Moral Codes

Designing Alternatives to AI

(Author) Alan F. Blackwell
Format: Paperback
£33.00 Price: £31.35 (5% off)
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Why the world needs less AI and better programming languages. Decades ago, we believed that robots and computers would take over all the boring jobs and drudgery, leaving humans to a life of leisure. This hasn’t happened. Instead, humans are still doing boring jobs, and even worse, AI researchers have built technology that is creative, self-aware, and emotional—doing the tasks humans were supposed to enjoy. How did we get here? In Moral Codes, Alan Blackwell argues that there is a fundamental flaw in the research agenda of AI. What humanity needs, Blackwell argues, is better ways to tell computers what we want them to do, with new and better programming languages: More Open Representations, Access to Learning, and Control Over Digital Expression, in other words, MORAL CODE. Blackwell draws on his deep experiences as a programming language designer—which he has been doing since 1983—to unpack fundamental principles of interaction design and explain their technical relationship to ideas of creativity and fairness. Taking aim at software that constrains our conversations with strict word counts or infantilizes human interaction with likes and emojis, Blackwell shows how to design software that is better—not more efficient or more profitable, but better for society and better for all people. Covering recent research and the latest smart tools, Blackwell offers rich design principles for a better kind of software—and a better kind of world.

Information
Publisher:
MIT Press Ltd
Format:
Paperback
Number of pages:
239
Language:
en
ISBN:
9780262548717
Publish year:
2024
Publish date:
Aug. 6, 2024

Alan F. Blackwell

Alan F. Blackwell is a British academic and researcher known for his work in the field of human-computer interaction. He is a Professor of Interdisciplinary Design at the University of Cambridge. Blackwell has contributed significantly to the study of creativity, design, and cognition in software engineering. He is the author of numerous papers and books on these topics, including "Interdisciplinary Interaction Design: A Visual Guide" and "Cognitive Dimensions of Notations." Blackwell's work has had a profound impact on the field of human-computer interaction, shaping the way designers and engineers approach the development of software and user interfaces. His most famous work is the book "Cognitive Dimensions of Notations," which continues to be a seminal text in the field.

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