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Book: Sociopaths As A Service

How Technology Took Over Society, Where It Wants to Take Us, and How We Fight Back

Author: Carl Brown Edition: 1st Release: TBD Jump to contents ↓

Contents

Top ↑

Introduction Humanity vs The Machine: Place Your Bets

An Overview of What This Book Covers

Overview

Should You Read This Book (When it gets completed)?

  • Are You Worried About Divisions in Western Society?
  • Do You Wish Society Could Agree on Basic Facts, and have Honest Conversations?
  • Do You Want to Know How We Got Here, and How We Get Out?

Part I: The Rise of the Machine

We discuss how the origins go back to the 1950s.

Chapter 01 Mad Men and the Rise Of Advertising Technology [PlaceHolder Video]

Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder video from the author of some of the source material

This Chapter Covers:
  • How the Neilson Ratings Started us down this road
  • How the Advertising Industry learned to Predict and Manipulate Us
  • How this old Technology provided the basis for where we are now

Chapter 02 Cable TV and Ratings-Driven News [PlaceHolder Video]

Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder video from the author of some of the source material

Chapter highlights
  • 24/7 “Infotainment”
  • How the Quick feedback from ratings steered TV News Network Coverage

Chapter 03 The Internet and Surveillance Capitalism [PlaceHolder Video]

Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder video from the author of some of the source material

Chapter highlights
  • The rise of Internet Search and Ads
  • Demographic Ad Targeting
  • Privacy Sacrifices for Free Services

Chapter 04 Social Media Takes The Wheel [PlaceHolder Video]

Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder video from the author of some of the source material

Chapter highlights
  • The Rise of Mobile
  • The Fracturing of Facts
  • Conspiracy Theories find a home

Part II: The Machine Takes Control

'The Algorithm' hijacks society's decision-making process.

Chapter 05 Social Media Enters Politics [PlaceHolder Video]

Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder video interviewing a principal participant on this subject

Chapter highlights
  • Social Media in the 2008 Election and Great Recession

Chapter 06 GamerGate - Early Radicalization Warning Signs [PlaceHolder Video]

Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder video with a retrospective on this subject

Chapter highlights
  • How a little-known scandal was a dry-run for horrors to come

Chapter 07 Cambridge Analytica Scandal - How Social Media Fractured the Real World [PlaceHolder Video]

Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder video with a trailer for a Netflix Documentary on this subject

Chapter highlights
  • Nation States Get Involved
  • The Course of Western Civilization Arguably had an Inflection Point

Chapter 08 Covid and Public Health - How The Machine Piled up the bodies [PlaceHolder Video]

Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder podcast video from a University with an intro to this subject

Chapter highlights
  • How Disinformation and polarization deepened the COVID crisis and added to the death toll

Chapter 09 The Attention Economy [PlaceHolder Video]

Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder video from the author of some of the source material

Chapter 10 ChatGPT Enters The Arena [PlaceHolder Video]

Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder video from the author of some of the source material

Chapter 11 AI Hype and Deception

How AI Companies have Lied and Exaggerated to Drive the Conversation

Chapter 12 AI Slop and Deepfakes [PlaceHolder Video]

How AI is destroying trust. Chapter TBD. Here's a placeholder video of a news report

Chapter 13 The AI Safety Bait And Switch

How AI Companies and AI Industry Non-Profits Avoid Conversations about Accountability

Part III: Where the Machine is Taking Us

How Artificial Intelligence might drive us over the edge.

Chapter 14 AI Agents - The Next Coming Wave

How AI Agents will impact Society

Chapter 15 How AI Will Destroy Education If We Let It

Chapter TBD

Chapter 16 What happens with the AI Bubble Pops?

Chapter TBD

Chapter 17 Generative AI Endgame

Chapter TBD

Part IV: Our Hope of Taking Back Control

How we might take this opportunity to fight back.

Chapter 18 The Authenticity Revolt

Chapter TBD