Helga Nowotny - In AI We Trust

1 Cover

2 Title Page In AI We Trust Power, Illusion and Control of Predictive Algorithms Helga Nowotny polity

3 Copyright Page Copyright Page Copyright © Helga Nowotny 2021 The right of Helga Nowotny to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2021 by Polity Press Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 101 Station Landing Suite 300 Medford, MA 02155, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4881-1 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Nowotny, Helga, author. Title: In AI we trust : power, illusion and control of predictive algorithms / Helga Nowotny. Description: Medford, MA : Polity Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A highly original account of the nature of artificial intelligence and its implications for our future”-- Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2021003322 (print) | LCCN 2021003323 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509548811 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509548828 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Artificial intelligence. Classification: LCC Q335 .N685 2021 (print) | LCC Q335 (ebook) | DDC 006.3--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003322 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003323 by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

4 Acknowledgements

5 Introduction: A Personal Journey into Digi-landOrigins: time and uncertainty; science, technology and society The maze and the labyrinth The road ahead: how to live forward and understand life backwards

6 1 Life in the Digital Time MachineBetween the mud and the sky: the birth of the digital Anthropocene The past reaches the present and the (visible) future has arrived The open horizon of the future

7 2 Welcome to the Mirror WorldA mirror world in the making Humans and their digital others Identity anxieties: loss and redefinition of the self

8 3 The Quest for Public Happiness and the Narrative of ProgressThe contagiousness of narratives Breadfruit, potatoes and the idea of progress Human enhancement, control and care

9 4 Future Needs WisdomWhy wisdom is needed Pathologies of AI: ethics is more than a checklist The enduring lure of the Leviathan

10 5 Disruption: From BC (Before COVID-19) to AD (After Domestication)What a biological virus teaches us about our bodies in a digital world The domestication of work From domestication to self-domestication

11 Bibliography

12 Index

13 End User License Agreement

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Helga Nowotny

polity

Copyright © Helga Nowotny 2021

The right of Helga Nowotny to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2021 by Polity Press

Polity Press

65 Bridge Street

Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

101 Station Landing

Suite 300

Medford, MA 02155, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4881-1

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Nowotny, Helga, author.

Title: In AI we trust : power, illusion and control of predictive algorithms / Helga Nowotny.

Description: Medford, MA : Polity Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A highly original account of the nature of artificial intelligence and its implications for our future”-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021003322 (print) | LCCN 2021003323 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509548811 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509548828 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Artificial intelligence.

Classification: LCC Q335 .N685 2021 (print) | LCC Q335 (ebook) | DDC 006.3--dc23