Hackers: a case-study of the social shaping of computing

The study is an examination of hacking, placing the act in the context of theories of technological change. The account of hacking is used to substantiate those theories that emphasise the societal shaping of technology over the notion of technological determinism. The evolution of hacking is traced, showing how it reflects changing trends in the nature of information: the most vivid of these is the conceptualisation of information known as 'cyberspace'. Instead of simply cataloguing the impact of technical changes within computing, and the effects they have had upon information, the study shows how technical change takes place in a process of negotiation and conflict between groups.The two main groups analysed are those of the Computer Underground (CU) and the Computer Security Industry (CSI). The experiences and views of both groups are recounted in what constitute internalist and externalist accounts of hacking and its significance. The internalist account is the evidence provided by hackers themselves. It addresses such issues as what motivates the act of hacking; whether there is an identifiable hacking culture; and why it is almost an exclusively male activity. The externalist account contains the perceptions of hacking held by those outside the activity.The state of computing's security measures and its vulnerability to hacking is described, and evidence is provided of the extent to which hacking gives rise to technical knowledge that could be of potential use in the fixing of security weaknesses. The division within the CSI between those broadly cooperative with hackers and those largely hostile to them is examined, and the reasons why hacking knowledge is not generally utilised are explored. Hackers are prevented from gaining legitimacy within computing in a process referred to as 'closure'. Examples include hackers being stigmatised through the use of analogies that compare their computing activities to conventional crimes such as burglary and tresspass.Stigmatisation is carried out by the CSI who use it in a process of professional boundary formation to distinguish themselves from hackers. It is also used by other authority figures such as Members of Parliament whose involvement in the process of closure takes the form of the anti-hacking legislation they have passed, an analysis of which concludes this study

Social Psychology in Action

The above maxim is often attributed to psychologist Kurt Lewin. Shortly after his death in 1947, the psychological historian E. C. Tolman wrote of Lewin: “Freud the clinician and Lewin the experimentalist – these are the two men whose names will stand out before all others in the history of our psychological era” (Marrow, 1969). Although Freud has become a household name, Lewin’s ideas and work are mostly unknown to the general public. Among psychologists, however, Kurt Lewin is well known as one of the founders of modern experimental social psychology and recognized for his early contributions in applying psychological science to real human society. His interest in the social uses of psychological research is evident not only from his work on “group dynamics”—a term he coined, involving, for example, research on leadership, communication, and group performance— but also from the applied research institutes he established, such as the Committee on Community Interrelations (McCain, 2015). Indeed, for Lewin, research served a double purpose: “to seek deeper explanations of why people behave the way they do and to discover how they may learn to behave better” (Marrow, 1969, p. xi; Italics added). Science was, in other words, a way to discover general laws of human functioning as well as a way to solve practical problems, a combination Lewin labeled “action research.” To achieve this goal, Lewin proposed, there is nothing as practical as a good theory—a maxim Lewin himself attributed to “a business man” he once met (Lewin, 1943)

Understanding customers’ attitude and intention to use driverless cars

The use of driverless cars is a future trend in road transportation and set to improve quality of life. Although marketing studies on technology acceptance are abundant and cross a variety of contexts, few studies investigate thoroughly the key factors influencing customers’ intention to use, and explicitly demonstrate the mechanisms in which each factor affect the acceptance of driverless cars. This research adds new knowledge to the body of marketing literature and studies in technology acceptance towards driverless cars. Specifically, this study extends cognition-oriented theories by integrating factors such as perceived enjoyment and perceived societal benefits into the new model to explain how individual perceptions impact user attitude and intention to use driverless cars. The research further uses the habit literature and integrates the status quo bias perspective to hypothesise that in addition to cognitive factors, incumbent system habit as a subconscious source of inertia that contribute to the resistance of adopting driverless cars lies in the use of a traditional automobile vehicle. Drawing on qualitative evidence from 13 interviewees, the key themes that influence customers’ perceptions towards driverless cars are disclosed, including perceived travel efficiency, enjoyment, helpfulness, and societal benefits. On the other side, technological issues, hacking and privacy issues, laggard regulations and policies, and concerns about the deterioration in driving skills are barriers to customers’ intention to use. The proposed conceptual model is empirically assessed using data collected from 493 potential customers through an online survey. The results illustrate the significant influences, in descending order, of attitude, perceived enjoyment, concerns, perceived travel efficiency and gender on customers’ intention to use, and also confirm perceived enjoyment, perceived societal benefits and age as strong factors in consumers’ attitude toward driverless cars. Incumbent system habit influences two paths among variables: 1) dampens the positive relationship between attitude and intention to use, and 2) strengthens the negative relationship between concerns and intention to use. Attitude is verified as a mediator between the perceived enjoyment and intention to use. Age differences are also revealed. There are practical implications too for research and development managers in the manufacturing process, and for marketing managers in the retail market

