Innovation

我们新生的信息革命

Jun 15, 2018 Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

剑桥——人们经常说我们正在经历一场信息革命。但信息革命意味着什么，它正带领我们向何处去？

其实，信息革命并不是新鲜事。1439年，约翰内斯·古滕堡的印刷机开启了大众传媒新时代。我们目前这场革命始于20世纪60年代的硅谷，而且与摩尔定律密切相关：电脑芯片上的晶体管数量每两三年就会翻一番。

截至21世纪初，运算成本下降至20世纪70年代初的1‰。现在互联网几乎可以连接任何物体。1993年中，世界上还仅有约130家网站；但到2000年，网站数量已经超过1500万家。今天，在线人数已超过35亿；根据专家预测，到2020年，200亿台设备将通过物联网联系在一起。而这不过是我们信息革命的初期而已。

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j. von Hettlingen Jun 18, 2018

Joseph S. Nye says although the information revolution started already in the 1960s, it is “still in its infancy.” In the course of these five decades the number of sites and users has seen a millionfold increase, while the cost of transmitting and storing information has fallen spectacularly. As the barriers to entry falls, computer technology has become widely accessible. At the onset of the revolution, people were wary of “ centralized control” depicted in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. As a result of mobility, today, they “eagerly” carry “Big Brother” around with them everywhere.
The author points out the dilemma that our digital world is grappling with: “When people are overwhelmed by the volume of information confronting them, it is hard to know what to focus on. Attention, not information, becomes the scarce resource.” This helps create a “paradox of plenty,” pitting a wealth of information against a poverty of attention, without the ability to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of data that needs to be consumed and digested.
Throughout history people have always worried about new technologies. They fear that the human brain cannot cope with the onslaught of data and information made available – from printing press to computer. Just as the American analyst John Arquilla has pointed out, “in today’s global information age, victory often depends not on whose army wins, but on whose story wins.” Military hardware “doesn’t provide much help on the internet.” This triggers a fierce contest for distracting or capturing people’s attention.
The human attention system is complicated – there’s a conscious aspect that enables us to direct our attention, and an unconscious aspect that shifts attention towards anything our senses pick up that might be significant. These neurological findings have long been abused for propaganda purposes in an information warfare. It is a nefarious game that deprives people of their ability to filter out lies, fake news or misinformation in order to translate facts and data into knowledge.
No doubt “information provides power, and more people have access to more information than ever before, for good and for ill.” As the internet provides a very quick and effective means of communication and enables interactions between vast numbers of people over great distances, it has also become a double-edged sword, that serves both state actors and non-state actors “ranging from large corporations and non-profit organizations to criminals, terrorists, and informal ad hoc groups.”
With social media becoming “ubiquitous” and a “transnational” tool to be reckoned with, rogues and authoritarian regimes exploit the “opportunities for manipulation.” Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election that helped elect Trump, the Brexit referendum as well as other European elections, show the flipside of technological innovation, which is being abused for political ends. China is perfecting a vast network of digital espionage as a means of social control. A “citizen score” had been created to rate someone’s loyalty and trustworthiness, which could be the person’s permanent companion.
The author says, “Europe has tried to establish rules for privacy protection with its new General Data Protection Regulation, but its success is still uncertain.” Under the GDPR provisons, which came into play on May 25, any individual located in Europe can ask anyone or any company for the data it has on him/her – and that includes employer. If the company deletes any of the data to prevent disclosure after the subject access request is made, it can be liable for criminal sanctions. Companies baulk at the idea, saying the process is resource intensive.
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Michael Public Jun 17, 2018

You are quite right. The thing is you are about the last person to realize this. China has already set its primary goal to be the World leader in every field of Ai by 2030 and the top five us corps have declared themselves to be ai first companies.
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P. Kamath Jun 15, 2018

It is common knowledge to most people that , it would be insane to believe that one could put brakes on explosion of knowledge and its practical use. It is all in the hands of man{ or woman} to practice wisdom so that products are put to proper use! Ex: knowledge about nuclear technology or ordinary explosives, or say pesticides etc...
The computer revolution is a boon to mankind when put to good use!
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