As the pressure of human activities accelerates on Earth, so too does the hope that artificially intelligent technologies will be able to help us deal with dangerous climate and environmental change. Technology giants, international think-tanks and policy-makers appear increasingly keen to advance agendas that contribute to “AI for Good” or “AI for the Planet”. ‘Dark Machines’ explores why the idea that the converging forces of a growing climate crisis and technological change through artificial intelligence will act synergistically to the benefit of people and the planet, is naïve and dangerous. It explores why AI may lead to accelerated discrimination, automated inequality, and augmented diffusion of misinformation, while simultaneously amplifying risks for people and the planet. We face a profound challenge. We can either allow AI accelerate the loss of resilience of people and our planet. Or we can decide to act forcefully in ways that redirects its destructive direction.