Cyber Republic: Reinventing Democracy in the Age of Intelligent Machines
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- Create Date：2021-10-11 16:16:01
- Update Date：2025-09-24
- Status：finish
- Author：George Zarkadakis
- ISBN：0262542722
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Summary
How to make liberal democracies more inclusive and the digital economy more equitable: a guide for the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution。
Around the world， liberal democracies are in crisis。 Citizens have lost faith in their government; right-wing nationalist movements frame the political debate。 At the same time， economic inequality is increasing dramatically; digital technologies have created a new class of super-rich entrepreneurs。 Automation threatens to transform the free economy into a zero-sum game in which capital wins and labor loses。 But is this digital dystopia inevitable？ In Cyber Republic， George Zarkadakis presents an alternative， outlining a plan for using technology to make liberal democracies more inclusive and the digital economy more equitable。 Cyber Republic is no less than a guide for the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution。
Zarkadakis， an expert on technology and management， explains how artificial intelligence， together with intelligent robotics， sophisticated sensors， communication networks， and big data， will fundamentally reshape the global economy; a new intelligent machine age will force us to adopt new forms of economic and political organization。 He envisions a future liberal democracy in which intelligent machines facilitate citizen assemblies， helping to extend citizen rights， and blockchains and cryptoeconomics enable new forms of democratic governance and business collaboration。 Moreover， the same technologies can be applied to scientific research and technological innovation。 We need not fear automation， Zarkadakis argues; in a post-work future， intelligent machines can collaborate with humans to achieve the human goals of inclusivity and equality。
Around the world， liberal democracies are in crisis。 Citizens have lost faith in their government; right-wing nationalist movements frame the political debate。 At the same time， economic inequality is increasing dramatically; digital technologies have created a new class of super-rich entrepreneurs。 Automation threatens to transform the free economy into a zero-sum game in which capital wins and labor loses。 But is this digital dystopia inevitable？ In Cyber Republic， George Zarkadakis presents an alternative， outlining a plan for using technology to make liberal democracies more inclusive and the digital economy more equitable。 Cyber Republic is no less than a guide for the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution。
Zarkadakis， an expert on technology and management， explains how artificial intelligence， together with intelligent robotics， sophisticated sensors， communication networks， and big data， will fundamentally reshape the global economy; a new intelligent machine age will force us to adopt new forms of economic and political organization。 He envisions a future liberal democracy in which intelligent machines facilitate citizen assemblies， helping to extend citizen rights， and blockchains and cryptoeconomics enable new forms of democratic governance and business collaboration。 Moreover， the same technologies can be applied to scientific research and technological innovation。 We need not fear automation， Zarkadakis argues; in a post-work future， intelligent machines can collaborate with humans to achieve the human goals of inclusivity and equality。
Reviews
Dimitrios Mistriotis
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Για το ελληνόφωνο κοινό， συνέντευξη/συζήτηση με τον συγγραφέα εδώ podcast: www。fetareport。gr/podcast/86/και video: https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=_O4_G。。。> Καλωσορίζουμε τον -κυρίως- συγγραφέα αλλά όχι μόνο Γιώργο Ζαρκαδάκη να μας παρουσιάσει το τελευταίο του βιβλίο το οποίο διαβάστηκε μονορούφι και συνίσταται ανεπιφύλακτα。 Συζητάμε για το που βρισκόμαστε， πως φτάσαμε εκεί και κάποιες από τις προτάσεις του Γιώργου μέσα από το βιβλίο του χωρίς να τις αναφέρουμε όλες έτσι ώστε να έχετε ένα παραπά Για το ελληνόφωνο κοινό， συνέντευξη/συζήτηση με τον συγγραφέα εδώ podcast: www。fetareport。gr/podcast/86/και video: https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=_O4_G。。。> Καλωσορίζουμε τον -κυρίως- συγγραφέα αλλά όχι μόνο Γιώργο Ζαρκαδάκη να μας παρουσιάσει το τελευταίο του βιβλίο το οποίο διαβάστηκε μονορούφι και συνίσταται ανεπιφύλακτα。 Συζητάμε για το που βρισκόμαστε， πως φτάσαμε εκεί και κάποιες από τις προτάσεις του Γιώργου μέσα από το βιβλίο του χωρίς να τις αναφέρουμε όλες έτσι ώστε να έχετε ένα παραπάνω κίνητρο να το διαβάσετε。> Πυκνή συζήτηση που μάλλον χρειάζεται πάνω από μία ακροάσεις。 。。。more
Peachi
