06974nam 22004933 450 991098566190332120240502080232.09781804415436180441543X97818044154291804415421(CKB)31636312200041(MiAaPQ)EBC31290018(Au-PeEL)EBL31290018(Exl-AI)31290018(OCoLC)1432587762(EXLCZ)993163631220004120240502d2024 uy 0engur|||||||||||txtrdacontentcrdamediacrrdacarrierComputers and Society in the Past Half Century The Conquest of Will Revisited1st ed.Bradford :Ethics International Press Limited,2024.©2024.1 online resource (414 pages)Intro -- Introduction: Computers and Society in the Past Half Century -- Historical Context (See Chapters 1 and 2) -- Computer Utilization (See Chapter 3) -- Management and Decision Making (See Chapter 4) -- Employment and Work Life (See Chapter 5) -- Education (See Chapter 6) -- Health Care (See Chapter 7) -- The Computer Utility (See Chapter 8) -- Privacy and Surveillance (See Chapter 9) -- Computers and Government (See Chapter 10) -- Systems Analysis and Modelling (See Chapter 11) -- The Myth of Complexity (See Chapter 12) -- Man-Machine Interaction (See Chapter 13) -- Machine Intelligence and Human Identity (See Chapter 14) -- Conquest of Will (See Chapter 15) -- Conclusion -- The Conquest of Will: Information Processing in Human Affairs -- Preface -- Contents -- Part I. Historical Perspectives -- Chapter 1. Technology in Western Culture -- 1. Technology and the Contemporary Scene -- 2. Social History of Technology -- 3. Social and Cultural Origins of the Machine Age -- 4. Some Consequences of the Mechanistic Mentality -- 5. Summary -- Chapter 2. Computing in History -- 1. Mechanization of Arithmetic: I. Exploration and Growth -- 2. Mechanization of Arithmetic: II. Government Record Keeping -- 3. Automation of Control -- 4, Synthesis -- 5. Consolidation before Revolution -- 6. The Birth of the Computer -- Chapter 3. Computer Utilization -- 2. Social Investment in Computer Applications -- 3. General Features of the Computer Industry -- 5. Politics of Computers -- Chapter 4. Information Processing in Corporate Decision-Making -- 1. Information Processing in Management -- 2. Effects of Automation on Managers -- 3. The Corporate Computer Facility -- 4. Hierarchy as an Organizational Principle -- 5. Centralization of Control -- Chapter 5. The Changing Character of Work -- 1. Responses to Technological Change.2. Automation and the Work Environment -- 3. Effects of Automation on Employment -- 4. The Role of Work in Contemporary Society -- Chapter 6. Education and the Growth of Knowledge -- 1. Computers and the Aims of Education -- 2. Some Innovative Systems -- 3. Prospects for Computer-Assisted Instruction -- 4. Computers in Research -- Chapter 7. Computers in Health-Care -- 1. Information Systems in Health-Care -- 2. Computers in Diagnosis and Treatment -- 3. The Changing Character of Medical Practice -- 4. Delivery of Health-Care Services -- 5. Computers, Health, and the Public Interest -- Part III. Challenge: Control of Disorder -- Chapter 8, Computer Utilities -- 2. Computer Network Development -- 4. The Coming Financial Computer Utility -- Chapter 9. Privacy and Surveillance -- 1. Forms of Surveillance -- 2. Public and Private -- 3. Privacy in a Pluralistic Society -- 4. Formal Mechanisms for Protecting Privacy -- 5. On the Efficacy of Formal Safeguards -- Chapter 10. Information and the Political Process -- 7. Databanks: Distribution and Variety -- 2. Databanks: Expected Contributions -- 4. Planning in a Democracy -- 5. Computers and Political Power -- Chapter 11. Systems Analysis and Political Decision-Making -- 1. Methods of the Information Age -- 2. Traditional Methods and the Systems Approach -- 1. Modeling Social Systems -- 2. Systems Analysis and the Public Interest -- Chapter 12. Information, Power and Complexity -- 2. Information, Choice and Structure -- 5. The Myth of Complexity -- Part IV. Identity and Uncertainty: The Machine as Mirror Image -- Chapter 13. Man-Machine Interaction -- 1. The Human Meaning of Mechanization -- 2. The Man-Machine Dichotomy -- 3. Symbiosis or Parasitism -- 4. Popular Attitudes Toward Computers -- 5. The Moral Imperative -- Chapter 14. Machine Intelligence and Human Identity -- 1. Computers and Intelligence.2. The Uses of Intelligent Machines -- 3. Models of Human Behavior -- 1. Some Consequences of Reductionism -- 2. Identity and Conduct -- Chapter 15. Literary Perspectives on the Machine -- 1. The Problematic Machine -- 2. Abundance and Freedom from Toil -- 3. Control of Behavior -- 4. Challenge to the Gods -- 5. The Conquest of Will -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4 -- Chapter 5 -- Chapter 8 -- Chapter 9 -- Chapter 10 -- Chapter 11 -- Chapter 12 -- Chapter 13 -- Chapter 14.Almost fifty years ago, the author wrote the first comprehensive critical study of social issues in computing, The Conquest of Will (1976). This new book revisits this seminal study, featuring an overview of technological advances over the past half century, and provides a unique comparison between what was believed and expected of computers back in 1976, and actual outcomes up to the present time. Despite the extraordinary changes in technology, much of what has emerged in contemporary society was anticipated fifty years ago, and we are still grappling with some of the same basic challenges. For example, the computer's threat to privacy has been a constant issue ever since the late 1950s, but the regulatory framework designed in the 1960s has been upended by the Internet. Artificial Intelligence too has been a contentious issue since the late 1950s, but until recently discussion was largely confined to academia, and there was little urgency to regulate its further development and application. The comparisons offered in this book will highlight what we got right and wrong in the past, and point to the sources of good and bad predictions. While there have been many studies of social issues in computing published since The Conquest of Will appeared in 1976, this is an unusual and valuable longitudinal comparison of the current situation with what prevailed and was predicted half a century ago.Computers and civilizationGenerated by AISocial aspectsGenerated by AIComputers and civilizationSocial aspectsMowshowitz Abbe47909MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910985661903321Computers and Society in the Past Half Century4329685UNINA01312nam2 22003013i 450 RCA064071120251003044332.020200514d1977 ||||0itac50 baitaitz01i xxxe z01nz01ncRDAcarrier1.: Abaco-AstronomiaTorinoGiulio Einaudi Editore19771099 p.22 cm.001RCA06407042001 Enciclopedia Einaudi1Giulio Einaudi editoreCFIV098917Einaudi, Giulio <casa editrice>CFIV098919Giulio Einaudi editoreEinaudi editoreCFIV098920Giulio Einaudi editoreITIT-00000020200514IT-BN0095 IT-NA0243 IT-AV0003 IT-NA0298 RCA0640711Biblioteca Centralizzata di Ateneov. 1-16 01CONSULT. ENC EINAUDI 01AR 0070048595 VMA (0001 v. 1B 2025061820250618Centro Librario e Bibliotecario per la Diffusione della cultura13 v. (1-12, 15) 67SALA A A XI 2 67 0000056255 VMA (01 v. 1A 2014012920140129 01 67 AR GCAbaco-Astronomia882397UNISANNIO