The Threat of Big Tech Is Real

Below is an edited transcript of our

a

conversation. In it, we discuss why this panic over technology is different than previous ones, what the internet is doing to journalism, and whether Facebook can fix some of the problems that bedevil our democratic fabric.

Isaac Chotiner: We tend to think of existential threats as being things like global warming or nuclear weapons. Why should we be thinking of technology in these dire terms?

Franklin Foer: I’m not arguing that we should think about technology per se in these dire terms. I’m arguing that we need to think about our present course with technology in those terms, because our lives are increasingly dominated by a series of big companies that have achieved something close to the state of monopoly. They have a vision for humans, and they’re trying to lead us to that vision, which they’re able to do because of their enormous economic power.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/interrogation/2017/10/why_it_s_time_to_panic_about_the_power_of_big_technology.html