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The Fourth Industrial Revolution， or the ongoing automation of manufacturing and industries through AI， threatens to upend liberal democracies around the world through growing political unrest， widening economic inequality， and the rise of surveillance states。 In Cyber Republic， George Zarkadakis outlines a plan to use technology to modernize liberal democracies。 Our dystopian ending isn’t predestined。 The good: Zarkadakis is good at diagnosing some of the problems we’ll need to address that com The Fourth Industrial Revolution， or the ongoing automation of manufacturing and industries through AI， threatens to upend liberal democracies around the world through growing political unrest， widening economic inequality， and the rise of surveillance states。 In Cyber Republic， George Zarkadakis outlines a plan to use technology to modernize liberal democracies。 Our dystopian ending isn’t predestined。 The good: Zarkadakis is good at diagnosing some of the problems we’ll need to address that come with automation， couching the conversation about technology in political and economic theory， and offering interesting insights in how we might tackle these issues。 For example， I appreciate his reframing of AI: “Our current idea of AI is one where humans are viewed in juxtaposition to algorithms。 Artificial intelligence systems are like aliens invading our world， and we are now forced to somehow find a way to accommodate them and hopefully share power and responsibility with them。 Maybe we need to rethink AI， not as something that we must try to adopt by reducing the risk of bad outcomes through regulation and safety checks but as something that has to be embedded in human systems in a symbiotic way， and only when it maximizes our personal and collective goals。” The bad: His poorly fleshed out thesis on how to address political unrest， growing inequality， and automation。 He offers a half-baked framework for a “cyber republic” that rests on three principles: Rethinking business models for an an AI economy Repositioning AI as a human-centric technology Extending citizen rights The ugly: Zarkadakis’ condescending， elitist attitude。 This is a book written by a technocrat for other technocrats。 His admissions of arrogance unfortunately would turn off non-techno bro readers。 For example， this gem of a quote: “Agreeing with Platonic， Hobbesian， and liberal critiques of direct democracy， I believed that only the most intelligent， moral， and well-educated citizens －the “best” －should be allowed to make laws and govern， while ordinary people should just keep quiet， watch， and occasionally vote。”Zarkadakis misses the irony in his own thinking: the rise of populism is a natural response to the failings for representative governance （e。g。 electing politicians to represent our interests）。 Political elites are not accountable to the people who voted for them。 Therefore， people push back on the political elite through populism。 Contrary to Zardadakis’ thinking， maybe the problem isn’t that it’s hard to keep political elites accountable。 It’s that we have political elites in the first place instead of more inclusive and participatory forms of democracy。 。。。more
Ernesto
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Will it be possible to save the Republic （meaning the Liberal democracy and institutions that’s existed after WWII using new technologies？Zarkadakis seems to say yes， but after reading his books I have more doubts the certainties。
Eduardo Oliveira
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Interesting read from an excellent writer and AI 'guru' but a bit utopic and hard to follow when it comes down to blockchain issues。 Interesting read from an excellent writer and AI 'guru' but a bit utopic and hard to follow when it comes down to blockchain issues。 。。。more
Nick
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AI is coming， and it's going to change our relationship to government。 How exactly？ We don't know。This serves as the basis for the author's book， which spends much of its time engaging in speculation while presenting a less-than-accurate depiction of American politics and technology。There's ambitious but ambiguous ideas like using blockchain， but the author goes off into tangents while straying further from reality and technical possibility。 They seem to touch on each subject so lightly they fai AI is coming， and it's going to change our relationship to government。 How exactly？ We don't know。This serves as the basis for the author's book， which spends much of its time engaging in speculation while presenting a less-than-accurate depiction of American politics and technology。There's ambitious but ambiguous ideas like using blockchain， but the author goes off into tangents while straying further from reality and technical possibility。 They seem to touch on each subject so lightly they fail to consider any downsides to their ideas。One thing the author gets right is that it's important to have discussions on how AI can be used or abused in the future of nations。 However， I did not find this book to be a good work on this discussion。 。。。more
Gedi௨
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PRO++ analysis of politics， technology， and economy in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution+ «Citizen assemblies need to become a new liberal institution， embedded in the policy decision making at every level of government。»+ «The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how important it is for democracies to get citizen consent to draconian measures that directly impact their lives»+ “Ordinary citizens ought to have a voice in reaching a consensus on the optimal solutions and strategies， and t PRO++ analysis of politics， technology， and economy in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution+ «Citizen assemblies need to become a new liberal institution， embedded in the policy decision making at every level of government。»+ «The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how important it is for democracies to get citizen consent to draconian measures that directly impact their lives»+ “Ordinary citizens ought to have a voice in reaching a consensus on the optimal solutions and strategies， and take the risk， as well as the responsibility， for implementing those solutions without the need for top-down enforcement or coercion。” 。。。more
