Every day, new warnings emerge about artificial intelligence rebelling against us. All the while, a more immediate dilemma flies under the radar. Have forces been unleashed that are thrusting humanity down an ill-advised path, one that's increasingly making us behave like simple machines? In this wide-reaching, interdisciplinary book, Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger examine what's happening to our lives as society embraces big data, predictive analytics, and smart environments. They explain how the goal of designing programmable worlds goes hand in hand with engineering predictable and programmable people. Detailing new frameworks, provocative case studies, and mind-blowing thought experiments, Frischmann and Selinger reveal hidden connections between fitness trackers, electronic contracts, social media platforms, robotic companions, fake news, autonomous cars, and more. This powerful analysis should be read by anyone interested in understanding exactly how technology threatens the future of our society, and what we can do now to build something better.
Author(s): Brett Frischmann, Evan Selinger
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 430
Half title
Reviews
Title page
Imprints page
Dedication
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Note on the Text
Introduction
Welcome to the Experience Machine n.0
Humanity’s Techno-Social Dilemma
The Structure of the Book
Part I
Chapter 1 Engineering Humans
Introduction
Fitbits at Oral Roberts University
Different Forms of Tracking and Their Consequences
Surveillance Creep
Bedtime and Bathtime Surveillance
Chapter 2 Cogs in the Machine of Our Own Lives
Introduction
Actuated Navigation
Bodies, Technology, and Outsourcing Creep
Chapter 3 Techno-Social Engineering Creep and the Slippery-Sloped Path
Slippery Slope Arguments
From Activity Watches to Brain Scans?
The Slippery-Sloped Path and the Forces that Drive Us
Part II
Chapter 4 Tools for Engineering Humans
Introduction
Tool Use: The Basics
Shaping and Being Shaped by Tools
Fetishized Computers and Idealized Computation
Taylor’s Scientific Management of Human Beings
Taylorism Criticized Yet Expanding
Chapter 5 Engineering Humans with Contracts
Introduction
The Experience of Electronic Contracting
Electronic Contracting and Taylorism
Humanity’s Techno-Social Dilemma Revisited
Contract Creep
Chapter 6 On Extending Minds and Mind Control
Introduction
Extending Ourselves: Background and Examples
Technologically Extended Bodies: Contemporary Experiences
Cognition: Extended and Distributed
Cognitive Technology
Extended Mind
Extended Mind and Techno-Social Engineering
Intrusion and Uncontrollability
Mind Extension and Human Capabilities
Chapter 7 The Path to Smart Techno-Social Environments
Introduction
Mass Media and the Reconfiguration of Our Lived-In Environments
The Internet and Networked Digital Media
Facebook’s Emotional Engineering Experiment
Chapter 8 Techno-Social Engineering of Humans through Smart Environments
Introduction
Smart Techno-Social Environments
How Smart Should Our Shared Infrastructure Be?
Smart Media/Mediation
Chapter 9 #RelationshipOptimization
Digital Companions
Linguistic Coaching, Impersonation, and Digital Immortality
Martha’s Disenchantment
Autonomy, Reductionism, and Meaningful Relationships
Sociological Skepticism
Automating Relationships
Chawla’s Cautionary Tale
Mood Walls in Smart Homes
Predictables
Algorithmic Bloodhounds
Period Tracking
Debating Tracking
Menstruation Tracking and Beyond
Creep
Part III
Chapter 10 Turing Tests and the Line between Humans and Machines
Introduction
Turing Test: A Brief Overview and Literature Review
Turing Test as Useful Tool
The Human Side of the Turing Line
Chapter 11 Can Humans Be Engineered to Be Incapable of Thinking?
Introduction
Intelligence: Thinking and Not-Thinking
Techno-Social Engineering Test Focused on Mathematical Computation
Techno-Social Engineering Test Focused on Generating Not-So-Random Numbers
Techno-Social Engineering Test Focused on Rationality
Techno-Social Engineering Test Focused on Common Sense
Lost and Found
Chapter 12 Engineered Determinism and Free Will
Introduction
Natural Determinism and a Pragmatic Wager
Engineered Determinism
Free Will and Autonomy
Practical Agency: Freedom to Act and Exercise One’s Own Will
Techno-Social Engineering Tests on Free Will
Moral Decision-Making
Regret as a System 1 Trigger for Reflection and Self-Determination
Reflecting on and Determining Our Own Beliefs
Reflecting on and Determining our Intentions to Act
Chapter 13 To What End?
Introduction
Revisiting Humanity’s Techno-Social Dilemma
Frog Soup
Revisiting Nozick’s Thought Experiment and Life on the Experience Machine
Revisiting the Experience Machine n.0 – Life in the Machine/World
Life as a Machine: The Power to Control Minds, Make Humans into Things, and Determine What Other People Do
Part IV
Chapter 14 Conclusion: Reimagining and Building Alternative Futures
What Are We Rebelling Against?
Environmental Humanism
Capabilities
Experience Machines and Paternalism
Play
Semantic Discontinuity
From Logics to Strategies
Challenge Conventional Wisdom with Critical Analysis
Solving the Fake News Problem with a New Social Media Platform
Net Neutrality and Beyond
Support Human Flourishing by Engineering Transaction Costs and Inefficiencies
Legal Reforms for Electronic Contracting
Two Extreme Proposals
Our Three Proposals
May 25, 2018: Time for Change
Appendices
Appendix A Mass Media and the First Amendment
Appendix B Perspectives on the Turing Test
Appendix C Our Free Will Discussion
Appendix D Modern Meal Times
Appendix E Rethinking Contract Theory
Notes
Introduction
Chapter 1 Engineering Humans
Chapter 2 Cogs in the Machine of Our Own Lives
Chapter 3 Techno-Social Engineering Creep and the Slippery-Sloped Path
Chapter 4 Tools for Engineering Humans
Chapter 5 Engineering Humans with Contracts
Chapter 6 On Extending Minds and Mind Control
Chapter 7 The Path to Smart Techno-Social Environments
Chapter 8 Techno-Social Engineering of Humans through Smart Environments
Chapter 9 #RelationshipOptimization
Chapter 10 Turing Tests and the Line between Humans and Machines
Chapter 11 Can Humans Be Engineered to Be Incapable of Thinking?
Chapter 12 Engineered Determinism and Free Will
Chapter 13 To What End?
Chapter 14 Conclusion: Reimagining and Building Alternative Futures
Appendix B Perspectives on the Turing Test
Appendix C Our Free Will Discussion
Appendix D Modern Meal Times
Appendix E Rethinking Contract Theory
Bibliography
Index
