Thank you for framing all of these issues so well. As educators, it's time for us to expand our paradigm and take instruction in critical thinking to another level. We really need to create ways to integrate empathy and nuanced thinking into every single course so that students can develop these skills. It feels daunting because with AI and machine learning, everything is changing at such an accelerated pace...how are we to keep up?
Very much enjoyed the valuable models and frameworks for thinking about ethical design - build - implement. Is it possible to have the link to the slides from the course?
This was excellent and so much clicked into place for me. I will listen again. A lay person, not a tech professional I feel I have been watching reality frames unravel in slow motion over the last 20 years. This brought glimpses of clarity as it returned awareness to on the ground communication, intentions, incentives and what thriving is. Thank you!
Absolutely love this! Thanks so much I'm going to recommend anti-KPIs to client every time I can Very useful insights for my pet projet of building systems to create more constructive conversations.
Thanks for sharing this. As a designer of these systems, I both saw myself in some of the missteps and was energized by the ideas of how I might change my approach moving forward. The concept of an anti-KPI is an easy (and fun?!) way to get started quickly. Keep doing this good work!
Many excellent points made here; we particularly appreciate acknowledging that algorithms can make hugely consequential decisions for users, particularly young users whose online presence has been largely curated and shaped by the products and platforms they use. Having employment or social service recommendations served to us based on our entertainment preferences is not necessarily a correlation most of us would choose.
Human being, technology. The choice is of care. Care comes before value, try it out? Are you caring for a dead thing, or a living person? One of commodity or one of growing awareness? Are you ‘feeding the babies’ or ‘feeding the machinery’?
Thank you. A wonderful contribution to the augmentation of humanity. Apart from the valuable content, the speaker is to be commended for their amazing communication skills. Beautiful connect and presentation on what is the key issue for humanity. Our What, Our WHY and Our How.
Technology is the name that we give to the materialization of relationships. That's where you have to start. Not with the objects. The objects are the end result of relationships between humans, non-humans, places, things, etc.... The so called problem with technology is always a problem with humans and their relations which only partially involve other humans.. Characterizing the problem as technology and humans or humanizing tehcnology is like saying you want to humanize the relations that humans have with their relations to make them more human. You are engaged in obfuscating reifications. Humanity is another misleading term. Imagine you are a Mayan peasant trying to eke out a living growing corn on a rocky hillslope in the rugged highlands of Guatemala. Imagine this person watching this presentation. What meaning could "humanity" possibly have for them? "Humanity" is not for humanity. It is a term that has meaning only for a very specific demographic that is affluent and feels no particular loyalty to any place or nation. It is a demographic of ideologues who think of themselves as "citizens of the world" and who de-coupled themselves long ago from any ethnos, any territory. Their viewpoint is not even the earth. They do not stand on terra firma to look up at the sky. They look at our planet as if they were in space where there is no life. They do not view our precious planet as their home. The place they consider home is space. A lifeless place.
I enjoyed your writing style - thank you for your insight. I think the viewpoint should human flourishing and wellbeing, regardless of location, time period, or economic status. All the way from the Mayan, to the utterly indulgent 8 year old that spends most of his waking hours glued to trillion dollar corporate ads, we need a sense of healthy progression - in this case it's really the avoidance of 'hell' is to be strived for. There's genuinely no need to continue quabbling about what progress looks like and whether it's in domains or morality or meaning. The focus should be on ensuring we stop valuing endless profit as the primary goal. Every bit of mainstream 'tech' is created to support profit over X, either from the get go or partway through attempting to stay relevant. I don't think it's fruitful to separate humans that have some connection to their territory vs others that don't. This isn't a problem about what we call home - it's a problem with our psychology being manipulated with modern means.