Groucho42
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I was sent a copy by MIT Press。 I really wanted to like this book， but it is a noble failure。 The goal of the author is to talk about how technology can help preserve democracy， but it's too scattered and his arguments don't really come together to support the point。The one good point is his early focus on the need to understand how the nature of and need for work is changing based on the pervasiveness of technology。 That could have been a book on its own。 This isn't like earlier technological r I was sent a copy by MIT Press。 I really wanted to like this book， but it is a noble failure。 The goal of the author is to talk about how technology can help preserve democracy， but it's too scattered and his arguments don't really come together to support the point。The one good point is his early focus on the need to understand how the nature of and need for work is changing based on the pervasiveness of technology。 That could have been a book on its own。 This isn't like earlier technological revolutions， such as the invention of the automobile， where some jobs went away and new jobs were created。 Jobs are going away， and many are never being replaced。His main problem comes with his description of his "new" paradigm of democracy。 "Citizen Assemblies" are a group of people chosen to evaluate issues and vote on whether or not they should be implemented。 That's new？ It's what Congress， state legislatures， city boards， and so many other governmental organizations do。 They are people supposedly chosen to represent the average person， study an issue， and then make a decision based on what they learn。While Zarkadakis does talk about the power of artificial intelligence （AI）， he then waves his hands about how AI could help to improve selection rather than be used by governments and corporations to restrict and bias selection。 Much is needed in government action and regulation before these systems can be trusted to help democracy。Then there's the chapter on blockchain。 It overplays the positive while underplaying the negative。 Distributed ledgers aren't going away， but they aren't the panacea presented。 Take the one major example of blockchain， bitcoin， and the problem the author never mentioned。 Blockchain relies on consensus， a majority of entities agreeing。 However， the vast majority of bitcoin servers are in China。 While bitcoin hasn't reached the importance that would create a governmental interference， it's clear that China could， if it wished， control bitcoin。 Before blockchain could be involved in preserving democracy， we must understand how it， like AI， can be used by totalitarian regimes to prevent freedom。Yes， technology should be able to help preserve democracy。 However， this book seems to be throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks。 It floats a number of ideas， ignores flaws， and doesn't create a consistent whole that shows a workable way forward。 。。。more
Manuela
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Cyber Republic， by George Zarkadarias， manages in a short book to explain a bit about our current world situation， with the challenges liberal democracies are facing with the advent AI and to present his idea for a future liberal democracy that would help solving the problems brought by the 4ht Industrial Revolution。The author makes a great job explaining difficult concepts in an interesting yet simple way。 I struggled a little to go through the part he explains blockchain， but I believe that is Cyber Republic， by George Zarkadarias， manages in a short book to explain a bit about our current world situation， with the challenges liberal democracies are facing with the advent AI and to present his idea for a future liberal democracy that would help solving the problems brought by the 4ht Industrial Revolution。The author makes a great job explaining difficult concepts in an interesting yet simple way。 I struggled a little to go through the part he explains blockchain， but I believe that is more of a personal issue of me not being very interested in the subject "cryptocurrencies" itself。 The first half of the book he takes the time to really go over the concepts and current overview of the liberal democracies， which I can definitely appreciate as it helped me understand his proposal。 Second half he focused on the Cyber Rebublic itself， showing its main principles， foundations， importance， challenges and the best way to go with implementing。 He takes the time to show examples and studies to explain his reasoning， making it easier for us to see where it was coming fromI received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review 。。。more
Grace Lam
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