As probably many of you, I am a big fan of the works of George Orwell. However, in my experience, typical discussions about Orwell in the tech communi

Algorithms don't act on their own

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2021-08-29 07:30:16

As probably many of you, I am a big fan of the works of George Orwell. However, in my experience, typical discussions about Orwell in the tech community have a rather narrow focus on the technical surveillance infrastructure described his novel 1984. Often the infrastructure used by “Big Brother“ to control its citizens is compared to our contemporary infrastructure for web tracking, video surveillance and data collection via social media.

I actually have a very different picture of the works of George Orwell. My favorite book of his is Homage to Catalonia, which details his personal struggle against the rising facism in Europe. He volunteered to fight against Franco’s troops in the Spanish civil war, and experienceed disillusion and persecution by Stalinist forces in the end.

I think that the actual message from George Orwell’s works is much broader than what the tech community often assumes, and as many might not be aware, Orwell critised not only totalitarian societies like the Soviet Union under Stalin, but also uttered many concerns about the control of thought in open societies in the West.