Chapter 1
Introduction: The Digital Society
A Better Future or Worse?
Smartphones, tablets and app stores with almost unlimited possibilities have become
symbols of the digital revolution. However, while these innovations make our lives more
comfortable and interesting, they herald a much more fundamental transformation. Advances
in digital technology now affect the way we learn, decide, and interact. By harnessing „Big
Data“, the „Internet of Things“, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), we can create smart homes
and smart cities. But this is only the tip of the iceberg – our entire economy and society
will also dramatically change. What are the opportunities and risks related to this? Are we
heading towards digital slavery or freedom? What forces are at work and how can we use
them to create a smarter society? This book offers a guided tour through the new, digital age
ahead.
After the automation of factories and the creation of self-driving cars, the automation of society is next. While we were busy with our smartphones, the world has
secretly changed behind our backs. In fact, our world is changing with increasing
speed, and much of that change is being driven by developments in Information and
Communications Technology (ICT). These technologies, such as laptop computers,
mobile phones, tablets and smart watches, seemed to be about convenience. They
came along and enabled us to calculate, communicate and archive with greater speed
and efficiency than ever before. However, there was very little recognition that, one
day, they would not only facilitate our cultural discourse and institutions, but also
reshape our entire world. Large-scale mass surveillance, the global spread of Uber
taxis and the BitCoin crypto-currency are just a few of the irritating symptoms of the
digital era to come.
1.1 Living in the Age of “Big Data”
Suddenly, there is also a great hype about “Big Data”. No wonder Dan Ariely
compared the frenzy about Big Data with teenage sex:
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. Helbing, Next Civilization,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62330-2_1
1
Introduction: The Digital Society
A Better Future or Worse?
Smartphones, tablets and app stores with almost unlimited possibilities have become
symbols of the digital revolution. However, while these innovations make our lives more
comfortable and interesting, they herald a much more fundamental transformation. Advances
in digital technology now affect the way we learn, decide, and interact. By harnessing „Big
Data“, the „Internet of Things“, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), we can create smart homes
and smart cities. But this is only the tip of the iceberg – our entire economy and society
will also dramatically change. What are the opportunities and risks related to this? Are we
heading towards digital slavery or freedom? What forces are at work and how can we use
them to create a smarter society? This book offers a guided tour through the new, digital age
ahead.
After the automation of factories and the creation of self-driving cars, the automation of society is next. While we were busy with our smartphones, the world has
secretly changed behind our backs. In fact, our world is changing with increasing
speed, and much of that change is being driven by developments in Information and
Communications Technology (ICT). These technologies, such as laptop computers,
mobile phones, tablets and smart watches, seemed to be about convenience. They
came along and enabled us to calculate, communicate and archive with greater speed
and efficiency than ever before. However, there was very little recognition that, one
day, they would not only facilitate our cultural discourse and institutions, but also
reshape our entire world. Large-scale mass surveillance, the global spread of Uber
taxis and the BitCoin crypto-currency are just a few of the irritating symptoms of the
digital era to come.
1.1 Living in the Age of “Big Data”
Suddenly, there is also a great hype about “Big Data”. No wonder Dan Ariely
compared the frenzy about Big Data with teenage sex:
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. Helbing, Next Civilization,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62330-2_1
1