Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech
Author: Sara Wachter-Boettcher (Author)
Publisher finelybook 出版社: W. W. Norton & Company
Edition 版本: 1st
Publication Date 出版日期: 2017-10-10
Language 语言: English
Print Length 页数: 240 pages
ISBN-10: 0393634639
ISBN-13: 9780393634631
Book Description
A revealing look at how tech industry bias and blind spots get baked into digital products―and harm us all.
Buying groceries, tracking our health, finding a date: whatever we want to do, odds are that we can now do it online. But few of us ask why all these digital products are designed the way they are. It’s time we change that. Many of the services we rely on are full of oversights, biases, and downright ethical nightmares: Chatbots that harass women. Signup forms that fail anyone who’s not straight. Social media sites that send peppy messages about dead relatives. Algorithms that put more black people behind bars.
Sara Wachter-Boettcher takes an unflinching look at the values, processes, and assumptions that lead to these and other problems. Technically Wrong demystifies the tech industry, leaving those of us on the other side of the screen better prepared to make informed choices about the services we use―and demand more from the companies behind them.
From School Library Journal
Those with hyphenated names often encounter difficulty when filling out online forms, and there’s usually no option in the drop-down menus for those who are multiracial. Social networks show us the year in review with jaunty music and animation, without acknowledging that some of our most popular posts may be about tragic events we don’t want to remember. In straightforward prose, Wachter-Boettcher lays out a convincing and damning argument about the small daily failures and large systemic issues that stem from Silicon Valley’s diversity problem. With plenty of examples and studies, she illustrates how systems are designed to be used by people like the creator—usually privileged cisgender heterosexual white men. Anyone else is seen as an “edge case” and not worth worrying about. Along the way Wachter-Boettcher thoroughly deconstructs many of the excuses offered for technology’s lack of inclusivity, including the pipeline issue (or the idea that outside of white male demographics there isn’t enough talent) and the concept that an algorithm can be neutral. VERDICT This engrossing volume is important for readers of all ages, especially the next generation of developers.—Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington Public Library, VA
Review
“If a book on design in the technology industry ever deserved a standing ovation, this one is it. Sara Wachter-Boettcher has laid out a concise case for digital product makers to work with a broader range of people. And that means working with people unlike themselves as both makers and consumers, and from start to finish.” ― John Maeda, author of The Laws of Simplicity “Technically Wrong offers one of the deepest, most thoughtful views on exactly how today’s tech is affecting us, and at how we could change those apps for the better. It’s an essential guide for people who care about ensuring that today’s tech is humane and ethical.” ― Anil Dash, CEO of Fog Creek Software “Sara Wachter-Boettcher is exactly the kind of sharp, informed and deeply compassionate critic of the tech industry that we need right now. Technically Wrong makes a strong case for adding basic humanity into the algorithms of the digital products that define the age. It’s an invitation for all of us to think more deeply about our connections to others in any medium.” ― Sarah Kaufman, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, author of The Art of Grace “No matter how we set the preferences, the results turn out the same. For all of digital technology’s supposed configurability and customization, there’s a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all quality to the apps and platforms we use, pushing conformity over individuality and acquiescence over identity. Sara Wachter-Boettcher reveals how none of us can, or should, live up to the image our technology has of us.” ― Douglas Rushkoff, author of Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus “An entertaining romp that tells us where and why the tech industry, once America’s darling, went wrong, and what it might do to recover its good graces.” ― Tim Wu, author of The Master Switch “Just as the current political climate has inspired many to pick up a sign and head out into the street for the first time, I hope Technically Wrong will inspire newcomers to start thinking more critically about the apps and algorithms around them.” ― Anna Lauren Hoffmann, Science “Wachter-Boettcher clearly demonstrates the ways digital products are deeply connected to the intentional and unintentional biases of their designers in this approachable primer on digital technology.” ― Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Sara Wachter-Boettcher runs Rare Union, a consultancy based in Philadelphia, and is the author of Technically Wrong, Design for Real Life, with Eric Meyer, and Content Everywhere. She helps organizations with digital product and content strategy, and speaks at conferences worldwide.
