CategorySocial Factors
Facial Recognition Aids Persecution of Chinese Christians, Muslims
Western companies still seek business ties with an increasingly authoritarian regime
Google.com or Google.gov?
A political analyst argues that Google is beginning to mesh with governments whose values are compatible with its own.
The virtual bride
The answer to relationship problems: Your new spouse is a hologram. So far, only in Japan
If a Robot Read the News, Would You Notice a Difference?
The Chinese government thinks not. Is this the way of the future?
Who needs wisdom? We’ve got algorithms!
On a decision about a TV series, the Algorithm offered a narrow view (ratings) while Hollywood offered a “big picture” view. Who was right?
Can Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web, save it from humanity?
Berners-Lee has launched a global campaign for a Magna Carta to “protect people’s rights online from threats such as fake news, prejudice and hate”
Is social media the best communications tool that ever happened?
The worst communications tool that ever happened? Or something less comfortable than either?
Researchers find loneliness is hard on the brain
What we think about our lives really does affect our health.
Canada demands intimate banking data from a half million citizens
The goal of the program, recently uncovered by media, is to develop a “new institutional personal information bank” for government use.A Canadian TV station recently provided a dramatic insight into how far Western governments are prepared to go, using advanced data gathering techniques, to surveil the lives of citizens: Statistics Canada is asking banks across the country for financial transaction data and personal information of 500,000 Canadians without their knowledge. Global News has learned. Documents obtained by Global News show the national statistical agency plans to collect “individual-level financial transactions data” and sensitive information, like social insurance numbers (SIN), from Canadian financial institutions to develop a “new institutional personal information bank.” Andrew Russell and David Akin, “EXCLUSIVE: Stats Canada requesting banking information of 500,000 Canadians without their knowledge” at Global News Further investigation showed that the government agency has already Read More ›
Did AI show that we are “a peaceful species” triggered by religion?
No, but this episode shows how science media sometimes help mislead the public
A chilling snippet from mass surveillance in China
China is helping other countries restrict their citizens’ internet, while shunning the U.S.
Life after Google: More private and more profitable?
Reviewing Gilder’s Life after Google, Ralph Benko asks, If our attention is worth billions, shouldn’t we market it?
Facebook is said to be exploring minting its own cryptocurrency
If Facebook wants to mint private currency, can it still be the judge of morals and manners among users?
Too late to prevent being ruled by The Algorithm?
Dilbert’s creator, Scott Adams, tells Ben Shapiro why he thinks politicians soon won't matter
Should robots run for office?
A tech analyst sees a threat to democracy if they don’t
Is Technology Neutral?
Or does it change our world whether we like it or not?
Who assumes moral responsibility for self-driving cars?
Can we discuss this before something happens and everyone is outsourcing the blame?
How AI could run the world
Its killer apps, in physicist Max Tegmark's tale, include a tsunami of "message" films