The Loop: How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back

The Loop: How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back

  • Downloads：6558
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-01-27 09:20:59
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Jacob Ward
  • ISBN：B093ZQ5ZWX
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

femily ，

Read IT in ONE DAY。 #audible OMG pretend you are having a dinner party with your smartest， funnest friends - and you're talking about how technology is （negatively） affecting our agency and authenticity and what the eff we can do about it。 This is literally that book and I am HERE for it。 Fresh。 Surprising。 Very informed （not just opinions）！Not a "downer" but makes me feel I can make a change that will matter。 Read IT in ONE DAY。 #audible OMG pretend you are having a dinner party with your smartest， funnest friends - and you're talking about how technology is （negatively） affecting our agency and authenticity and what the eff we can do about it。 This is literally that book and I am HERE for it。 Fresh。 Surprising。 Very informed （not just opinions）！Not a "downer" but makes me feel I can make a change that will matter。 。。。more

Kari ，

Does it seem that algorithms， AI and other forms of technology are now making decisions on what we see， changing the way we do things， taking over the things we used to do and slowly limiting our choices over our own lives？ Well that is why THE LOOP is such a sensational read in opening our eyes and grasping the knowledge of just how little control we will have left if we don’t make a change。 When we allow a machine to make decisions and to think for us; we are giving up on our humanity。 We need Does it seem that algorithms， AI and other forms of technology are now making decisions on what we see， changing the way we do things， taking over the things we used to do and slowly limiting our choices over our own lives？ Well that is why THE LOOP is such a sensational read in opening our eyes and grasping the knowledge of just how little control we will have left if we don’t make a change。 When we allow a machine to make decisions and to think for us; we are giving up on our humanity。 We need to take the best parts of ourselves and keep it， instead of putting it into a machine。 。。。more

Anneke ，

Book Review: The Loop - How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight BackAuthor: Jacob WardPublisher: Hachette BooksPublication Date: January 25， 2022Review Date: December 30， 2021I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。From the blur:“This eye-opening narrative journey into the rapidly changing world of artificial intelligence reveals the dangerous ways AI is exploiting the unconscious habits of our minds—and the real threat it p Book Review: The Loop - How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight BackAuthor: Jacob WardPublisher: Hachette BooksPublication Date: January 25， 2022Review Date: December 30， 2021I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。From the blur:“This eye-opening narrative journey into the rapidly changing world of artificial intelligence reveals the dangerous ways AI is exploiting the unconscious habits of our minds—and the real threat it poses to humanity。Artificial intelligence is going to change the world as we know it。 But the real danger isn't some robot that's going to enslave us: It's our own brain。 Our brains are constantly making decisions using shortcuts， biases， and hidden processes—and we're using those same techniques to create technology that makes choices for us。 In The Loop， award-winning science journalist Jacob Ward reveals how we are poised to build all of our worst instincts into our AIs， creating a narrow loop where each generation has fewer， predetermined， and even dangerous choices。

Taking us on a world tour of the ongoing， real-world experiment of artificial intelligence， The Loop illuminates the dangers of writing dangerous human habits into our machines。 From a biometric surveillance state in India that tracks the movements of over a billion people， to a social media control system in China that punishes deviant friendships， to the risky multiple-choice simplicity of automated military action， Ward travels the world speaking with top experts confronting the perils of their research。 Each stop reveals how the most obvious patterns in our behavior—patterns an algorithm will use to make decisions about what's best for us—are not the ones we want to perpetuate。

Just as politics， marketing， and finance have all exploited the weaknesses of our human programming， artificial intelligence is poised to use the patterns of our lives to manipulate us。 The Loop is call to look at ourselves more clearly—our most creative ideas， our most destructive impulses， the ways we help and hurt one another-so we can put only the best parts of ourselves into the thinking machines we create。”———This is a fantastic look at our world as it is， right now technologically， especially revelations about how AI is making its way into our world。 This is a very technical book， and I could take in only maybe 50% of it。 But if you’re technically minded， I highly recommend reading The Loop。Thank you to Hachette Books for giving me early access to this important book。 And best of luck to science writer Jacob Ward in his continued career。This review will be posted on NetGalley and Goodreads。#netgalley #TheLoop #JacobWard #HachetteBooks #artificialintelligence #AI 。。。more

