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The Next Backlash Is Going to Be Against Technology

13 points by ekovarski 7y ago

manfredo 7y ago
Only one paragraph seems to be directly related to the headline: > I think that the next backlash is going to be against technology. We’ve seen the backlash against globalization. If anything, the dislocations and the adverse labor market implications of artificial intelligence, automation, new digital technologies—the impacts of those will be even larger. If we persist on a path that is creating highly divided societies, in terms of income and social status, in terms of who gets access to the political system, I think the pitchforks, to use your term, might be coming out for technology, and that would obviously be both economically and politically very dangerous. What would trigger the proverbial pitchforks to come out? Unemployment is one, but unemployment has continued to stay low despite the economy becoming more automated. Generally speaking, automation displaces specific fields of work but does not case greater unemployment in aggregate. I think the perception that some companies, especially big social platforms, are politically manipulating content or consistently enforcing rules in a partisan manner is another factor that could elicit the brandishing of pitchforks - hopefully in a metaphorical sense. My last answer would be egregious violation of privacy but hack after hack happens and leak after leak happens with only short-term outrage - so I don't think this is a concern. In conclusion, I'm still not sure what kind of issue would most feasibly trigger a backlash against technology. Not to mention, I think phrasing this as a backlash "against technology" is too broad to be effective. Most people when they think of "technology" think FAANG, self driving cars, and social media. That's really just a fraction of "technology".
mr_toad 7y ago
Next? Tech is already the whipping boy de rigueur.
nostrademons 7y ago
The tech backlash started 5+ years ago (2013) with the Snowden disclosures. The next backlash will be against institutions, and it started with Brexit & Trump's election in 2016. Interestingly, the response to Trump's election wasn't to defend the institutions (universities, the media, Congress, the FBI) which he attacks. Rather, it's to tear down different institutions - borders, ICE, police, the presidency, capitalism. There are relatively few people interested in defending institutions - mostly just neoliberals and Never-Trump conservatives, and they are dramatically outnumbered.
- manfredo 7y ago
  I disagree. Back then, people had a generally positive opinion about tech companies, Facebook and Twitter being held as examples of catalysts for democratic progress (being active in the Arab Spring, but that went sour later). Tech companies were seen as the victims of government overreach - being forced at metaphorical gunpoint to give up user info without a warrant. While there may have been some criticism of tech companies that supposedly bent over too easily, the primary villain in the Snowden saga was the NSA, secret courts, and other government agencies carrying out mass surveillance. I think that's a big contrast to the situation today, where people are being called on to uninstall Facebook and Uber. YouTube, Twitter, and Patreon are criticized for uneven enforcement of their content policy (e.g. "learn to code" being a ban-worthy offense when directed to a journalist but not to others) and some countries are outright blocking social media platforms.

13 points by ekovarski 7y ago

Only one paragraph seems to be directly related to the headline: > I think that the next backlash is going to be against technology. We’ve seen the backlash against globalization. If anything, the dislocations and the adverse labor market implications of artificial intelligence, automation, new digital technologies—the impacts of those will be even larger. If we persist on a path that is creating highly divided societies, in terms of income and social status, in terms of who gets access to the political system, I think the pitchforks, to use your term, might be coming out for technology, and that would obviously be both economically and politically very dangerous. What would trigger the proverbial pitchforks to come out? Unemployment is one, but unemployment has continued to stay low despite the economy becoming more automated. Generally speaking, automation displaces specific fields of work but does not case greater unemployment in aggregate. I think the perception that some companies, especially big social platforms, are politically manipulating content or consistently enforcing rules in a partisan manner is another factor that could elicit the brandishing of pitchforks - hopefully in a metaphorical sense. My last answer would be egregious violation of privacy but hack after hack happens and leak after leak happens with only short-term outrage - so I don't think this is a concern. In conclusion, I'm still not sure what kind of issue would most feasibly trigger a backlash against technology. Not to mention, I think phrasing this as a backlash "against technology" is too broad to be effective. Most people when they think of "technology" think FAANG, self driving cars, and social media. That's really just a fraction of "technology".

mr_toad 7y ago

Next? Tech is already the whipping boy de rigueur.

nostrademons 7y ago

The tech backlash started 5+ years ago (2013) with the Snowden disclosures. The next backlash will be against institutions, and it started with Brexit & Trump's election in 2016. Interestingly, the response to Trump's election wasn't to defend the institutions (universities, the media, Congress, the FBI) which he attacks. Rather, it's to tear down different institutions - borders, ICE, police, the presidency, capitalism. There are relatively few people interested in defending institutions - mostly just neoliberals and Never-Trump conservatives, and they are dramatically outnumbered.

manfredo 7y ago
I disagree. Back then, people had a generally positive opinion about tech companies, Facebook and Twitter being held as examples of catalysts for democratic progress (being active in the Arab Spring, but that went sour later). Tech companies were seen as the victims of government overreach - being forced at metaphorical gunpoint to give up user info without a warrant. While there may have been some criticism of tech companies that supposedly bent over too easily, the primary villain in the Snowden saga was the NSA, secret courts, and other government agencies carrying out mass surveillance. I think that's a big contrast to the situation today, where people are being called on to uninstall Facebook and Uber. YouTube, Twitter, and Patreon are criticized for uneven enforcement of their content policy (e.g. "learn to code" being a ban-worthy offense when directed to a journalist but not to others) and some countries are outright blocking social media platforms.