From the invention of scripts and alphabets to the long misunderstood "talking drums" of Africa, James Gleick tells the story of information technologies that changed the very nature of human consciousness. He also provides portraits of the key figures contributing to the inexorable development of our modern understanding of information, including Charles Babbage, Ada Byron, Samuel Morse, Alan Turing, and Claude Shannon.

"In a world of deepfakes, it will soon be impossible to tell what is real and what isn't. As advances in artificial intelligence, video creation, and online trolling continue, deepfakes pose not only a real threat to democracy -- they threaten to take voter manipulation to unprecedented new heights. This crisis of misinformation which we now face has since been dubbed the "Infocalypse." In DEEPFAKES, investigative journalist Nina Schick uses her expertise...

The Digital Age is as transformative as the Industrial Revolution and Joshua Cooper Ramo explains how to survive. He is a policy expert who has advised the most powerful nations and corporations, says yes; if people are ready to ride the disruption. Drawing on examples from business, science, and politics, Ramo illuminates people's transformative world. Start by imagining a near future when America's greatest power is not its military or its economy,...

"The tools of our information age-from search engines to data mining to smart appliances-grew directly out of conflicts from World War I to the present day. Explore how today's Information Society reflects a worldview shaped by a century of war"--

"System Error" exposes the root of our current predicament: how big tech's relentless focus on optimization is driving a future that reinforces discrimination, erodes privacy, displaces workers, and pollutes the information we get. Armed with an understanding of how technologists think and exercise their power, three Stanford professors share their provocative insights and concrete solutions to help everyone understand what is happening, what is at...

"Many of us go about our daily lives completely-some might say blissfully-unaware that we are surrounded by a cornucopia of devices that are running on various connected platforms and recording our physical presence, voices, heartbeats, and preferences. Have a look around you. Beyond your computer, tablet, or smartphone, how many 'things' that you see are connected to the Internet, either directly or indirectly? Are you wearing a Fitbit or an Apple...

"Social media connected the world--and gave rise to fake news and increasing polarization. Now a leading researcher at MIT draws on 20 years of research to show how these trends threaten our political, economic, and emotional health in this eye-opening exploration of the dark side of technological progress. Today we have the ability, unprecedented in human history, to amplify our interactions with each other through social media. It is paramount,...

"Cyber Republic presents a radical framework for rethinking politics and business in a post-work age of human-machine collaboration. It offers an optimistic and democratic roadmap for the future"--