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Your Computer Is on Fire
Book

Your Computer Is on Fire

Benjamin Peters, Mar Hicks, Kavita Philip and Thomas Mullaney
MIT Press, 2021

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Eye Opening
  • Hot Topic

Recommendation

Technology touches pretty much every aspect of people’s lives today, yet few stop to think about its origins or where it might take society. Many forget that humans are involved at every stage of technological design, development and deployment, and that these individuals’ worldviews shape the technology they create. This collection of essays by authors from the social sciences and STEM backgrounds argues against the view that technology is “neutral” in nature, and reveals the biases and power structures inherent in technological designs and tools.

Take-Aways

  • Technological progress without input from the social sciences is dangerous as it fails to realize its political, social and economic implications.
  • The seemingly virtual world of e-commerce and technology is profoundly physical.
  • Artificial intelligence is never purely artificial – it always depends on human input.

About the Authors

Thomas S. Mullaney is professor of history at Stanford University. Benjamin Peters is Hazel Rogers Associate Professor and chair of Media Studies at the University of Tulsa. Mar Hicks is associate professor of history at Illinois Institute of Technology. Kavita Philip is professor of history at California, Irvine.

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