Inside the digital society
David Souter writes a weekly column for APC, looking at different aspects of the information society, development and rights. David’s pieces take a fresh look at many of the issues that concern APC and its members, with the aim of provoking discussion and debate. Issues covered include internet governance and sustainable development, human rights and the environment, policy, practice and the use of ICTs by individuals and communities.
The British Post Office scandal was a failure of both technology and human systems. The software didn’t work, but too many people thought that whatever the computer said had to be right. This has several lessons for us about trust in computer and AI systems as well as the need for strong institutions and media.
More than 60 countries will hold some sort of elections in 2024 and our columnist examines how digital transformation could affect democratic processes and how we might respond.
Our columnist wades into the polarising debates LLMs and AI have inspired this year about how they will change our lives for good and ill, and explores a question central to the international fora discussing the future of this technology.
In 2025 the United Nations General Assembly will review what's happened since the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and what should happen next. Our columnist takes a look back and outlines six areas that the WSIS+20 review should take into account.
Technologies like AI might be poised to transform our future, but so is climate change. Our columnist offers five proposals to make digitalisation policy and practice more environmentally sustainable.
Following a series of proposals from the United Nations, our columnist considers the future of internet governance, its changing context and principles for how to think about it all.
As Twitter morphs and bends under its new monopolistic individual owner, a look at the source of its massive influence and some issues of concern.
For decades science fiction has alarmed us with the idea that AI will become much smarter than us and take control. Our columnist unpacks the issues of AI's uncertainty, common good, regulation and governance.
New applications like ChatGPT based on AI and large language models are likely to be transformative, a step change in technology like the internet was 30 years ago, but much faster. The technology is now out of the bag and can't be uninvented, and we should move swiftly to figure out its implications, deployment and governance.
Our columnist examines the discussions at UNESCO's recent conference on platform accountability and the issues that need to be addressed in moving forward.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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