What are computers doing to us?
As computers enrich our lives, there is growing evidence that they are also altering the way that we behave—sometimes in negative ways. Our attention span may be dropping as we become more easily distracted. Our ability to store and synthesize data may be decreasing as we rely more on the internet to remember things. Online, algorithms and our own choices may be dividing us into mutually suspicious camps separately by beliefs supported by questionable or selectively-interpreted evidence. Part of our success in taking control over our computer creations is understanding and resisting these transformations.
Credits: Talking: Geoffrey Challen (Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo). Producing: Greg Bunyea (Undergraduate, Computer Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo).
Part of the https://www.internet-class.org online internet course. A blue Systems Research Group (https://blue.cse.buffalo.edu) production.