Category Archives: Book Reviews

Ideological Platforms

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Book review of: M. Pepi (2025). Against Platforms: Surviving Digital Utopia, Melville House, Brooklyn-London, 224 p.

Dr. G.J. van Bussel

After the publications of Srnicek’s Platform Capitalism (2016) and Zuboff’s Surveillance Capitalism (2019), there has been an exponential increase in the number of critiques of large technological firms and their platforms. [i] Concurrently, however, digital platforms have consolidated their influence over global societies. In Against Platforms, Mike Pepi, advances the argument that such platforms are not impartial, but rather ideological instruments that exert a significant influence on social, artistic, and political life. Pepi contests the techno-utopian perspective that platforms serve as instruments for ‘good’, for democratization, and equality. According to Pepi, digital platforms exhibit an extractive character, a phenomenon that has the effect of eroding autonomy, under the guise of promoting connectivity.

Digital platforms were initially presented as a ‘utopia’, an open space where the free flow of information would ensure a democratic and egalitarian society. Michael Pepi has expressed the opinion that this idea is misguided, at least in its current form. It is:

‘an ideology run amok. Techno-utopianism—the idea that technology, and technology alone, will create a more egalitarian, democratic society—has been around since we have had tools to make labor easier. But this utopia, like all utopias, doesn’t really exist. Despite this misguided attempt, techno-utopianism has effectively synthesized with two other powerful ideologies—techno-determinism and free-market capitalism—to create what many refer to as platform capitalism.’ (p. 2)

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The Decay of Culture?

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Review of C. Rosen (2024). The Extinction of Experience. Being Human in a Disembodied World, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 272 p.

Have you ever read a book that gave rise to almost as many notes as in the book itself? This is one of them. To be interested in a new approach and to end up very disappointed by the way the book is structured, by its anecdotal character without evidence telling a different story than the book’s title suggests, by the many contradictions, the sloppy research, the repetitive lamentations about disappearing phenomena, the extreme interpretations and one-sidedness of the narrative, and the fact that there are no suggestions for solutions.

In The Extinction of Experience, Christine Rosen eloquently attempts to explain how technology is reshaping the human ‘experience’. She wants readers to think about what it means to be human in a world where digital media seem to overwhelm and take full possession of human attention. Rosen is concerned about what it means to be human when ‘experience’ is hijacked by virtual analogues and becomes disembodied and, more worryingly, monetized. Experiences are, according to Rosen, practices that formed us as individuals, groups, and societies.

“Experiences, broadly considered, are the ways we become acquainted with the world. Direct experience is our first teacher. As we learn to navigate the world around us, we attach meaning to what we encounter. These experiences and meanings differ across times and cultures but share common threads. Different people speak different languages and have different social customs, but the fact that we all have languages and customs is a marker of our shared humanity. Certain types of experience — some rooted deeply in our evolutionary history, such as face-to-face interaction and various forms of pleasure-seeking; others more recent and reflective of cultural norms, such as patience and our sense of public space and place — are fading from our lives. Many of these experiences are what, historically, have helped us form and nurture a shared reality as human beings.” (introduction)

Rosen focuses on what digital platforms have given us, but more importantly, what they have suppressed. Four themes are continuously repeated: the commodification of experience, the collapse of public communal places, the dangers of frictionless interaction, and the need to reclaim ‘embodied’ experiences.

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Tearing us Apart

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Book review of: N. Carr (2025). Superbloom. How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart, W. W. Norton & Company, 272 pages.

