This book by Sara Wachter-Boettcher is easy to read and talks about how technology can sometimes cause problems for people and society. One example the author gives is about software that tries to predict if a person will commit another crime. The biases of the developers are built into the software, so it often labels people of the global majority (especially Black people) as "high risk" more than white people, even when they have the same criminal history.
Another example is Apple's Siri. When people asked Siri for help with self-harm or sexual assault, it responded with jokes instead of giving the urgent help that was needed.
This book is not dense and reads away easily. It does not go deep into historical accounts that try to explain why our industry ended up the way it is. This might be a good thing if you are looking for one such book.
However, in 2024 you might have already read about the common case studies we hear too much about, such as:
My favourite part that Wachter-Boettcher points out is that of "Delight", which refers to a component that our industry likes to invest in — cute and clever features that exist on top of your app.
Examples include:
We all know what apps like Uber and Meta are trying to do — win a monopoly over our data. By making the app delightful, it pulls attention away from these inner motivations and ignores the real-life needs of users.
The most interesting part of the book — and where the author seems most passionate — talks about how women are left out (underrepresented) in the tech world.
One example:
A woman meeting with board members to discuss a feature "for women", the men based their ideas on offensive views of their wives.
The book also talks about the myth of the "pipeline problem". This is the idea that not enough women are interested in studying tech, which leads to fewer women working in tech.
The author argues that the real problem is hiring for "culture fit":
This means deciding that women and other underrepresented groups do not fit in, even if they have good qualifications.
Another very important analysis of the industry is about its love for "clean" designs, like those of Uber and Google. These designs use simple shapes and neutral colors to look fair and objective. But this look hides the unfairness and biases within.
Because of this, we:
These apps try to collect your data to influence you to buy things and to keep certain political ideas in place.
I think this is a must-read if you are interested in thinking critically about tech in society. It is not too challenging to read and the case studies are plenty.
However, if you are already well-versed in the literature and theory, you can safely skip reading this book since it does not necessarily go into much depth when it comes to intersectionality.