Showing titles in Technology & Society

"We are infinitely rich, yet we mess about with penny-in-the-slot machines," writes Brian W. Aldiss in this autobiographical work written over the course of one month. From his Oxfordshire home, he ruminates on dreams, education, the role of technology in our lives, the rise and function of science fiction, and a variety of other topics. The Shape of Further Things is a window into the life and mind of a Science Fiction Grand Master.

Virtual reality is able to effectively blur the line between reality and illusion, pushing the limits of our imagination and granting us access to any experience imaginable. With well-crafted simulations, these experiences, which are so immersive that the brain believes they're real, are already widely available with a VR headset and will only become more accessible and commonplace. But how does this new medium affect its users, and does it have a future beyond fantasy and escapism? In Experience on Demand, Jeremy Bailenson draws on two decades spent researching the psychological effects of VR and other mass media to help listeners understand this powerful new tool.

From an artist and TikTok creator, a critical look at the controversial app and its effect on cultural heritage, artificial intelligence, community organizing, and digital censorship. In Revolutionary Algorithms, Torey Akers approaches TikTok with a deep understanding of the app, as both a...

This book tells you how to understand networks such as the internet and social networks. However it was written long before Facebook, or even the web, existed so it explains the principles of networks by examples in biology -- like a beehive, a rain forest, or immune system. It tells the story of how feedback loops can create new phenomena and govern old ones, and why letting innovations like a social network be "out of control" is a good thing. The author also visits technological labs and reports on what they discover as they try to create artificial intelligence from dumb chips, or ...

There's no denying the scrutiny of AI algorithms are making life tougher, whether you're applying for jobs, passing exams or securing loans. These digital gatekeepers are raising the stakes and it's natural to feel anxious about their growing influence. This book exists because AI algorithms are changing every aspect of our lives at lightening speed and many of us feel overwhelmed or unprepared for this change.

Sie sind eines Verbrechens angeklagt. Wer soll über Ihr Schicksal entscheiden? Ein menschlicher Richter oder ein Computer-Algorithmus? Sie sind sich absolut sicher? Sie zögern womöglich? In beiden Fällen sollten Sie das Buch der jungen Mathematikerin und Moderatorin Hannah Fry lesen, das mit erfrischender Direktheit über Algorithmen aufklärt, indem es von Menschen handelt. Algorithmen prägen in wachsendem Ausmaß den Alltag von Konsum, Finanzen, Medizin, Polizei, Justiz, Demokratie und sogar Kunst.

The brain does not pay attention to boring things! In our attention economy, it’s more important than ever to cut through the noise online. In Viral Voices—available exclusively in audio—Carmine Gallo, author of the bestseller Talk Like TED, provides tools to succeed in our digital world...

Are we driving off a digital cliff and heading for disaster, unable to focus, maintain concentration, or form the human bonds that make life worth living? Are media and business doomed and about to be replaced by amateur hour? The world, as Nick Bilton—with tongue-in-cheek—shows, has been...

Most of us spend a significant part of the day in front of a screen. Our work and social lives play out through our computers, tablets and phones: on email, social media, video conference calls and gaming servers. But what is all this screen time doing to our health, our sleep, and our relationships? Professor Pete Etchells studies the way we use screens, and how they can affect us. In UNLOCKED, he delves into the real science behind the panic about our alleged device addiction and withering attention spans.

The first in-depth examination of the voice intelligence industry, The Voice Catchers exposes how artificial intelligence is enabling personalized marketing and discrimination through voice analysis.

For decades, technology encouraged people to squander their time and intellect as passive consumers. Today, technology has finally caught up with human potential. In Cognitive Surplus, Internet guru Clay Shirky forecasts the thrilling changes we will all enjoy as new digital technology puts our untapped resources of talent and goodwill to use at last.

Twitter, Facebook, e-publishing, blogs, distance-learning and other social media raise some of the most divisive cultural questions of our time. Some see the technological breakthroughs we live with as hopeful and democratic new steps in education, information gathering, and human progress. But others are deeply concerned by the eroding of civility online, declining reading habits, withering attention spans, and the treacherous effects of 24/7 peer pressure on our young.

Former Internet entrepreneur Andrew Keen was among the earliest to write about the dangers that the Internet poses to our culture and society. His 2007 book The Cult of the Amateur was critical in helping advance the conversation around the Internet, which has now morphed from a tool providing efficiencies and opportunities for consumers and business to an elemental force that is profoundly reshaping our societies and our world.

Here’s some of what just happened: Millions of ordinary, sensible people came into possession of computers. These machines had wondrous powers, yet made unexpected demands on their owners. Telephones broke free of the chains that had shackled them to bedside tables and office desks. No one was...

You ask your AI for a "quick" answer. You tell your phone to "remind you." You follow the GPS dot. With each click, you are making an invisible trade: convenience for cognition. You are accumulating Cognitive Debt. This book is not a luddite's manifesto—it is an evidence-based diagnosis of a problem we all feel. We are trading our ability to think, remember, and create in exchange for the seamless, friction-free "help" of our machines. The cost? A measurable decline in our most essential human faculties. Drawing on stunning new research from MIT, Harvard, and leading neuroscience labs, ...

When turbulence is the new normal, an organization's survival depends on vigilant leadership that can anticipate threats, spot opportunities, and act quickly when the time is right. In See Sooner, Act Faster, strategy experts George Day and Paul Schoemaker offer tools for thriving when digital advances intensify turbulence.

Blogs are everywhere. They have exposed truths and spread rumors. Made and lost fortunes. Brought couples together and torn them apart. Toppled cabinet members and sparked grassroots movements. Immediate, intimate, and influential, they have put the power of personal publishing into everyone’s...

In The Four Powers, Hanania provides a fast-paced historical assessment of centralized power. From World War I to crypto, Hanania explains the emerging trend toward technodemocracy: a decentralized system of governance whereby power-centralized institutions (such as churches, banks, political parties, campaign donors, Amazon, and the CIA) become obsolete.

Nicht die Dauer der Mediennutzung ist das Problem, sondern die Inhalte, die Kinder konsumieren. Schon Grundschüler sind Bildern von Gewalt, Pornographie und Rassismus ausgesetzt. Eine Schulleiterin schlägt Alarm! "Wissen Sie, was Ihr Kind auf seinem Smartphone sieht?" Diese Frage stellt Silke Müller ahnungslosen Eltern auf Infoveranstaltungen ihrer Schule. Die Fotos, Sticker und Videos, die sie dann zeigt, sind so verstörend, dass kaum jemand hinsehen kann.

El nuevo libro de dos de los especialistas más reconocidos de la Argentina sobre varios de los temas fundamentales del presente y nuestro futuro inmediato: el impacto de la economía de la atención en nuestras vidas, los nuevos conocimientos necesarios para la organización del trabajo remoto y presencial y una administración equilibrada del uso de la tecnología digital.