Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech - Hardcover

Sara Wachter-boettch

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393634639 ISBN 13: 9780393634631

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017

Synopsis

A revealing look at how tech industry bias and blind spots get baked into digital products and harm us all.

Buying groceries, tracking our health, finding a date: whatever we want to do, odds are that we can now do it online. But few of us ask how all these digital products are designed or why. It s time we changed that. Many of the services we rely on are full of oversights, biases and downright ethical nightmares. Chatbots that harass women. Sign-up forms that fail anyone who s not straight. Social media sites that send messages about dead relatives. Algorithms that put more black people behind bars.

Technically Wrong takes an unflinching look at the values, processes and assumptions that lead to these problems and more. Wachter-Boettcher demystifies the tech industry, leaving those of us on the other side of the screen better prepared to make informed choices about the services we use and demand more from the companies behind them.

About this title

Review:

"The stories she [Sara Wachter-Boettcher] tells...are good, as are the examples she provides of corporate failure." --The Sunday Times

"Technically Wrong is a must-read for anyone interested in the invisible biases of the tech industry that creeps into digital products and affects us all...This is a powerful read reflecting on the prejudices that lurk within a powerful industry." --"The 25 best books for IT leaders", IT Pro

About the Author:

Sara Wachter-Boettcher is a web consultant based in Philadelphia, and the author of two books for web professionals: Design for Real Life, with Eric Meyer, and Content Everywhere. She helps organizations make sense of their digital content and speaks at conferences worldwide.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0393634639
• ISBN 13: 9780393634631
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240