‘Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should be reflected in our computing systems’
Is this our Golden Age? One where we are free of our labors and joined back to nature, returned to our mammal brothers and sisters, and all watched over by machines of loving grace (excerpt from a poem by Richard Brautigan) More than a decade ago, I began to engage in a series of wonderful philosophical discussions with Julio Frenk (then the president of the University of Miami, now the…
The spirit of liberty and democracy should manifest in our computing systems, as argued by a philosopher who founded SynthBee. Inspired by the ideals of personal freedoms, they envisioned computational democracy that distributes power, protects users, and prioritizes safety and trust. The influence of this philosophy can be seen in collaborative robotics, like the Mako Surgical robot, which operates alongside surgeons and patients.
Conversely, computational autocracy threatens humanity by granting massive, centralized computing platforms to a few techno-oligarchs, who aim to control global power and data. This autocratic approach mirrors that of traditional dictators, blurring the line between technology and government. The philosopher warns that humanity stands at a crossroads: either surrender our hard-fought struggles for freedom to yield to the power of a few, or strive for a neohumanist renaissance where our computing systems reflect liberal democracy, personal liberty, and the sovereignty of our data.
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