Product Description
The People Vs Tech
Author: Jamie Bartlett
Format: Paperback
How the internet is killing democracy (and how we save it)
*Jamie's New Book on How to Talk to Ai - and How Not to - Is Out Now*
**Winner of the 2019 Transmission Prize**
**Longlisted for the 2019 Orwell Prize for Political Writing**
'A superb book by one of the world's leading experts on the digital revolution' — David Patrikarakos, Literary Review
'This book could not have come at a better moment... The People Vs Tech makes clear that there is still time - just - for us to take back control' — Camilla Cavendish, Sunday Times
The internet was meant to set us free.
Tech has radically changed the way we live our lives. But have we unwittingly handed too much away to shadowy powers behind a wall of code, all manipulated by a handful of Silicon Valley utopians, ad men, and venture capitalists? And, in light of recent data breach scandals around companies like Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, what does that mean for democracy, our delicately balanced system of government that was created long before big data, total information and artificial intelligence? In this urgent polemic, Jamie Bartlett argues that through our unquestioning embrace of big tech, the building blocks of democracy are slowly being removed. The middle class is being eroded, sovereign authority and civil society is weakened, and we citizens are losing our critical faculties, maybe even our free will.
The People Vs Tech is an enthralling account of how our fragile political system is being threatened by the digital revolution. Bartlett explains that by upholding six key pillars of democracy, we can save it before it is too late. We need to become active citizens; uphold a shared democratic culture; protect free elections; promote equality; safeguard competitive and civic freedoms; and trust in a sovereign authority.
This essential book shows that the stakes couldn't be higher and that, unless we radically alter our course, democracy will join feudalism, supreme monarchies and communism as just another political experiment that quietly disappeared.
About the Author
Jamie Bartlett is one of the UK’s leading technology writers and thinkers. His previous books include The Dark Net and The People vs Tech, which was longlisted for the 2019 Orwell Prize for Political Writing. His Ted Talk about buying drugs on dark net markets has been watched nearly six million times. He has written and presented several hit BBC podcast series, including the smash hit The Missing Cryptoqueen, which reached number 1 in the podcast charts all round the world. In 2010, Jamie founded a research centre specialising in designing and applying artificial intelligence software to understand social trends.
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