Thursday, December 14, 2017
Maturation
Some Silicon Valley heavyweights are now admitting that its denizens were starry-eyed optimists when it came to creating and introducing new technology. They saw only the good side of humanity and failed to think about those who would do evil. They were rudely surprised by Russians meddling in US elections, by neo-Nazi declarations, by pornographers, by others who choose to live outside the boundaries of society. One could almost forgive them for their naivete. Technologists from the beginning have only seen the good side of their labors. They had to learn the hard way that humans are flawed and will misuse hardware and software to their own benefit even if it hurts others. They know now and they are working diligently to edit out inflammatory material from their social media. They still aren't comfortable with their new role, but they recognize the responsibility they have assumed with the success of their systems. It has been a hard-won maturation.
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