Where politics and technology intersect was the topic of barrister, speaker and author Jamie Susskind’s book Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech. In a recent conversation, I discussed with Susskind the power of technology and its relationship with politics to transform our future.

1. Are Tech Giants With Their
AIs And Algorithms
Becoming Too Powerful?

2. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Title
Text
IntroductionIntroduction
How powerful will technology become? While much of the concern about technology
integrating into every area of our lives has focused on humans being replaced by
artificial intelligence, Jamie Susskind, barrister, speaker and author, examines in his book
Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech, the power technology
might wield in politics. As humans, we need to consider our responsibilities for
developing and monitoring the influence of technology in our lives and society and
what we expect from our elected leadership. Jamie and I recently had a chance to delve
into some of the considerations regarding the future of politics within a high-tech world.
Are Tech Giants With Their AIs And
Algorithms Becoming Too Powerful?

3. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Title
Text
IntroductionIntroduction
“The Digital is Political”
"I did my fellowship at Harvard in 2016/2017, and that actually marked a bit of a turning
point in the way people thought about and wrote about these issues. After Trump and
Brexit, when a lot of people sat up and thought, 'Oh my goodness, perhaps these
systems are maligned forces in society,' a lot of politicians were keen to distance
themselves from Silicon Valley," Susskind said.
Are Tech Giants With Their AIs And
Algorithms Becoming Too Powerful?

4. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Are Tech Giants With Their AIs And
Algorithms Becoming Too Powerful?
When we look at the interaction between tech and politics, it’s important not just to think
about politics as we’ve traditionally imagined it within the conventional organs of political
life such as parliaments, executive, civil service and the judiciary. The internet has enabled
certain forms of political communication, which are vastly beneficial. Most political
organizing is now done using digital means. In fact, movements such as the Occupy
movement or the Arab Spring wouldn't have been possible without the digital revolution.
“Actually, the consequences of digital technology in the way that we live are much more
diffuse, much more dispersed but could still easily be categorized as problems of freedom,
justice, democracy. Even if they aren’t immediately filtered through the prism of
parliamentary democracy,” Susskind said.

5. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Are Tech Giants With Their AIs And
Algorithms Becoming Too Powerful?
He continued, "For instance, it used to be that we thought the main mechanism of
distribution in society was the market with the states intervening. Now overlaid on both,
we have a lot of influence from algorithms that are embedded in both systems. Your
access to things of social value—job, credit, insurance—these are heavily influenced by
algorithms. And, in a sense, the state might not be getting involved in that. But whether
you have access to those things could determine whether you have a good life or a bad
life, a prosperous life or poor life, a meaningful life or a meaningless one. I see that as a
first-order political problem. That is something that affects the community as a whole."

6. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Power of Technology
This reality is why large tech companies have extraordinary power today. Current
regulatory mandates were built for corporations in the past where the market was the
consideration, not forms of power. Susskind argues that we need to see technology not
just as consumers, but as citizens.
At the same time, social media can affect one of the most fundamental aspects of
democracy, which is deliberation and the way we talk to each other. We've seen people
become polarized because through their own personal choices, algorithms are making
choices for them, and they are fed information that reinforces their own world view. We've
seen people become more entrenched in those views because the more time you spend
around people and information that agree with you, the more deeply you come to hold
those views. There's also a significant problem with the spread of fake news and
misinformation.

7. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Power of Technology
In a sense, it isn't surprising that this has happened. These social media platforms have not
been developed according to the principles of the forum or of healthy public debate. If
that was so, they would funnel information to you that was balanced, fair, and rigorously
checked or otherwise engineered to make you a better citizen.
Instead, you’re more likely to receive stuff that is scintillating or scandalous. It doesn’t
matter if it is wrong or biased or partial. As consumers, that’s what appeals to us. So we
shouldn’t be surprised that when you develop these systems according to the logic of the
market rather than the logic of the forum that they don’t serve the common good, the
public good. They serve the private good.

8. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Power of Technology
While lobbying and concern regarding the strange, undemocratic power large
corporations have the ability to wield aren't new, there are some really interesting
questions being raised by new technologies and what tech companies and individuals
using the tech should and shouldn't be permitted to do with it.
Virtual reality systems are about to explode in importance. There are all kinds of things
you could or might want to do in a virtual reality system that would be unlawful to do in
real life. This fact presents some interesting moral questions.
Should you be able to participate in a war game? What about sexual activity that would be
unlawful if done in real life? Is it OK to render an avatar of your next-door neighbor and
have sex in virtual reality with that person, or should that be prohibited and why? What
would the legal basis of that be?
People are going to have reasonable disagreements about questions like these, but
they’re political questions. This is where a lot of politics is happening now. Susskind
believes it’s time for the old school institutions to reassert themselves in a way that
enables the technologists to develop more in line with the public good.

9. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
How Do We Solve These Political Questions?
Susskind asserts these are problems that should be solved collectively. When society has
to decide on matters of moral importance, they should come together and deliberate on
them to see if they can reach a view and determine a set of principles.
This concept is often viewed as an anti-capitalist view. When you're marketing technology,
what you really want to say to people is that you can make this technology do whatever
they want it to. However, market values embedded in technology, perhaps conflict with
the public importance they now have. We look at questions of justice, liberty, and
questions of democracy.
And the questions are vexing:
• How do we regulate powerful tech corporations and balance their capital interest
with the public interest?
• How do we prevent and respond to injustices made by algorithms that were trained
by humans with their own biases?
• What is proper surveillance and use of private information, and what crosses the
line?

10. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
How Do We Solve These Political Questions?
Globally, there are three models taking shape. This will be an area of massive political
confrontation in the next half-century.
In China, there’s a very close relationship between commercial entities and the political
interests of the state. In Europe, governments seek to protect individuals with regulations
such as GDPR and while that law might be flawed, it definitely protects citizens more than
other models. In the United States, while there is still a close relationship between tech
companies and the government, the emphasis is on maximum economic liberty.
Which model we choose based on decisions about to the extent our lives should be
governed is the fundamental political question of our time.
"This stuff isn't the next unicorn; it's about how we live together," Susskind said.

11. © 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website
© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website

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