The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
Guest post by Jason Gagnon The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff There is a lot to this book, and it's difficult to unpack, but it is important, so let me give it a whirl: First- the twin streams of internet connected data collecting devices and the rise of Artificial Intelligence has dark implications for the economy, for democracy, and for autonomy and privacy. Second- the idea that "If something is free, you are the product" is close to true, but is not how the surveillance capitalist firms actually work. What you are, are the churn in the system. These companies - primarily Facebook, Google, and Microsoft - digest your "behavioral surplus" to predict our future behaviors and needs, and then bundle and sell these predictions. Ever get an advert for something you had just been thinking about, but never searched for or talked about? That's how good these predictions are getting it. Facebook and Google promise that they