We, Robots: Staying Human in the Age of Big Data

In the tradition of Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not a Gadget, a rousing, sharply argued—and, yes, inspiring!—reckoning with our blind faith in technology 

 
Can technology solve all our problems? Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, many of our most famous journalists, pundits, & economists seem to think so. According to them, “intelligent machines” & big data will free us from work, educate our children, transform our environment, & even make religion more user-friendly. This is the story they’re telling us: that we should stop worrying & love our robot future.

But just because you tell a story over & over again doesn’t make it true.  

Curtis White, one of our most brilliant & perceptive social critics, knows all about the danger of a seductive story, & in We, Robots, he tangles with the so-called thinkers who are convinced that the future is rose-colored & robotically enhanced. 

With tremendous erudition & a punchy wit, White argues that we must be skeptical of anyone who tries to sell us on technological inevitability. And he gives us an alternative set of stories: taking inspiration from artists as disparate as Sufjan Stevens, Lars von Trier, & François Rabelais, White shows us that by looking to art, we can imagine a different kind of future. 

No robots required. 

CURTIS WHITE has published seven earlier books of fiction, including Memories of My Father Watching TV. His non-fiction includes The Middle Mind, The Science Delusion, & We, Robots. His essays have appeared in Harper’s, the Village Voice, Orion, Salon, Tricycle, & Playboy.