WE ARE PRODUCTS: How AI Invades our Life

by Biju P.R.

  • Category Non-Fiction
  • Format Paperback
  • Imprint Rupa
  • Price 295
  1. ISBN: 978-93-5702-064-0
  2. Pages: 208 pages
  3. Date: 5th February 2023

ABOUT THIS BOOK

‘In this accessible study of the contemporary social media, Biju Gayu argues that we’re subjected to a new, extractive force: digital colonialism…’
                                                                                                                                                 —Geert lovink,
                                                                                     Founding Director, Institute of Network Cultures
Haven’t you dreamt of a life without the small practical impediments in your day? Where you don’t
need to shop for groceries or park in crowded multiplexes?
Imagine a society where your car drives itself, where products autodeliver at a wish, where content
recommendations are tailored to your taste. The fact is that such a world is not far. Rapid developments
in technology have made some of these a part of our present reality.
Yet, is technology invading us? What are the human costs of this supremacy given to technology?
How long can our human cognitive abilities withstand the onslaught of thinking machines?
Through a close analysis of contemporary society and numerous case studies, author and researcher
Dr Biju PR offers an account of how data is enabling huge material progress but deeply affects human
cognition and sensibilities. He examines data colonialism, the new capitalism, and the attention
economy taking shape on the premise of big data bringing us a world of convenience.
Our lives are reduced to computational values. The human element is surrendered to intelligent
machines. We Are Products is a must-read for everyone concerned about the human fate in the
face of technology.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Dr Biju P.R. is assistant professor at the Department of Political Science, Government Brennen
College, Thalassery, Kerala. He is a writer, teacher and researcher who tracks the trinity of everyday
technology, society and social change. He keeps himself engaged with topics on artificial intelligence,
love, sexuality, relationships, discrediting fake news, the effects of Internet pornography, and the
link between technology and society in India. He is also the author of Political Internet (2016),
Intimate Speakers (2017), Selfie Sex (2018) and Slave Technology (2019). He is currently working on
the history of the social evolution of technology from hominids to humanoids, which argues that
machines are capable of replacing not only human muscles, but brain functions.