Computers and Society最新文献

{"title":"Epilogue","authors":"R. Baecker","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198827085.003.0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198827085.003.0020","url":null,"abstract":"In the preceding pages, we have introduced, explained, and discussed a large and growing number of ways in which digital technologies are affecting our world. The pace of change is accelerating. Although there are concerns that semiconductor performance and miniaturization will soon no longer obey Moore’s Law (discussed in the Prologue), new technologies such as quantum computers will likely extend the continual improvement of hardware performance. New software approaches such as deep learning have dramatically improved increasingly critical artificial intelligence (AI) computations. Concerns about employment prospects as well as the fascination of computer science have greatly enlarged the talent pool of individuals studying this field or related disciplines and adopting careers involving digital technologies. Corporations now understand the importance of computing, and of investing in research and development. Finally, the astronomical returns yielded by high-tech ‘start-ups’ such as Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon have led to enormous pools of investment capital seeking new digital technology innovations. As a result, there are now many social, legal and policy, and moral and ethical issues regarding digital technology and its presence in human society. We have discussed these topics in depth in the preceding pages. To review, we shall now highlight the most important issues. We shall classify the issues under either a social, policy/legal, or ethical/moral heading, yet all three categories are closely related. A social issue is a statement about quality of life, and what kind of world we want to live in. A policy or legal choice is a statement about the way we are governed, and about the rules we adopt as societies to shape the world as we intend. An ethical or moral dilemma is a question that societies, organizations, and individuals must answer and support with appropriate actions and laws to create a world that is fair, just, and good. There are no easy answers. The eminent professor and historian of technology Melvin Kranzberg described this in what he called Kranzberg’s First Law: ‘Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.’","PeriodicalId":111342,"journal":{"name":"Computers and Society","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127790667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Digital inclusion","authors":"R. Baecker","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198827085.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198827085.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"J. C. R. Licklider, Vannevar Bush, Doug Engelbart, Ted Nelson, and Alan Kay optimistically and exuberantly imagined how computers could better the lives of people. Much of this has come to pass. The Internet supports learning by ‘students’ at all levels. Information on laws, procedures, diseases, and medical care may be found on the web. The Internet now provides the easiest, or in some cases the only, way to pay bills or order items such as books, groceries, and even clothing. It is a means of communication with family, friends, individuals one would like to meet, individuals with whom one could share insights, and potential employers. Music, films, and other means of entertainment stream to our digital devices. This implies that those for whom digital technology is not available are at a disadvantage. The gap between the technology-haves and the technology-have-nots became known in the 1990s as a digital divide. The concept is nuanced; we can speak of availability or scarcity of hardware, such as personal computers (PCs) and mobile phones; of infrastructure such as cellular networks; of communications bandwidth that enables a smooth media viewing experience; of expertise in using the technology; of commitment to its use; and of engagement in the process. Some only consume information; others contribute their ideas via methods such as blogging and tweeting. Yet a better way to describe digital technology widely accessible is the goal of social inclusion, to allow all individuals, regardless of socioeconomic status, location, race, gender, or ability or disability, to take advantage of the benefits of modern computing and telecommunications. To have terminology that is even more evocative, we shall use the more modern and descriptive term of digital inclusion. This has been defined by the International Telecommunications Union as ‘empowering people through information and communication technologies (ICTs)’. The term ‘people’ is meant here to imply all people throughout the world. This chapter will first examine the digital divide between the haves and the have-nots (often the rich and the poor) within several nations. Examples of the benefits of digital inclusion will be cited.","PeriodicalId":111342,"journal":{"name":"Computers and Society","volume":"77 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127081425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Law and order, war and peace","authors":"R. Baecker","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198827085.003.0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198827085.003.0011","url":null,"abstract":"Most computers during the Second World War, such as the British code-breaking Colussus machine, had been developed for military use. The effects on law and order and war and peace of computerization, worldwide telecommunications, social media, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics is the topic of Chapter 6. As in Chapter 5, the most compelling visions of the potential opportunities and dangers have been in science fiction and in film; we begin the chapter by reviewing some memorable examples. We then discuss how technology is used by the police, such as the use of video evidence to sometimes exonerate the police against false accusations of needless brutality. We also examine how citizens are using social media to protect themselves and alert others to what they believe is unwarranted violence or unjust actions by law enforcement. We expand upon Section 5.7’s discussion of citizen mobilization by social media with the goal of regime change. In this context, we discuss how the government (especially police and security services) gains leverage via the surveillance of the digital information and communications of citizens. This surveillance has significantly increased due to security concerns post-9/11. We will examine these developments in the USA, Canada, and the UK, as well as in other parts of the world. We shall also discuss cases of organizations trying to subvert societies that repress and forbid access to the internet, with the goal of enabling its citizens to access the internet freely. Next, we consider ways in which tools of digital disruption are used by a country or government or a set of individuals against others. The timely and current case study explored is on governmental use of hacking and other aggressive digital means to interfere with the electoral processes of another country, or even to disrupt or destabilize the other country. At the extreme, governments engage in cyberterrorism or even cyberwar­fare. We shall discuss several recent examples of this and argue that weapons of cyberwar­fare could be as catastrophic as nuclear or biological weapons. The technology of warfare has also evolved.","PeriodicalId":111342,"journal":{"name":"Computers and Society","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115438011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Security","authors":"R. Baecker","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198827085.003.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198827085.003.0013","url":null,"abstract":"Throughout history, humanity has invented valuable technologies and ways to organize society. These innovations are typically accompanied by risks. Fire cooks food, and also provides heat on cold nights. Yet, when left unchecked, fire can cause huge damage as well as loss of life. Cities enabled new forms of community and commerce. However, they brought us more thievery, and made it easier for epidemics to spread. The automobile allowed a separation of locales for work and residence; trucks allowed goods to be shipped long distances. But vehicular accidents have caused far greater injury and loss of life than did mishaps with horses and mules. Information technology, like other technologies, has potential for good and for harm. In the first six chapters, we introduced aspects of human activity, such as education, medicine, and government, in which IT has been transformative and mostly positive. The next three chapters examine areas in which the negatives of IT are dominant, in which risks seem everywhere. This chapter focuses on security. IT security flaws are exploited by outsiders for personal or political gain. In Chapter 8 we shall look at safety, where the risks are often injury or loss of life. In Chapter 9, we shall look at privacy, where the risks are exposure of private, confidential, and even sensitive information. Security is the attribute of a computer system that ensures that it can continue to function properly after an attack. Attacks against computer systems happen routinely now, are in the news almost every week, and are accelerating in numbers and in impact. Damage to both individuals and organizations—financial losses, chaos, and deteriorating morale— is severe. We shall provide a primer on the multitude of ways computer systems, from large networks to mobile phones, can be ‘hacked’ so that they no longer function properly. We shall define the most common kinds of destructive software, often called malware. We will discuss large-scale data breaches, which now happen frequently and expose the personal data of millions to billions of people. The word hackers refers to individuals who disrupt digital technologies and thereby damage the functioning of an institution or a society.","PeriodicalId":111342,"journal":{"name":"Computers and Society","volume":"70 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128064075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}