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The Age of Automation Technical Genius, Social Dilemma
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Book Code: C5194
ISBN: 0-275-95194-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-95194-8
256 pages, figures,
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 8/30/1995
List Price: $117.95 (UK Sterling Price: £65.00)
Availability: Out of stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Reviews:
  • In his study of the status and effects of automation in society, Hall develops the thesis that "automation has reached a point of critical mass and now supplants human capability more than supports it." A good resource for studies in computing and society.

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Description: Automation now supplants economic activity more than it supports it. Furthermore, this process is fueled by enormous economic forces, which intensifies dependence on automation and spawns other sociological consequences. Of these consequences, fraud generates the highest immediate losses, amounting to $300 billion annually. In the long run, however, the greatest economic cost will occur through loss of jobs, and a lowering of net skills for most of the balance. Other consequences include pervasive invasion of privacy, and overdependence on technology at the expense of developing critical reasoning, judgement, and a personal sense of responsibility. Fortunately, many of these consequences could be ameliorated by automated countermeasures that offset the excesses. Unfortunately, it usually takes a crisis to institute fundamental reform, though the looming economic meltdown stemming from the mounting federal debt offers just such an opportunity.
Table of Contents:
  • Preface
  • Setting
  • The Machine at the Door
  • Primer on Automation
  • The Frankenstein Issue
  • Impetus and the Encompassing Malaise
  • Opportunities and Applications
  • Commercial Applications
  • Government and Law Enforcement Applications
  • Research Opportunities
  • Health Care and Education
  • Problems and Their Ethical Perspective
  • Ethical Factors
  • Automation-Related Crime
  • Socioeconomic Issues
  • Psychological Dilemmas
  • Amelioration
  • Economic Countermeasures
  • Reversal of Psychological Degradation
  • Glossary
  • Software
  • Suggested Reading
  • Notes
  • Index
LC Card Number: 94-44175
LCC Class: T59
Dewey Class: 303.48
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