At a time when AI and digital platforms are under fire, Orly Lobel, a renowned tech policy scholar, defends technology as a powerful tool we can harness to achieve equality and a better future.
At a time when AI and digital platforms are under fire, Orly Lobel, a renowned tech policy scholar, defends technology as a powerful tool we can harness to achieve equality and a better future.
Much has been written about the challenges tech presents to equality and democracy. But we can either criticize big data and automation or steer it to do better. Lobel makes a compelling argument that while we cannot stop technological development, we can direct its course according to our most fundamental values.
With provocative insights in every chapter, Lobel masterfully shows that digital technology frequently has a comparative advantage over humans in detecting discrimination, correcting historical exclusions, subverting long-standing stereotypes, and addressing the world's thorniest problems: climate, poverty, injustice, literacy, accessibility, speech, health, and safety. Lobel's vivid examples-from labor markets to dating markets-provide powerful evidence for how we can harness technology for good. The book's incisive analysis and masterful storytelling will change the debate about technology and restore human agency over our values.“"With rich and engaging examples, Lobel brings together the too-often siloed debates over fears and hopes about artificial intelligence. With real, human intelligence, she identifies workable guards against gender and racial biases. She also highlights profound moral, political, and technical challenges worth both immediate and long-term attention."-- Martha Minow, 300th Anniversary University Professor, dean emeritus, and director, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University”
"A refreshing counterbalance to alarmist commentary...revealing a hidden world of coders, datascientists and activists who are working on the technical means to achieve ethical ends, not simply griping about #ai's lapses. The book aptly describes the workings of various AI systems, but its main contribution is to reframe problems in constructive ways."
--The EconomistOrly Lobel is an award-winning author and the Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego. She is the Director of the Program of Employment and Labor Law as well as the founding faculty of the Center for Intellectual Property and Markets. She is the author of two previous books, You Don't Own Me: How Mattel Vs. MGA Entertainment Exposed Barbie's Dark Side, which was reviewed by Jill Lepore in The New Yorker and has been optioned for film, and Talent Wants to Be Free: Why We Should Learn to Love Leaks, Raids, and Free Riding. Lobel's books and work have been written about in The Economist, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, Globe and Mail, NPR's "Marketplace," CNBC, and CNN Money.
Much has been written about the challenges tech presents to equality and democracy. But we can either criticize big data and automation or steer it to do better. Lobel makes a compelling argument that while we cannot stop technological development, we can direct its course according to our most fundamental values.With provocative insights in every chapter, Lobel masterfully shows that digital technology frequently has a comparative advantage over humans in detecting discrimination, correcting historical exclusions, subverting long-standing stereotypes, and addressing the world's thorniest problems: climate, poverty, injustice, literacy, accessibility, speech, health, and safety. Lobel's vivid examples-from labor markets to dating markets-provide powerful evidence for how we can harness technology for good. The book's incisive analysis and masterful storytelling will change the debate about technology and restore human agency over our values.
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