"Are Computers Making Society More Unequal?"

[applegrove]

Are Computers Making Society More Unequal?

Posted by Joshua Rothman at the New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2013/11/when-machines-replace-humans-at-work.html

"SNIP................................

In “Average Is Over,” you argue that inequality will grow in the U.S. for the next several decades. Why?


There are three main reasons inequality is here to stay, and will likely grow. The first is just measurement of worker value. We’re doing a lot to measure what workers are contributing to businesses, and, when you do that, very often you end up paying some people less and other people more. The second is automation—especially in terms of smart software. Today’s workplaces are often more complicated than, say, a factory for General Motors was in 1962. They require higher skills. People who have those skills are very often doing extremely well, but a lot of people don’t have them, and that increases inequality. And the third point is globalization. There’s a lot more unskilled labor in the world, and that creates downward pressure on unskilled labor in the United States. On the global level, inequality is down dramatically—we shouldn’t forget that. But within each country, or almost every country, inequality is up.

You think that intelligent software, especially, will make the labor market more unequal. Why is that the case?

Because of the cognitive requirements of working with smart software. And it’s also about training. There’s a big digital divide in this country.

One of the most interesting sections of the book is about “freestyle” chess competitions, in which humans and computers play on teams together—often the computers make the moves, but sometimes the humans intervene. How has chess software changed the “labor market” in chess players?

When humans team up with computers to play chess, the humans who do best are not necessarily the strongest players. They’re the ones who are modest, and who know when to listen to the computer. Often, what the human adds is knowledge of when the computer needs to look more deeply. If you’re a really good freestyle player, you consult a bunch of different programs, which have different properties, and you analyze the game position on all of them. You try to spot, very quickly, where the programs disagree, and you tell them to look more deeply there. They may disagree along a number of lines, and then you have to make some judgments. That’s hard—but the good humans do that better than computers do. Even very strong computers don’t have that meta-rational sense of when things are ambiguous. Today, the human-plus-machine teams are better than machines by themselves. It shows how there may always be room for a human element.



.................................SNIP"

[TheBlackAdder]

1. It will when Microsoft kills off WINXP

I just think of all of the elderly and poor people who are running single core computers that cannot run the newer versions of Windows... they will be stuck with unprotected computers that won't be updated. Unable to purchase a replacement machine, these people will be kicked off of the grid... resigned to go to the local libraries that certain people in their town are trying to close.

[applegrove]

2. That is a problem for sure.

[cprise]

4. One option is to install an alternative like Ubuntu or Mint

The problem is who will tell them about it. Mass media are loathe to promote free software.

[TheBlackAdder]

5. Ubuntu runs on the NSA Microsoft Azure Platform and also reports your actions to the Amazon's Cloud.

Most linux, except for a few GNU versions are data collectors for the NSA, including RedHat and other SUSE systems.

MINT is another SELinux that is an NSA collector.

[cprise]

6. That sounds paranoid

If you don't like searches going out over the net then turn it off under the Privacy settings.

[TheBlackAdder]

7. Typical: Why don't you look up stuff instead of being accusatory?

From the EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/10/privacy-ubuntu-1210-amazon-ads-and-data-leaks

From PCWorld: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2010538/now-in-ubuntu-linux-12-10-integrated-amazon-search-results.html

The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/25/ubuntu_13_04_review/

From the FSF: http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/ubuntu-spyware-what-to-do

(I could do a hundred different articles on this.)

===

Now, with regards to Azure...

Techrights: http://techrights.org/2013/07/15/surveillance-in-azure/

Kos/Guardian: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/11/1222823/-BREAKING-The-Guardian-Reveals-Microsoft-s-Close-Collaboration-with-the-NSA

Redmond Channel: http://rcpmag.com/articles/2013/09/01/cloud-buffeted-by-nsa-leaks.aspx

===

Get your SE-Linux (a product of the NSA): http://www.nsa.gov/research/selinux/

[cprise]

12. EFF Quote: "Luckily, Ubuntu makes it easy to turn this off."

A person doesn't need to use any of the 'cloud' (which is insecure by design) on their PC. Go to the Privacy section and turn it off. Canonical/Ubuntu's role in this is they struck a partnership with Microsoft last year before the Snowden revelations.

And you accused Ubuntu of being some kind of NSA spy tool. As far as anyone knows, it isn't. So why don't you look up some source code and point to where Ubuntu actually does something surreptitious?

As for SELinux (outmoded as it is), its your prerogative to mistrust it, but even Tor was created by a secretive DOD institution. Extremely privacy-minded people place significant trust in Tor. No large government organization operates in a single-minded fashion (or if it does, it won't survive), and anyway it would be weird for free software projects to refuse contributions from government. You might as well treat corporate interests the same way--reject every last scrap of their works--and live in a box made of driftwood and chicken feathers.

What matters here is that the code is open and has stood up to public scrutiny.

[TheBlackAdder]

13. By DEFAULT.. it's still a data miner. Critical Reading IS NOT your strong suit.

I like how you post that one little snippet, like you've found gold, when later on...

snip...

•We love that Ubuntu is bold enough to break new ground and compete directly with the large proprietary operating systems, but please make sure that you respect your users' privacy and security while you're doing it. Windows and Mac users are used to having their data sent to third parties without their express consent by software companies that are trying to maximize profits for their shareholders. Let's make sure Ubuntu, like the GNU/Linux operating system at its heart, remains an exception to this.

...Snip

[cprise]

14. Right there in the Dash it tells you:

"Search your computer and online sources" in bold typeface larger than any other font on the desktop, each time you open it.

What's wrong here IMHO is that Canonical is encouraging people to conflate/confuse their computer's contents with the contents of remote computers, possibly changing overall expectations about the level of privacy on PCs. But they aren't leaving the user ignorant of the online nature of the Dash search.

but please make sure that you respect your users' privacy and security while you're doing it

That's nice. I emplore Canonical in the same fashion, and I understand even if they're not crossing the line they're definitely sitting on it in a way that's uncomfortable for many users. Other users don't care at all, having acclimated to the world of slippery commercial convenience on smartphones and tablets. I'm somewhere in-between.

OTOH, Ubuntu is still very noteworthy as a distro wherein non-techies can effectively get stuff done. It pushes the envelope for proper vertical integration of features in the FOSS world that people need to work without fuss. If an OS doesn't have that, then it won't look attractive to talented app developers who want a feature-stable platform that brings them together with users.

As for privacy, I've become increasingly concerned about Mint's inability to push out security updates. Its looking less and less like something I can recommend in that respect.

[TheBlackAdder]

11. People making $5-7K a year and others living below the povery line aren't buying anything. n/t

[dimbear]

3. Once the machines take over for good and for all, things will be more equal.

It's leveler away from the pointy top of the pyramid.

[bemildred]

9. Vulture capitalism is what's making society more unequal. nt

[Fumesucker]

10. Connections, who you know, is still more important than just about anything else in making money

I have all kinds of computer skills all the way back to 300 baud acoustic modem days and I've never made much money out of it because I'm basically a curmudgeonly loner who isn't interested in pumping every person I even remotely know for opportunities.