Jamie Susskind: Democracy in the digital age
It is one of the most important questions of our time: how will digital technology transform society and the way we govern?
There is no doubt that technological advances have transformed our lives for the better. There is little doubt too, argues bestselling author Jamie Susskind, that digital systems have the potential to control us.
In his ground-breaking analysis, Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech, Susskind calls for a fundamental change in the way we think about politics in the digital age. Reminding us of the very real ability of digital technology to shape the way we think, feel and behave, Susskind puts forward a clear warning: those who control these technologies will increasingly control us all.
Since the digital age began we have looked upon technology through the eyes of consumers. If it’s right that the digital is increasingly political; that today’s software engineers are also today’s social engineers, then we need to stop looking at technology as consumers and start looking at it as citizens.
Photo credit: Prudence Upton
This talk was chaired by Chaired by Rosalind Dixon, Professor of Law at UNSW Sydney, and presented by the UNSW Centre for Ideas and is a part of the UNSW Grand Challenge on Trust. Supported by Adelaide Writers' Week.