Showing titles in Technology & Society

Brought to you by Penguin. THE ACCLAIMED NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a...

This book provides essential insights on dark patterns and AI-powered deceptive design for anyone who wants to understand and challenge the pervasive influence of these hidden forces shaping our digital experiences. These hidden design strategies – from personalised user interface triggers to sophisticated backend systems – are often used to manipulate user behaviour in ways that benefit businesses at the expense of users.

In Antisocial Media, Siva Vaidhyanathan explains how Facebook devolved from an innocent social site hacked together by Harvard students into a force that, while it may make personal life just a little more pleasurable, makes democracy a lot more challenging.

Software was supposed to radically improve society. Outdated mechanical systems would be easily replaced; social media platforms like Facebook would bring people together; and generative AI would solve the world’s greatest ills. Yet in practice, few of the systems we looked to with such high hopes have lived up to their fundamental mandate. In fact, in too many cases they've made things worse. How did we get to this point? In Fatal Abstraction, Darryl Campbell explains that the problem is "managerial software".

Sie sind eines Verbrechens angeklagt. Wer soll über Ihr Schicksal entscheiden? Ein menschlicher Richter oder ein Computer-Algorithmus? Sie sind sich absolut sicher? Sie zögern womöglich? In beiden Fällen sollten Sie das Buch der jungen Mathematikerin und Moderatorin Hannah Fry lesen, das mit erfrischender Direktheit über Algorithmen aufklärt, indem es von Menschen handelt. Algorithmen prägen in wachsendem Ausmaß den Alltag von Konsum, Finanzen, Medizin, Polizei, Justiz, Demokratie und sogar Kunst.

Discover how AI can make your life easier and more connected in just a few days—even if you’ve never touched a smart device before. Are you curious about artificial intelligence but worried it’s too complicated or “just for techies”? Do you wish someone would explain how AI and smart devices can help you—without all the confusing jargon or overwhelming details? Have you ever wondered if AI could help you stay safe, organized, or in touch with family, but didn’t know where to start? If you answered yes to any of these, you’re not alone—and this book is designed just for you...

Today, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Snap, Samsung, and a host of startups are racing to radically change the way we see. The building blocks are already falling into place: cloud computing and 5G networks, AI computer vision algorithms, smart glasses and VR headsets, and mixed reality games like Pokémon GO. But what’s coming next is a fundamental shift in how we experience the world and interact with each other. Over the next decade, what we see and how we see it will no longer be bound by biology.

Digital Wellbeing is a transformative guide that offers leaders, business professionals, educators, and lifelong learners a path to thrive in the digital age. Krause provides innovative strategies to enhance mindfulness, creativity, and wellbeing in a world enriched by technology. This book empowers listeners to leverage digital tools to create meaningful, positive connections and improve their overall quality of life.

In this vivid, deeply-reported book, Matt Stroud shows that our new policing tools are overhyped and ineffective. Instead of wrestling with tough fundamental questions about their work, police leaders have looked to technology as a silver bullet, and stood by as corporate interests have insinuated themselves ever deeper into the public institution of law enforcement. With a sweeping history of these changes, Thin Blue Lie is a must-listen for anyone seeking to understand how policing became what it is today.

In this critical time between worlds, technology is shaping the future of our lives, both as individual human beings and collectively as a species. Technology has brought great blessings in multiple vectors, and those benefits are regularly sung in the public sphere. However, the notion that technology is value-neutral is simply not true. All technology is encoded with value, pseudo-value—or tragically, with anti-value. So technology also threatens us with risks to our very existence on this planet.

Have you ever wished that social media came with a user manual? Whether you’re a parent concerned about your child’s online activity, a young adult wanting to get the most out of it that you possibly can, or a new business owner determined to leverage its power, there’s probably a lot you’re unsure about. Perhaps you’re eager to create a strong digital persona, or maybe you have privacy concerns. You’re not sure how to protect yourself on each platform you use. Maybe you have the basics down, but using social media to grow your business baffles you.

A timely and important book that explores the societal and ethical implications of artificial intelligence as we approach the cusp of a fourth industrial revolution. George Zarkadakis explores one of humankind's oldest love-hate relationships: our ties with artificial intelligence, or AI. He traces AI's origins in ancient myth, through literary classics like Frankenstein to today's science fiction blockbusters, arguing that a fascination with AI is hardwired into the human psyche.

Modern cities are evolving into complex, data-driven ecosystems where digital intelligence and physical infrastructure increasingly operate as one interconnected organism. City of Algorithms presents a thoughtful exploration of how real-time data, smart systems, and algorithmic decision-making are reshaping urban life, sustainability, and human experience. Using a Seattle-inspired lens, this book examines the concept of urban metabolism — the continuous flow of energy, resources, information, and human activity that sustains a city's functioning.

Author Matt LeMay explains agile in clear, jargon-free terms and provides concrete and actionable steps to help any team put its values and principles into practice. Examples from a wide variety of organizations, including small nonprofits and global financial enterprises, bring to life the on-the-ground realities of agile across industries and functions.   

Melanie Mitchell separa la ciencia real de la ciencia ficción en este amplio examen del estado actual de la inteligencia artificial y de cómo está rehaciendo nuestro mundo. Ninguna empresa científica reciente ha resultado tan seductora, aterradora y llena de extravagantes promesas y...

A new approach to the challenges surrounding artificial intelligence that argues for assessing AI actions as if they came from a human being.

The Age of Living Machines describes some of the most exciting new developments and the scientists and engineers who helped create them. Virus-built batteries. Protein-based water filters. Cancer-detecting nanoparticles. Mind-reading bionic limbs. Computer-engineered crops. Together they highlight the promise of the technology revolution of the 21st century to overcome some of the greatest humanitarian, medical, and environmental challenges of our time.

From two White House veterans, an urgent case for why democracies must achieve preeminence in AI—and a bracing warning about what victory will require Humanity may soon create AI systems that can outperform humans at virtually every cognitive task. Whoever wields that technology will gain a...

An 800-CEO-READ Staff Pick Shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award A Financial Times Business Book of the Month “For any would-be activists who hear the voice: ‘not me’ or ‘not now,’ Merchant makes the strong case for ‘yes you’ and ‘yes now’—and even shows...

Feeling left behind in the AI revolution? Generative AI: Beginners Guide demystifies artificial intelligence, offering a clear, step-by-step roadmap to unlock its potential—no technical background required.