Technology Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/section/technology/ a magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship Sat, 17 Jan 2026 02:16:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.publicbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-favicon-2-300x300.png Technology Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/section/technology/ 32 32 In Search of Logged Time https://www.publicbooks.org/in-search-of-logged-time/ Tue, 28 Jan 2025 16:00:09 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=58813 When we leave the work of remembering to digital tools, we risk the loss of our histories to technological obsolescence.

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]]> To Counteract Apocalyptic Technoscience, We Need New Myths https://www.publicbooks.org/to-counteract-apocalyptic-technoscience-we-need-new-myths/ Tue, 26 Nov 2024 16:00:54 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=58157 If there is contentment on the artist’s face, it is because she knows that she has left Babylon behind and is on her way to Zion.

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]]> See Me like a State https://www.publicbooks.org/see-me-like-a-state/ Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:00:54 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=57638 As stories about flashy new technologies eclipse more measured coverage, it becomes easy for foreign audiences, particularly those in America, to lose track of the actual harms inflicted by China’s surveillance state.

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]]> The “Diet Soda” of Data https://www.publicbooks.org/the-diet-soda-of-data/ Wed, 18 Sep 2024 15:00:58 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=57251 Synthetic data promises to fix racial bias in algorithms used in AI. But its promise is false.

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]]> The Encyclopedia Project, or How to Know in the Age of AI https://www.publicbooks.org/the-encyclopedia-project-or-how-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai/ Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:00:02 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=56681 In an age when AI regurgitates the blather of meaningless content, seeking its audience in the attention marketplace, it's a small wonder that it is hard to tell what is really real anymore.

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]]> “Costs on All Sides”: Annie Dorsen on “Prometheus Firebringer” https://www.publicbooks.org/costs-on-all-sides-annie-dorsen-on-prometheus-firebringer/ Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:00:06 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=55691 “Technology creates the potential for conflict from the very start.”

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]]> The Multiplication of Monsters: Misinformation from Gutenberg to QAnon https://www.publicbooks.org/the-multiplication-of-monsters-from-gutenberg-to-qanon/ Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:00:26 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=55521 Throughout history the introduction of new technologies has increased the circulation and acceptance of rumors and disinformation.

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]]> Politics—Not Tech—Can Save Black Jobs from AI https://www.publicbooks.org/politics-not-tech-can-save-black-jobs-from-ai/ Thu, 22 Feb 2024 16:00:16 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=55341 Don’t plan to make individuals retrain for new jobs. Instead, build a society that upholds the lives of everyone.

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]]> Developing AI Like Raising Kids https://www.publicbooks.org/developing-ai-like-raising-kids/ Tue, 20 Feb 2024 16:00:19 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=55285 “In terms of the machine learning programs or robots that we have now, I basically think of them as being comparable to thermostats.”

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]]> Dead Links https://www.publicbooks.org/dead-links/ Tue, 31 Oct 2023 15:00:55 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=53861 Tech titans gained power and wealth from the accumulation of data, but that doesn’t mean they are equipped to be long-term stewards of personal and collective memories.

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