The question of whether the world has become a better place since the arrival of ‘technologies of connection’, as Nicholas Carr calls them, is a complex one. These technologies, which include all forms of hardware and software designed to facilitate connectivity between individuals, such as phones, computers, tablets, internet browsers, social media platforms, and large language models, have become an integral part of our lives. However, the potential implications of these technologies for democracy, as well as the dissemination of misinformation, hallucinations, and deepfakes that threaten societal norms and values, ethical considerations, and democratic plurality, appear to contradict the naïve idealism expressed in Silicon Valley’s manipulative marketing. However, the advent of GPS has facilitated global navigation, enabling individuals to communicate with others, even in remote locations, and to access and stream a vast array of audio and video content. It is a mixed bag, with many advantages for the individual and a lot of disadvantages for society. [i]

Nicholas Carr has published extensively about business, information technology and culture, and has expressed highly critical views on the effects of these on individual users and society at large. His book The Shallows. What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains was a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. In this provocative book, Carr advanced the argument that Google and the internet are ‘making us stupid.’ It established Carr as a leading commentator on the Internet and its societal consequences. In my review of the book (in Dutch), I stated the following:

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To Control History

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Book review of: J. Stanley (2024). Erasing History. How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, Atria/One Signal Publishers, New York, 256 pp.

In this book, the American philosopher and Yale University professor, Jason Stanley, explores the practice of governments manipulating the past to shape a future that aligns with their desired vision. This is a very common practice, even in democratic societies. Uncomfortable truths are erased, certain books are banned from schools, and accepted history is replaced with myths, thereby justifying the power of the governing elites. To succeed, it is necessary for these elites to ascertain that the populace is unaware of what really happened. [i] Especially in authoritarian regimes, it is important to control narratives about the past.

Studying history is dangerous. The act of examining the past from multiple vantage points gives rise to a societal depiction that is characterized by historical plurality, diversity, and openness to reinterpretation. These reinterpretations, in turn, give rise to novel perspectives that serve to augment the historical plurality that is already extant. Within democratic societies, this plurality serves to nurture principles of equality, collective reflection, and the acceptance of a multitude of historical narratives. Each of these narratives offers a distinct perspective on truth and reality, thereby contributing to a rich tapestry of historical understanding. Conversely, within authoritarian states, history is often simplified and mythologized into a single, overarching narrative, serving to justify the supremacy of specific social groups or segments.

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The Unaccountability Machine

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Book review of: D. Davies (2024). The Unaccountability Machine. Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions — and How the World Lost Its Mind, Profile Books, 304 pp.

A passenger is refused permission to board an aircraft and makes a plea to a sympathetic flight attendant. Regrettably, the passenger’s grievance pertains to a company policy, and the flight attendant is unable to assist. This scenario exemplifies a scenario in which the onus of decision-making is entrusted not to an individual, but rather to a set of predetermined guidelines.

‘The unsettling thing about this conversation is that you progressively realise that the human being you are speaking to is only allowed to follow a set of processes and rules that pass on decisions made at a higher level of the corporate hierarchy. It’s often a frustrating experience; you want to get angry, but you can’t really blame the person you’re talking to. Somehow, the airline has constructed a state of affairs where it can speak to you with the anonymous voice of an amorphous corporation, but you have to talk back to it as if it were a person like yourself.’ (p. 16)

Davies poses the question of why errors and crises never appear to be attributable to any specific individual or entity. The blame is often attributed to ‘the system’, ‘the computer’, ‘the algorithm’, ‘the AI’, or similar entities. Davies terms this phenomenon an ‘accountability sink’, a structural element that absorbs or obscures the consequences of a decision, thereby preventing direct accountability.

The phenomenon of accountability sinks, as postulated by Davies, serves to impede individuals from both willing and unwillingly making or changing decisions and, consequently, being held directly accountable for them.

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The data’s afterlife

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Have you ever thought about your data’s afterlife? The digital footprints that we leave behind after our demise are so extensive that our identities can persist beyond our mortal existence.

The advent of AI has enabled the possibility to interact with departed loved ones. A young man is still able to compete with his father in an old Xbox racing game, utilizing his father’s saved games. The ‘digital afterlife industry’ provides a posthumous delivery of video, audio, and written messages. The use of AI enables the replication of language patterns and personality traits through the analysis of extensive personal data.

In The Afterlife of Data. What Happens to Your Information When You Die and Why You Should Care, Carl Öhman, an assistant professor at Uppsala University, addresses the issue of data ownership and the decision-making process regarding the fate of our digital assets after our demise. Who assumes control will effectively control future access to this digital past. This information (or substantial portions thereof) will persist, barring the dissolution of Meta (Facebook) and Alphabet (Google) or a conflict that results in the destruction of the data centres used to store these data.