Steve's Book Stuff ，

Jacob Ward is an experienced science and technology journalist， and he's worried about where we humans are headed in our pursuit of， and relationship to Artificial Intelligence （AI）。 In this thought-provoking book Ward lays out his concerns and demonstrates how some of them are already playing out。Artificial Intelligence as a concept has been around since at least the 1950s。 Over the years funding for AI has waxed and waned as has the enthusiasm for， and perception of， its usefulness。 Roughly de Jacob Ward is an experienced science and technology journalist， and he's worried about where we humans are headed in our pursuit of， and relationship to Artificial Intelligence （AI）。 In this thought-provoking book Ward lays out his concerns and demonstrates how some of them are already playing out。Artificial Intelligence as a concept has been around since at least the 1950s。 Over the years funding for AI has waxed and waned as has the enthusiasm for， and perception of， its usefulness。 Roughly defined， AI is the ability of computers to reason， plan， and learn as a human would。 Today a form of AI known as machine learning is predominant， and is an often used tool of tech companies trying to influence us as we use the internet。 Machine learning software is based on pattern recognition。 The software is shown numerous examples of things and over time begins to recognize patterns and to be able to act on those patterns。 An easy to understand example might be the Netflix software that monitors your viewing habits and recommends movies and shows it thinks you might like。 It does this based on its observations of the viewing choices of others who've watched the shows you've watched。That pattern recognition is at the heart of Ward's concerns。 He argues that humans are not as rational as we might like to think we are。 We tend to make decisions based on instinct， gut feel and compulsions rather than on any logical reasoning of risk and probability。 As any Star Trek fan knows， we humans are much more the instinctual Captain Kirk than the logical Mr。 Spock。 Now with AI we are coupling our instincts and compulsions to computer systems designed to generate profits by feeding us what those instincts and compulsions will respond to。In the first part of the book the author lays out the research into how we humans make decisions and how much of our decision making is done from a subconscious level。 In the second part of the book he demonstrates how AI is finding patterns in our subconscious decision making and reinforcing them， and showing us how much of that reinforcement is for the profit of others， leaving us in a restricting loop of smaller and smaller individual choice。These AI deployments designed "not just [to] spot patterns in human behavior， but also to shape them" include finding ways to make online "for fun casino" gaming software more addictive and to entice players to move on to real gambling。 It can also include automating the placement of ads as we move around the internet to optimize sales。 Notice that the primary aim in both these examples is not to benefit us， the people who are subject to this software， but rather the companies deploying the software for profit。The book is， as I said， thought provoking， and Ward's metaphor of loops within loops constricting our choices is helpful。 But he does a better job in his discussion of our human decision-making mechanisms than in describing the ways in which AI is already harming us。 There is no discussion at all， for example， of how social media algorithms reinforce tribal responses to online （and real world） political discussion， at least a portion of which I suspect is the product of the deployment of AI。 Even so， if you are interested in a better understanding of the potential dangers of Artificial Intelligence as it's being deployed right now you will find this book well worth the read。 Despite the topic it is not overly technical but rather is highly readable。 I give The Loop Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐。NOTE: I received an advanced reviewer's copy of this book through NetGalley and Hachette Books in exchange for a fair and honest review。 The book is generally available Saturday， January 25， 2022。 。。。more

shan ，

I was interested in THE LOOP because I’ve always been curious about AI & machine learning。 I would also say I’ve believed that the ease of technology does more good than harm; but after pouring over the chapters I had to admit that points were being made。 Pulling on his experience as a News Technology Correspondent & relationships he’s maintained with academics Jacob Ward presents a compelling case of why we all may be stuck in ‘the loop’。 Consider this: human nature is a series of patterns， we I was interested in THE LOOP because I’ve always been curious about AI & machine learning。 I would also say I’ve believed that the ease of technology does more good than harm; but after pouring over the chapters I had to admit that points were being made。 Pulling on his experience as a News Technology Correspondent & relationships he’s maintained with academics Jacob Ward presents a compelling case of why we all may be stuck in ‘the loop’。 Consider this: human nature is a series of patterns， we are predictable which makes us the perfect data set for AI & we’re content offloading mental work to machines。 Ward presents a series of recent happenings that demonstrates just how unchecked AI can misidentify， bankrupt & disorient people。 He also presents a starting point for a solution。 Perhaps， more industry players & businesses that rely heavily on AI could decide to train the machines to predict future outcomes instead of using our already unfair & unreliable behavioural patterns。 If refocused， we can break out of the feedback loop。 As the blurb puts it “The Loop is a call to look at ourselves more clearly--at our most creative ideas， and our most destructive impulses-so we can put only the best parts of ourselves into the thinking machines we create。” Interesting read & you have a recommendation from me if you’re interested in AI， machine learning， psychology & interesting developments around the world。 。。。more