This is not a tech problem-- let alone a human psychology problem. This is a political and economic problem. The Center of Humane Technology is a symptom of this problem which is about structures, not well intentioned individuals. Whether it's the energy sector, the food sector, the technology sector, what have you. Each sector seeks to maximize its success at the expense ultimately of life itself. There has to be a countervailing power. That power is "the people" whose well-being our government has been failing to preserve and protect. The Center’s focus on tech without connecting it to concentrated power and government capture is a missed opportunity for genuine understanding that could inform meaningful action. This myopia undermines our ability to see the connections between what Big Terch is doing to our kids and Big Food and Big Pharma, and all the other biggies who own and operate Spaceship Earth. The resourcification of the world is the basic end game of capitalism. Capitalism is like fire. It has to be well regulated and managed. The firelords have become the managers of the fires. We have fires burning up our minds, our bodies, our environment, the future itself. There is power in seeing the nature of the problem in systemic ways. Connecting people across sectors. At the end of the day, ordinary working people have the power. Government has to embody the will of the commoner. The common person. This is where the left and right meet, or should meet. Enough with specialists and their fascinating rabbit holes. We need a generalizing consciousness that connects the dots helping us understand how Tech-Power is just one dimension of Oligarchical power. Concentrated unaccountable power is remaking the world in ways that always will put its "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" above that of the common people. Our political and economic system is out of balance. The Center should work with others to help us understand these connections and the larger political and economic forces that are ultimately the cause of the "existential" problems now facing us. Of course, doing so would jeopardize their funding. Hence their silence. And, ultimately, their contribution to making the world a safer place for Oligarchical power. And in case you had trouble understanding my all-too-human writing, here is Chat GPT4's summary : The statement critiques the Center for Humane Technology and similar entities for their narrow focus on the adverse effects of technology, arguing that this focus misses the larger, more critical issue: the systemic political and economic imbalances that give rise to these technological problems in the first place. It suggests that the true challenge lies not within technology itself but within the broader systems of power and wealth distribution that dominate our society. These systems are structured in such a way that they favor the interests of a wealthy and powerful minority, often at the expense of the public good and the well-being of the planet. The critique implies that by concentrating efforts and attention on technology's impact alone, organizations miss an opportunity to address the root causes of these issues, which are embedded in the way political and economic forces are configured and operate. This myopic approach risks perpetuating the status quo by failing to challenge the fundamental structures that enable these problems to persist and grow. Furthermore, the statement calls for a broader, systemic approach to reform, urging organizations and activists to focus on altering the political and economic systems themselves. This involves advocating for changes that would reduce the disproportionate influence of concentrated wealth in politics, ensure fairer distribution of resources, and create more equitable opportunities for all citizens. Such an approach recognizes the interconnectedness of various societal issues and seeks to address them through comprehensive systemic change rather than piecemeal solutions. In essence, the critique emphasizes the need for a shift in perspective and action towards the systemic roots of societal challenges, advocating for a concerted effort to restructure the political and economic frameworks that currently prioritize the interests of a powerful few over the collective welfare of the many.@@Kedgeworth
Thank you for framing all of these issues so well. As educators, it's time for us to expand our paradigm and take instruction in critical thinking to another level. We really need to create ways to integrate empathy and nuanced thinking into every single course so that students can develop these skills. It feels daunting because with AI and machine learning, everything is changing at such an accelerated pace...how are we to keep up?
Very much enjoyed the valuable models and frameworks for thinking about ethical design - build - implement. Is it possible to have the link to the slides from the course?
This was excellent and so much clicked into place for me. I will listen again. A lay person, not a tech professional I feel I have been watching reality frames unravel in slow motion over the last 20 years. This brought glimpses of clarity as it returned awareness to on the ground communication, intentions, incentives and what thriving is. Thank you!
Absolutely love this! Thanks so much
I'm going to recommend anti-KPIs to client every time I can
Very useful insights for my pet projet of building systems to create more constructive conversations.
Thanks for sharing this. As a designer of these systems, I both saw myself in some of the missteps and was energized by the ideas of how I might change my approach moving forward. The concept of an anti-KPI is an easy (and fun?!) way to get started quickly. Keep doing this good work!
Many excellent points made here; we particularly appreciate acknowledging that algorithms can make hugely consequential decisions for users, particularly young users whose online presence has been largely curated and shaped by the products and platforms they use. Having employment or social service recommendations served to us based on our entertainment preferences is not necessarily a correlation most of us would choose.
Thank you for the thoughtful exploration!
Human being, technology.
The choice is of care.
Care comes before value, try it out?
Are you caring for a dead thing, or a living person?
One of commodity or one of growing awareness?
Are you ‘feeding the babies’ or ‘feeding the machinery’?
Fantastic content, as always. So much we need to work on, hope this reaches as many people as possible.
Also:
- Tech shapes humans
- Humans shape society
- society shapes tech
more like this:
- surviving humans discover technology
- technology allows society
- society frustrates humans
- frustrated humans worships technology
- technology addicted humans build technological civilization
- technology consimes society
- technology consumes humans
- civilization is lost
...
- surviving humans discover technology
....
Thank you. A wonderful contribution to the augmentation of humanity. Apart from the valuable content, the speaker is to be commended for their amazing communication skills. Beautiful connect and presentation on what is the key issue for humanity. Our What, Our WHY and Our How.
Thanks.