The afterlife of data raises a multitude of ethical, economic, and legal inquiries that are currently unaddressed. The concept of a legal right to privacy does not extend to the deceased. Secrets that were previously thought to be confined to the grave can, in some cases, have a detrimental impact on the reputation of the deceased. In theory, individuals have the option to delete their data, at least any materials they do not wish to be accessible to the general public. Data, however, will endure. Some parents have attempted to access and process the data of their deceased child, but have been unsuccessful. The courts have determined that it is not within their purview to make such decisions, leaving it to the platform’s owners. Neither the EU nor the US has legislation in place governing post-mortem privacy.

The data is held by many organizations, the majority of which are unknown. Most are unwilling to delete these data. Öhman expresses concerns that profit-driven businesses may lack the reliability required to act as guardians of digital heritage. He questions whether governments or NGOs would be more suitable curators, but is unsure and cites George Orwell’s observation that ‘who controls the past, controls the future.’ However, these data could also prove beneficial to historians, policymakers, and society at large. Roy Rosenzweig observed that the data provide researchers with an ‘essentially complete historical record’.

The implications of all of this are significant and warrant further reflection. ‘The Afterlife of Data’ is an insightful book that offers a compelling perspective on the potential implications of data in the afterlife. It is highly recommended reading for those interested in this topic.

C. Öhman (2024). The Afterlife of Data: What Happens to Your Information When You Die and Why You Should Care, University of Chicago Press, 200 pp.

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Co-Intelligence

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I have recently read Ethan Mollick’s book, Co-intelligence. Living and working with AI. The book is well written and an easy and enjoyable read. The author explores the potential of conversational AI (LLMs) in the context of personal and professional realms.

As the book makes clear, LLMs are adept at creative work and at identifying unanticipated correlations. It can falter in elementary intellectual pursuits. It is a statistical model of language that generates a plausible imitation of human responses by calculating the probability of clusters of words. The responses are devoid of cognitive processes, knowledge, or logical validation. They are the result of calculations regarding the optimal sequence of words. The provided response does not need to be accurate or true.

Mollick’s book presents four guiding principles for the practical and ethical use of LLMs:
[1] Use LLMs to investigate and delineate the boundaries of their functionalities.
[2] Engage in active monitoring of the responses provided, ensuring that they are accurate, true, and free from hallucinations.
[3] Treat conversational AI as a person. Critique its answers, clarify where necessary, reformulate questions, and offer feedback.
[4] Treat every LLM as if it is the least sophisticated model you ‘will ever use,’ recognizing that new iterations or models may offer improvements.

What struck me is the banality of conversational AI. It will be unknown whether the words were written by conscious minds or AIs and have ‘feeling’. Mollick refers to this as a ‘crisis of meaning’, but a crisis of language seems more accurate.

Mollick emphasizes the concept of ‘co-intelligence’, humans and AI working together to enhance productivity, creativity and decision-making. He proposes a symbiotic relationship in which AI tools enhance human capabilities. The book is full of anecdotes, examples, and texts that seek to demonstrate the veracity of that proposition. There is, however, no theoretical basis to support this assertion.

In contradiction, an article in Nature Human Behaviour in October 2024 found that, on average, human–AI combinations performed significantly worse than the best of humans or AI alone. See: M. Vaccaro, A. Almaatouq, and T. Malone (2024). ‘When combinations of humans and AI are useful: A systematic review and meta-analysis’, Nature Human Behaviour (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02024-1.

The book’s implications for the use of conversational AI in an educational context are interesting. This is in line with Mollick’s educational experience at the Wharton School of Business. He requires the use of such tools by his students. Allegedly, a teacher has the potential to significantly enhance the quality of learning outcomes.

The book’s lack of academic depth and its anecdotal nature make it an excellent introduction for those with limited knowledge of AI. I can recommend reading it, especially for students.

E. Mollick (2024). Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, Penguin Portfolio, 256 pp.

Published as e LinkedIn post here.

