Schools are facing accelerated COVID-19 pressures to integrate technology into children’s education, and how they do has far-reaching implications.
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Insights of neuroscientist Ian McGilchrist, philosopher Nel Noddings and physicist Ursula Franklin help centre students and our collective future in debates about education and technology.
New technologies and services aren’t creating irreversible damage, even though they do generate some harms. Preemptive bans would stifle innovation and block potential solutions to real problems.
Is there still time to reach the ‘off’ button?
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Legal bans and moratoriums on other emerging technologies need not be permanent or absolute, but the more powerful a technology is, the more care it requires to operate safely.
Before taking on tech giants, shatter a few misconceptions.
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A Nobel Prize-winning political economist found a way to promote good governance and protect users without the need for heavy-handed government regulation.
Doth the CEO protest too much?
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Facebook has been acting irresponsibly and selfishly, and promising to do better without actually improving. But that’s not the whole story: The company has some positive qualities, too.
Through creative off-label uses of technology, some people have improved close relationships and their health.
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Scholars and skeptics warned about Facebook long before its founder was even born. Technology companies keep asking for more and more data and proving they can’t be trusted.
Working together, people and technology companies can make a lot of progress.
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Amazon, Facebook and Google have lofty goals for their effects on global society. But people around the world are still waiting for the positive results. Here’s what the tech giants could do.
Once lauded for their vision and promise, Silicon Valley giants have made life so hard for locals that residents regularly protest the companies, including their amenities like charter buses to save workers from the region’s terrible traffic.
AP Photo/Richard Jacobsen
Big technology firms are becoming known for mistreating workers, customers and society as a whole. Is an economic powerhouse about to collapse like Detroit did years go?
Facebook says it’s going to continue to respond to widespread concerns about its practices and role in society. Researchers of privacy and online trust offer ideas for immediate action.
What role did you play?
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Sherry Hamby, Sewanee: The University of the South
People in Appalachia are skeptical and cautious around technology – and how they think can be useful and instructive for living in a tech-centric world.
How accurately can you be profiled online?
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An email from Aleksandr Kogan sheds light on exactly how much your Facebook data reveals about you, and what data scientists can actually do with that information.
It may seem convenient to think of technology companies as similar, but they’re really not.
The Conversation
When thinking about regulating them, it’s useful to know Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft have some similarities. But generally they’re not competing with each other – or anyone else.
What these people are seeing isn’t real – but they might think it is.
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As the internet-connected world reels from revelations about personalized manipulation based on Facebook data, a scholar of virtual reality warns there’s an even bigger crisis of trust on the horizon.
Kids shouldn’t be expected to self-regulate the amount of time they spend on the device. And parents are finding it tougher and tougher to impose limits.
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The problem isn’t kids owning smartphones. But when daily use exceeds two hours a day, mental health issues start to crop up.
Surgeons in Switzerland use the robot da Vinci to aid a hernia operation. Over a third of US hospitals have at least one surgical robot.
AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi
Matt Beane, University of California, Santa Barbara
There are more robots than ever in the operating room – but that’s led to fewer opportunities for surgical trainees. Now, some new doctors are teaching themselves in secret.
Trust in online systems varies around the world.
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Around the world, people are both increasingly dependent on, and distrustful of, digital technology. New research suggests ways this conflict could unfold.