Internet and Technology (2)

Agghh, that's so frustrating - like pop-up internet ads and buffering videos that never play!

Modern computers and the internet have revolutionised the way we live today,

bringing us the world with a click of a button.

But not everyone feels happy about these technological developments.

While potentially acting as a force for good and progress,

the internet also provides a way of spreading hate and misinformation. And for some people,

the World Wide Web remains a mysterious and confusing place.

In this programme, we'll hear about a new academic subject called Web

Science. Web Science studies the technology behind the internet.

But from the human side, it's also interested in how people

interact with each other online. So we'll be asking whether studying Web Science

could make the internet better for humanity in the future.

But first it's time for our quiz question. I wonder what the pioneers of the internet would

think about how it is used today. So the question is, who invented the World Wide Web? Was it:

a) Bill Gates,

b) Tim Berners-Lee, or c) Steve Jobs

Well, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were the brains behind Microsoft and Apple Mac,

so I'm going to say c) Tim Berners-Lee.

OK, Sam, we'll find out later. Now, because of coronavirus the annual Web

Science conference was held online this year. Its theme was ‘making the web human-centric'.

One of the conference's key speakers, and co-founder of the new discipline of Web Science,

was Dame Wendy Hall. Here she is speaking to BBC World Service's Digital Planet:

People think about the web as a technology but actually it's co-createdby society.

We put the content on, we interact with the technology, with the platforms, with the social

media networks to create it. What we study is how that works as an ecosystem,this coming together

of people and technology, and it's very interdisciplinary, very socio-technical,

and of course these days a lot of it is powered by AI.

Web Science is not only interested in the technology side of the internet.

As a subject it's very interdisciplinary - involving two or more academic subjects

or areas of knowledge. Web Science combines digital technology with

subjects ranging from psychology and robotics to economics and sociology.

Exchanges between humans and the internet can be seen in social media networks - websites,

apps and computer programmes, like Facebook and Instagram,

which allow people to use electronic devices to communicate and share information.

This view of technology sees the internet as an ecosystem – a complex pattern of relationships

and mutual influences that exists between all living things and their environment.

One ongoing and topical example of websites helpfully interacting with humans

is the Covid contact tracing app.

You might think the mobile phone app, which tracks movements and contact between people

to combat coronavirus, would be a useful practical application of internet technology.

But as Carly Kind, Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute in Cambridge,

explained to BBC World Service's Digital Planet, things are never that straightforward:

Actually, there's a lot of more fundamental questions that haven't been answered yet such as:

is Bluetooth even an adequate mechanism for doing what it says on the tin, which is detecting

contact between two people? The trails so far show that it's not actually that great and so,

do we know for sure that these apps work and they work in the way we want them to?

Do we get the public health information that we need?

Apps like this are designed to support public health - services

to improve the standard of health of a country's general population.

But Carly thinks the mechanisms used must be suitable and adequate – they must actually work or

do what it says on the tin – an informal idiom meaning work exactly as it is intended to.

To find this out, trials - tests to discover how effective or

suitable something is - are carried out over a period of time.

The kind of trials which were carried out during

the invention of the internet in the first place, right, Neil?

Ah yes, the invention of the internet – or to be more accurate, the World Wide Web. In

our quiz question I asked you who invented the World Wide Web? What did you say, Sam?

I said b) Tim Berners-Lee.

Well, you're a first class web scientist, Sam, because that's the correct answer!

Great! In this programme, we've been hearing about Web Science, a new interdisciplinary subject,

combining several areas of study, which investigates the ecosystem of the internet – the

complex pattern of interconnections between humans and their environment.

Social media networks –websites and apps, like Facebook, which let people use electronic

devices to communicate on the internet – show how humans and technology can successfully interact.

A new Covid contact tracing app is currently undergoing trials – tests to see if it works

effectively. This will discover if it does what it says on the tin – works as it's supposed to.

If successful, by alerting people to coronavirus risks the app will support

public health – services aimed at improving the health of the general population.

And that's all from us for now.

And we hope you'll join us again soon for more topical English vocabulary

here at 6 Minute English. Bye for now!

Bye bye!

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Catherine.

And hello, I'm Rob.

Today we have another technology topic.

Oh good! I love technology. It makes things easier, it's fast and means I can have gadgets.

Do you think that technology can actually do things better than humans?

For some things, yes. I think cars that drive themselves will be safer than humans but that

will take away some of the pleasure of driving. So I guess it depends on what you mean by better.

Good point, Rob. And that actually ties in very closely with today's topic

which is technochauvinism.

