One of the more readable contemporary writers on information technology and the ways in which it impacts on human behavior, Jamie Bartlett, has used his latest book, “The People vs. Tech” to illustrate what he sees as the deeper motives behind the info tech’s relentless appetite for data collection and the use of that data for what he sees as the manipulation of human behaviour. His perspective on the phenomenon has led him to the conclusion that hi tech ‘juggernauts’ like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat are among the insidious horsemen of an apocalypse that have emerged to pose a threat to democracy itself.
In this issue, The Guyana Review publishes a highly revealing (edited) excerpt from the introduction to Mr. Bartlett’s book. The People vs. Tech.
