Technology and Society Flashcards
What is technology?
The application of knowledge to the practical aims of human life
What are theories of technology and society?
Technological determinism
Social constructivism
What is technological determinism?
The theory is that when new technologies are introduced, the ways that they’re used, as well as their social consequences are common to all settings
Technology itself determines the outcomes we observe.
What is an example of technological determinism?
The moving assembly line
Based on observations of U.S. automakers, scholars assumed that assembly lines inevitably reduce worker skills and make work more repetitive, monotonous, and alienating
Thought that its usage was the same everywhere around the world
What is the challenge of the moving assembly line?
Observations of Japanese auto assembly plans reveal that managers can make different choices when implementing assembly lines that lead to different outcomes for workers.
Japanese assembly lines were given analytical and statistical training that had to do with their job
American and Japanese assembly lines were different
Thus going against technological determinism
What is social constructivism?
The theory is that when new technologies are introduced, the ways that they’re used, as well as their consequences, are shaped by the social context
Social relations can also construct the outcomes we observe
What categories in technology outcomes are shaped by social relations?
Technology
Human-technology interaction
Organizations
Institutions
What is the technology category?
Technology matters there are certain actions that any given technology does or does not afford
What is the human-technology interaction category?
Human-technology interaction matters humans have some agency in making choices about how to use technology
Ex. People are addicted in their phones and have them around
People who put away their phones to concentrate
What is the organization’s category?
Organizations matter since they shape local rules and norms around technology use
Ex. If you work for McKinsey & Company, then you need to have your phone on you (consulting organization)
If you are a professor, you don’t need to be answered immediately, so it’s okay if you don’t have a phone on you (academia)
What is the institutions category?
Institutions matter since they shape broader rules and norms around technology use
Ex. France made a law by making that workers didn’t have to answer their emails at a certain hour to improve workers’ life
When does an algorithm become a “weapon of math destruction”?
When it creates a
negative feedback loop,
can operate on a large scale,
works in way that is opaque or invisible
What is negative feedback loop?
Making decisions based on characteristics that people have no control over is a problem
What is can operate on a large scale?
LSI is used in various states and used by judges in many states to make decisions in court, which makes it dangerous
What is works in a way that is opaque or invisible?
No transparency, the people aren’t told their results or can appeal it
Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’neil
Models are opinions embedded in mathematics
Human judgments that go into models
Human decision-makers can be biased but so can algorithms
LSI- a risk score that can used to help judges make decisions in court
