Those who control our technologies – usually big tech firms and the state – increasingly also control us. They will set the limits of our liberty, unilaterally decreeing what is allowed and what is forbidden. Their algorithms will engage vital questions of social justice, allocating social goods and sorting us into new status hierarchies. They will decide the future of democracy, causing it to change form, flourish or perhaps decay.
In his book Future Politics. Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech, Jamie Susskind draws on centuries of political thought to shed light on the politics of the future. He challenges us to rethink what it means to be free or equal, what it means to have power or property, what it means for a political system to be just or democratic, and proposes ways in which we can – and must – regain control. We will discuss with the author how digital technology will transform politics and society, to what degree we might safely let our lives be directed and controlled by powerful digital systems, and on what terms.
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