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Meganets : how digital forces beyond our control commandeer our daily lives and inner realities / David B. Auerbach.

by Auerbach, David B.

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PublicAffairs/Hachette Book Group, 2023.

Internet governance.

Algorithms -- Social aspects.

Internet -- Social aspects.

9781541774445 (hc.)

339 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

David B. Auerbach is a writer, technologist, and software engineer who worked at Google and Microsoft after graduating from Yale University. His writing has appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, MIT Technology Review, The Nation, n+1, Tablet, The Daily Beast, and Bookforum, among many other publications. He was Slate’s technology columnist from 2013 to 2016, and he was nominated for a National Magazine Award for his coverage of the HealthCare.gov hearings. He teaches on the history of computation at the New Centre for Research and Practice and is a frequent guest at their events. He has lectured around the world on technology, literature, and philosophy and, in addition has done scholarly research on James Joyce, William Shakespeare, and artificial intelligence. His first book, Bitwise: A Life in Code, was published by Pantheon in 2018.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"In this stimulating technical analysis, software engineer Auerbach (Bitwise) sounds the alarm about the rise of 'meganets,' or 'autonomous networks' that might take the form of 'big data, the cloud, the internet of things, blockchain, augmented reality, or the much-ballyhooed metaverse.' He suggests these meganets possess two fundamental characteristics: they are 'semiautonomous systems' that often elude the control of their creators (think Mark Zuckerberg struggling to inhibit vaccine misinformation on Facebook), and they are 'feedback driven' (think Amazon suggesting products based on past purchases, strongly influencing future purchases in a way traditional advertising cannot). Case studies illustrate the ways in which well-intentioned data systems can produce unintended outcomes; for example, India's Aadhaar system distributes identification cards for citizens to access government services, but several deaths have been linked to the database after people not found in it were denied rations or medical care. The author's proposals for 'taming the meganet' are provocative and include changing social media algorithms so users see more content beyond their usual interests and temporarily deranking popular posts to slow their spread. Auerbach's elucidation of how meganets have threatened equity and autonomy is perceptive and searing, and the unorthodox recommendations bring novel insights, even if they're largely focused on social media. This has some refreshing ideas on how to develop a fairer, saner online discourse."--Publishers Weekly.

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