Better Tech:
Putting People First in Cyberspace
Better Tech goes beyond identifying the problems of technology and provides an actionable playbook of responsible design, development, adoption, and regulatory strategies that can be used by everyone from policy makers to students and general readers to reduce technology’s risks and advance the public good.
From an award-winning pioneer in data infrastructure and leader in public interest technology.
Berman focuses on the riskiest and most essential technologies – social media, AI chatbots, search engines – all of which serve as digital critical infrastructure.
She argues that the risk mitigation strategies for critical infrastructure like roads, bridges, food systems, and the electrical grid can also be used for cyberspace.
She asserts that the technologies we depend on should meet the expectations we have for other critical infrastructure: to be safe, dependable, and trustworthy. That humans created technology, and each of us can make it better.
From the Book
“Our digital critical infrastructure is human made. And it is too dangerous …. But we created these technologies, and we can design, build, and manage them better. Our well-being depends on it. You and I can do something – no matter what our jobs or roles in society – so that the technologies we depend on are better, and better for us.”
“Are we doing enough to narrow the risk gap for the essential services and systems on which we depend? … services and systems in wide-spread use that may limit our choices or undermine people’s mental or physical health and well-being. These systems and services are beasts on the loose, beasts that are beginning to proliferate in cyberspace, beasts that we need to contain. … Cyberspace will need to look a little less like Jurassic Park and a little more like the San Diego Wild Animal Park.”