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Top 20Showing 1–4 of 4
Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control
Stuart Russell • 2019
The book explores the trajectory of AI, from its historical roots to the potential for superintelligence. It argues that the standard AI model, which aims to achieve fixed objectives, is flawed and poses an existential risk if machines become more capable than humans. The author proposes a new approach centered on beneficial AI, where machines are designed to be uncertain about human preferences and learn them from observed behavior, thus deferring to human guidance and allowing themselves to be switched off. The book also discusses the societal challenges of AI, including surveillance, autonomous weapons, technological unemployment, and the importance of human autonomy. It emphasizes the urgent need for a foundational redesign of AI to ensure it remains aligned with human values and serves humanity.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Shoshana Zuboff • 2019
Surveillance capitalism is defined as a novel economic order that commodifies human experience as raw material for behavioral prediction and sale, driven by machine intelligence. Pioneered by companies like Google and Facebook, it subordinates traditional production to "means of behavioral modification," leading to unprecedented wealth concentration. Operating through ubiquitous digital architecture (Big Other), it manipulates behavior via "economies of action" (tuning, herding, conditioning), often without individual awareness. This system challenges fundamental democratic rights like privacy and self-determination, reducing individuals to "human natural resources." The text warns of a "coup from above," replacing market democracy with an instrumentarian society where freedom is sacrificed for commercial certainty, threatening human nature itself.
The art of invisibility : the world’s most famous hacker teaches you how to be safe in the age of Big Brother and big data
Kevin Mitnick • 2017
This book explores the critical erosion of privacy in the digital age, emphasizing that pervasive surveillance from corporations and governments makes everyone vulnerable, not just criminals. It details practical measures for digital self-defense, from strong passwords and two-factor authentication to advanced encryption and anonymous browsing with tools like Tor. The author highlights risks in everyday technologies—smartphones, Wi-Fi, social media, and IoT devices—that constantly leak personal data. While achieving total invisibility is challenging, the book advocates for rigorous operational security, behavioral changes, and layered protections to reclaim personal privacy against relentless digital tracking and data exploitation.
MANUFACTURING CONSENT The Political Economy of the Mass Media
EDWARD S. HERMAN and NOAM CHOMSKY
The book "Manufacturing Consent" analyzes the U.S. mass media through a "Propaganda Model," arguing that media outlets serve powerful societal interests that control and finance them. This model posits that structural factors like ownership, advertising reliance, and government sourcing create filters that shape news coverage, ensuring it aligns with dominant elite agendas. Case studies on worthy/unworthy victims, Third World elections, and the Indochina Wars demonstrate a predictable bias, where atrocities by official enemies receive intense scrutiny, while those by the U.S. or its allies are minimized or ignored. The book concludes that genuine media independence requires democratizing information sources through grassroots efforts, as mainstream media primarily functions to indoctrinate populations and defend privileged interests.