Are We Already Living in a Tech Dystopia?

Gizmodo asked experts, including Jonathan Zittrain, for their answers to the question:  Are We Already Living in a Tech Dystopia?

“Yes, in the sense that so many of us feel rightly that instead of empowering us, technology is used against us – most especially when it presents itself as merely here to help,” Zittrain said. “I’ve started thinking of some of our most promising tech, including machine learning, as like asbestos: it’s baked wholesale into other products and services so we don’t even know we’re using it; it becomes pervasive because it seems to work so well, and without any overlay of public interest on its installation; it’s really hard to account for, much less remove, once it’s in place; and it carries with it the possibility of deep injury both now and down the line.”

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