100 list. Before moving into AI policy, he was a senior technology journalist at The Times of India. He holds an MSc in Theory and History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. The New Divide is his first book. Read more