10
1 Introduction: The Digital Society
world.
17 Such thinking could soon end freedom and democracy as we know it.
18 That
is why we must pay attention to this now. Of course, some people might ask why we
shouldn’t do it, if this increases the efficiency of our lives and our society? Doesn’t
history teach us that society evolves over time? Why should we worry, if companies
and governments take care of us?
The crucial question is whether they are doing a good job in satisfying our needs
and interests. In view of financial and economic crises, cybercrime, climate change
and many other problems, it seems, however, that governments have great difficulties
to fulfill this promise. Similarly, if we consider the Silicon Valley as a business-driven
vision of society, it also seems far-fetched to claim that everyone there is well taken
care of.
1.10 Who Will Rule the World?
There is no doubt that Big Data has the potential to be totalitarian. But, in principle,
there is nothing wrong with Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and cybernetics. The
question is only, how to use it? For example, who will rule the world in future: will it
be big business, government elites, or Artificial Intelligence? Will citizens and experts
be no longer relevant to decision-making processes? If powerful information systems
knew the world and each of us, would they vote or take decisions for us? Would they
tell us what to do or steer our behavior through personalized information? Or will we
instead live in a free and democratic society, in which everyone makes decisions in
an autonomous but well-coordinated way, empowered by personal digital assistants?
1.11 Two Scenarios: Coercion or Freedom
Will we need to sacrifice our privacy, freedom, dignity, and informational selfdetermination for a more efficient governance of our world? We must think about
these possibilities now. Due to the important societal, economic, legal and ethical
implications, we must take some crucial decisions.
19 In the aftermath of September
11, 2001, we have certainly witnessed increasing attempts to control citizen activities,
including a massive surveillance of our on-line activities. Does the digital revolution
imply that we will lose our human rights? Will we lose our autonomy and merely obey
what powerful information systems tell us to do? Will we end up with censorship?
17 For example, on March 24, 2015, The Economist featured a comment entitled “China Model.
This house believes China offers a better development model than the West”.
18 If you don’t like the concepts of freedom and democracy, replace them by the related ones
of innovation and collective intelligence, which are important to find good solutions to complex
problems (see Appendix 4.1).
19 Helbing [10].
1 Introduction: The Digital Society
world.
17 Such thinking could soon end freedom and democracy as we know it.
18 That
is why we must pay attention to this now. Of course, some people might ask why we
shouldn’t do it, if this increases the efficiency of our lives and our society? Doesn’t
history teach us that society evolves over time? Why should we worry, if companies
and governments take care of us?
The crucial question is whether they are doing a good job in satisfying our needs
and interests. In view of financial and economic crises, cybercrime, climate change
and many other problems, it seems, however, that governments have great difficulties
to fulfill this promise. Similarly, if we consider the Silicon Valley as a business-driven
vision of society, it also seems far-fetched to claim that everyone there is well taken
care of.
1.10 Who Will Rule the World?
There is no doubt that Big Data has the potential to be totalitarian. But, in principle,
there is nothing wrong with Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and cybernetics. The
question is only, how to use it? For example, who will rule the world in future: will it
be big business, government elites, or Artificial Intelligence? Will citizens and experts
be no longer relevant to decision-making processes? If powerful information systems
knew the world and each of us, would they vote or take decisions for us? Would they
tell us what to do or steer our behavior through personalized information? Or will we
instead live in a free and democratic society, in which everyone makes decisions in
an autonomous but well-coordinated way, empowered by personal digital assistants?
1.11 Two Scenarios: Coercion or Freedom
Will we need to sacrifice our privacy, freedom, dignity, and informational selfdetermination for a more efficient governance of our world? We must think about
these possibilities now. Due to the important societal, economic, legal and ethical
implications, we must take some crucial decisions.
19 In the aftermath of September
11, 2001, we have certainly witnessed increasing attempts to control citizen activities,
including a massive surveillance of our on-line activities. Does the digital revolution
imply that we will lose our human rights? Will we lose our autonomy and merely obey
what powerful information systems tell us to do? Will we end up with censorship?
17 For example, on March 24, 2015, The Economist featured a comment entitled “China Model.
This house believes China offers a better development model than the West”.
18 If you don’t like the concepts of freedom and democracy, replace them by the related ones
of innovation and collective intelligence, which are important to find good solutions to complex
problems (see Appendix 4.1).
19 Helbing [10].