What's that?

We'll find out shortly, Rob, but before we do, today's quiz question. Artificial Intelligence,

or A.I., is an area of computer science that develops the ability of computers to learn

to do things like solve problems or drive cars without crashing. But in what decade was the term

'Artificial Intelligence' coined? Was it: a) the 1940s,

b) the 1950s or c) the 1960s?

I think it's quite a new expression so I'll go for c) the 1960s.

Good luck with that, Rob, and we'll give you the answer later in the programme.

Now, let's get back to our topic of technochauvinism.

I know what a chauvinist is. It's someone who thinks that their country or race or sex

is better than others. But how does this relate to technology?

We're about to find out. Meredith Broussard is Professor of Journalism at New York University

and she's written a book called Artificial Unintelligence.

She appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme More or Less to talk about it.

Listen carefully and find out her definition of technochauvinism.

Technochauvinism is the idea that technology is always the highest and best solution. So somehow

over the past couple of decades we got into the habit of thinking that doing something with a

computer is always the best and most objective way to do something and that's simply not true.

Computers are not objective, they are proxies for the people who make them.

What is Meredith Broussard's definition of technochauvinism?

It's this idea that using technology is better than not using technology.

She says that we have this idea that a computer is objective. Something that is objective is neutral,

it doesn't have an opinion, it's fair and it's unbiased – so it's

the opposite of being a chauvinist. But Meredith Broussard says this is not true.

She argues that computers are not objective. They are proxies for the people that make them.

You might know the word proxy when you are using your computer in one country

and want to look at something that is only available in a different country.

You can use a piece of software called a proxy to do that.

But a proxy is also a person or a thing that carries out your wishes and your instructions

for you. So computers are only as smart or as objective as the people that programme them.

Computers are proxies for their programmers. Broussard says that believing too much in

Artificial Intelligence can make the world worse. Let's hear a bit more.

This time find out what serious problems in society does she think may be reflected in AI?

It's a nuanced problem. What we have is data on the world as it is

and we have serious problems with racism, sexism, classism, ageism,

in the world right now so there is no such thing as perfect data. We also have a problem inside the

tech world where the creators of algorithms do not have sufficient awareness of social issues

such that they can make good technology that gets us closer to a world as it should be.

She said that society has problems with racism, sexism, classism and ageism.

And she says it's a nuanced problem. A nuanced problem is not simple, but it does have small

and important areas which may be hard to spot, but they need to be considered.

And she also talked about algorithms used to program these technological systems.

An algorithm is a set of instructions that computers use to perform their tasks.

Essentially it's the rules that they use to come up with their answers and Broussard

believes that technology will reflect the views of those who create the algorithms.

Next time you're using a piece of software or your favourite app you might find yourself wondering if

it's a useful tool or does it contain these little nuances that reflect the views of the developer.

Right, Catherine. How about the answer to this week's question then?

I asked in which decade was the term 'Artificial Intelligence' coined.

Was it the 40s, the 50s or the 60s?

And I said the 60s.

But it was actually the 1950s. Never mind, Rob. Let's review today's vocabulary.

Well, we had a chauvinist – that's someone who believes their country,

race or sex is better than any others.

And this gives us technochauvinism,

the belief that a technological solution is always a better solution to a problem.

Next - someone or something that is objective is neutral, fair and balanced.

A proxy is a piece of software but also someone who does something for you, on your behalf.

A nuanced problem is a subtle one, it's not a simple case of right or wrong,

in a nuanced problem there are small but important things that you need to consider.

And an algorithm is a set of software instructions for a computer system.

Well, that's all we have time for today. Goodbye for now.

Bye bye!

Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Rob.

And I'm Catherine.

So, Catherine, how long do you spend on your smartphone?

My smartphone? Not that long really, only about 18 or 19 hours.

No, sorry, I meant in a day, not in a week.

Er, that's what I meant too, Rob – a day.

Oh wow, so you've even got it right here…

…yep, got it now, Rob. Yes, I should tell you that I suffer from FOMO.

FOMO?

FOMO - Fear of Missing Out. Something cool or interesting might be happening somewhere, Rob,

and I want to be sure I catch it, so I have to keep checking my phone,

to make sure, you know, I don't miss out on anything.

So we could call you a phubber… Hello… I said,

so you're a phubber? Someone who ignores other people because you'd rather look at your phone.

Oh, yeah, that's right.

It sounds like you have a bit of a problem there, Catherine. But you're not the only one.

According to one recent survey, half of teenagers in the USA feel like they are addicted to their