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Harari’s Nexus

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I am not the first to comment on Yuval Harari’s new book Nexus. A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age. The reception has been mixed. I was curious to see if Harari would offer more than ‘big ideas’ and ‘big history’ that doesn’t require archival sources and close reading before drawing conclusions. In Sapiens, Harari proposed big ideas with abandon, such as gossip as the basis of the ‘cognitive revolution’ and the agricultural revolution as the ‘biggest fraud’ in history. Both may be big ideas, but they are also untrue. His generalizations paint beautiful, well-written and easy to understand anecdotes, but most of them are just that: anecdotes, mostly unconfirmed, unproven and without context.

Nexus is a disappointing read. The book could have been shorter than the 528 pages Harari expects us to read. There is much that is interesting, even brilliant. But most are anecdotes without context or truisms presented as original ideas. Harari sets out to write about information, switches to writing about information media and, in the end, about artificial intelligence, which is neither.

But perhaps these stories and truisms are at the heart of the book? Early in the book, Harari debunks the ‘naive view of information’, the idea that gathering more information leads to truth, wisdom and power. According to Harari, there is no correlation between information, truth and power. Information networks are not about truth, they are about stories. Think of religions. They are successful because they have a large information network and they tell the same story. While his point about religions may be true, information networks are not just about stories. There are proven links between control of information, control of (imagined) truth and power.

The second half of the book is about computers and artificial intelligence, which Harari believes could lead to Armageddon. Most of his concerns seem reasonable, such as generative AIs poisoning online discussions. He becomes a prophet when he discusses how ‘AI overlords’ might create a new pandemic, a new kind of money, and a flood of fake news or incitement to riot on information networks. Fake news and incitement are already true, and we don’t need advanced ‘AI overlords’ for that. And a solution? Regulation and ‘institutions with strong self-correcting mechanisms’. Answering with a truism to fight the ‘end of days’? Such a solution will not prevent a situation in which, as he writes in the prologue, ‘we might find ourselves nowhere at all, as Earth becomes inhospitable for human life’. He could have done better.

Nexus lacks focus. Anecdotes from all over space and time are juxtaposed and accompanied by truisms, such as, at the end of chapter 11: ‘The only constant in history is change’. Which is true, of course, but I did not need Harari to know that.

Perhaps I am a naive information theorist. And maybe that is why I do not recommend this book for reading.

Y.N. Harari (2024). Nexus. A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age, Random House, New York, 528 pp.

Published in a post on LinkedIn, September 2024.

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Two book reviews

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There are laying two new, just published books on my desk. I have already read the first one and am currently engaged with the second.

Both books are essential reading for anyone engaged in business, science or a professional field.

In his book, Technology is Dead. The Path to a More Human Future, Chris Colbert presents a framework for a more humane and human-centric relationship with technology, which, as we have created, we must now learn to manage. Central thesis of the book: technology has escaped human control with unintended and inevitable consequences.We have the choice to either continue pursuing technological advancement
at the expense of the planet, life, and our own humanity, or to assume responsibility and direct the course of technological development. We have no sufficient reason to unleash technology without consideration of the consequences.

The second book is Tiankai Feng‘s Humanizing Data Strategy. Leading Data with the Head and the Heart. It is important to recognize that people are emotional, irrational and impulsive, yet they also play a crucialrole in any data strategy. Nevertheless, integrating the human element into data strategy is a challenge. Tiankai presents a framework for understanding the human aspects of data strategy, linking human needs with business objectives through the concepts of competence, collaboration, communication, creativity, and conscience. By acknowledging the inherent biases and emotional influences in data analysis, it becomes evident that empathy, intuition and compassion are essential in the realm of data-driven decision-making. He presents a methodology for making data strategies more inclusive and impactful, combining personal anecdotes with professional knowledge. Fostering a collaborative and ethical data culture requires humanizing data practices, which is an essential step in developing effective and humanized data strategies.

The two books share a common theme of humanizing developments.

If this is a new trend, it is a welcome development.

Published in a post on LinkedIn in september 2024.

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