politics of technology Flashcards
technology
A set of practices humans use to transform the material world, practices involved in creating and using material things.
Epistêmê
Knowledge - theory
technological industrial complex
When businesses become entwined in social or political systems or institutions, profiting from these systems. Such a complex is said to pursue its own financial interests regardless of, and often at the expense of the best interests of society and individuals
technological determinism
A theory that assumes that technology drives social change.
world wide web
Information system enabling information to be shared over the internet.
artificial intelligence
Higher order learning demonstrated by computers
agency
Autonomous beings with capacity to make decisions.
open data
Data free for anyone to use, re-use or redistribute.
big data
Powerful insights on mass populations are obtained through data collection and processing, as well as diverse sensor and connectivity technologies. These insights, together with new computational methods make up what we think of as “big data”.
large language models
Large language models calculate probability distributions over sequences of words in order to answer ‘prompts’. ChatGPT is a type of large language model.
assemblage theory
Assemblage theorists explore how agency - the capacity to act - is shifting, from the individual to networks of people. Human action is framed through many interdependent and fluid people, things and narratives.
communications media
Vehicles of mass communication, such as television, radio, film, books, newspapers and the internet.
framing
Selecting and highlighting some facets of events or issues, and making connections among them so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation, and/or solution.
news management
The controlling and shaping of the presentation of news in order to affect the public’s evaluation of news stories.
media system
Media ownership structures, interest groups and other influences that control the media.