Thank you thank you thank you.
technology is neutral, it's the application that is not neutral because their designers (human) aren't neutral.
i like this interpretation better
Technology is the name that we give to the materialization of relationships. That's where you have to start. Not with the objects. The objects are the end result of relationships between humans, non-humans, places, things, etc.... The so called problem with technology is always a problem with humans and their relations which only partially involve other humans.. Characterizing the problem as technology and humans or humanizing tehcnology is like saying you want to humanize the relations that humans have with their relations to make them more human. You are engaged in obfuscating reifications. Humanity is another misleading term. Imagine you are a Mayan peasant trying to eke out a living growing corn on a rocky hillslope in the rugged highlands of Guatemala. Imagine this person watching this presentation. What meaning could "humanity" possibly have for them? "Humanity" is not for humanity. It is a term that has meaning only for a very specific demographic that is affluent and feels no particular loyalty to any place or nation. It is a demographic of ideologues who think of themselves as "citizens of the world" and who de-coupled themselves long ago from any ethnos, any territory. Their viewpoint is not even the earth. They do not stand on terra firma to look up at the sky. They look at our planet as if they were in space where there is no life. They do not view our precious planet as their home. The place they consider home is space. A lifeless place.
I enjoyed your writing style - thank you for your insight.
I think the viewpoint should human flourishing and wellbeing, regardless of location, time period, or economic status. All the way from the Mayan, to the utterly indulgent 8 year old that spends most of his waking hours glued to trillion dollar corporate ads, we need a sense of healthy progression - in this case it's really the avoidance of 'hell' is to be strived for.
There's genuinely no need to continue quabbling about what progress looks like and whether it's in domains or morality or meaning. The focus should be on ensuring we stop valuing endless profit as the primary goal. Every bit of mainstream 'tech' is created to support profit over X, either from the get go or partway through attempting to stay relevant.
I don't think it's fruitful to separate humans that have some connection to their territory vs others that don't. This isn't a problem about what we call home - it's a problem with our psychology being manipulated with modern means.
This is not a tech problem-- let alone a human psychology problem. This is a political and economic problem. The Center of Humane Technology is a symptom of this problem which is about structures, not well intentioned individuals. Whether it's the energy sector, the food sector, the technology sector, what have you. Each sector seeks to maximize its success at the expense ultimately of life itself. There has to be a countervailing power. That power is "the people" whose well-being our government has been failing to preserve and protect. The Center’s focus on tech without connecting it to concentrated power and government capture is a missed opportunity for genuine understanding that could inform meaningful action. This myopia undermines our ability to see the connections between what Big Terch is doing to our kids and Big Food and Big Pharma, and all the other biggies who own and operate Spaceship Earth. The resourcification of the world is the basic end game of capitalism. Capitalism is like fire. It has to be well regulated and managed. The firelords have become the managers of the fires. We have fires burning up our minds, our bodies, our environment, the future itself. There is power in seeing the nature of the problem in systemic ways. Connecting people across sectors. At the end of the day, ordinary working people have the power. Government has to embody the will of the commoner. The common person. This is where the left and right meet, or should meet. Enough with specialists and their fascinating rabbit holes. We need a generalizing consciousness that connects the dots helping us understand how Tech-Power is just one dimension of Oligarchical power. Concentrated unaccountable power is remaking the world in ways that always will put its "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" above that of the common people. Our political and economic system is out of balance. The Center should work with others to help us understand these connections and the larger political and economic forces that are ultimately the cause of the "existential" problems now facing us. Of course, doing so would jeopardize their funding. Hence their silence. And, ultimately, their contribution to making the world a safer place for Oligarchical power.
And in case you had trouble understanding my all-too-human writing, here is Chat GPT4's summary :
The statement critiques the Center for Humane Technology and similar entities for their narrow focus on the adverse effects of technology, arguing that this focus misses the larger, more critical issue: the systemic political and economic imbalances that give rise to these technological problems in the first place. It suggests that the true challenge lies not within technology itself but within the broader systems of power and wealth distribution that dominate our society. These systems are structured in such a way that they favor the interests of a wealthy and powerful minority, often at the expense of the public good and the well-being of the planet.
The critique implies that by concentrating efforts and attention on technology's impact alone, organizations miss an opportunity to address the root causes of these issues, which are embedded in the way political and economic forces are configured and operate. This myopic approach risks perpetuating the status quo by failing to challenge the fundamental structures that enable these problems to persist and grow.
Furthermore, the statement calls for a broader, systemic approach to reform, urging organizations and activists to focus on altering the political and economic systems themselves. This involves advocating for changes that would reduce the disproportionate influence of concentrated wealth in politics, ensure fairer distribution of resources, and create more equitable opportunities for all citizens. Such an approach recognizes the interconnectedness of various societal issues and seeks to address them through comprehensive systemic change rather than piecemeal solutions.
In essence, the critique emphasizes the need for a shift in perspective and action towards the systemic roots of societal challenges, advocating for a concerted effort to restructure the political and economic frameworks that currently prioritize the interests of a powerful few over the collective welfare of the many.@@Kedgeworth
Thank you sooo much for exposing this and opening our awareness 🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅-Xclusyph Icon
maybe someone should regulate the income of people working in AI; this will definitely reduce the number of 'innovations'