Artificial Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy

Attention in the AI safety community has increasingly started to include strategic considerations of coordination between relevant actors in the field of AI and AI safety, in addition to the steadily growing work on the technical considerations of building safe AI systems. This shift has several reasons: Multiplier effects, pragmatism, and urgency. Given the benefits of coordination between those working towards safe superintelligence, this book surveys promising research in this emerging field regarding AI safety. On a meta-level, the hope is that this book can serve as a map to inform those working in the field of AI coordination about other promising efforts. While this book focuses on AI safety coordination, coordination is important to most other known existential risks (e.g., biotechnology risks), and future, human-made existential risks. Thus, while most coordination strategies in this book are specific to superintelligence, we hope that some insights yield “collateral benefits” for the reduction of other existential risks, by creating an overall civilizational framework that increases robustness, resiliency, and antifragility

Cyber Ethics 4.0 : Serving Humanity with Values

Cyber space influences all sectors of life and society: Artificial Intelligence, Robots, Blockchain, Self-Driving Cars and Autonomous Weapons, Cyberbullying, telemedicine and cyber health, new methods in food production, destruction and conservation of the environment, Big Data as a new religion, the role of education and citizens’ rights, the need for legal regulations and international conventions. The 25 articles in this book cover the wide range of hot topics. Authors from many countries and positions of international (UN) organisations look for solutions from an ethical perspective. Cyber Ethics aims to provide orientation on what is right and wrong, good and bad, related to the cyber space. The authors apply and modify fundamental values and virtues to specific, new challenges arising from cyber technology and cyber society. The book serves as reading material for teachers, students, policy makers, politicians, businesses, hospitals, NGOs and religious organisations alike. It is an invitation for dialogue, debate and solution

Do-It-Together: Feminist Reconfigurations of Hacking in Montreal

Technological practitioners and observers often depict hacking cultures as fast-evolving spaces for social, political, technological and cultural innovation. While interest in hackerspaces is growing in terms of technological innovation, limited attention has been paid to building inclusive collective real-world spaces for hacking. This dissertation addresses this lacuna in two ways: First, this study looks into the forms of inclusion and exclusion found in traditional hacking spaces, exploring in detail the invisible boundaries formed in and around such spaces. Second, this study foregrounds feminist hacker practices and the alternatives they offer to such limited traditional hacking spaces. It argues that traditional hackerspaces, while empowering a few, encourage segregation within the hacker movement and enforce unwritten norms that relegate a large number of hackers (female, queer, transgender among others) to the margins or even the outside. To this end, this thesis examines two case studies in the city of Montreal: Foulab, a traditional hackerspace, and Femhack, a feminist hacker collective. As a hacker, a feminist and a researcher, I chose to study these communities through an Ethnographic Action Research Methodology, a methodology which helped me to document, contextualize and analyze the local expressions of the hacker movement, while theorizing its real and potential approaches to space, community-building, and learning through technology. By using the advantage of my insider position, this research assesses the democratic limits and possibilities of hackerspaces in Montreal and beyond. It offers four takeaways: 1) The traditional hackerspace model reproduces patriarchal structures that create barriers for women and other minorities, due to an overemphasis on technology and individual achievement. 2) Feminist hackerspaces welcome participants and are actively inviting, not just welcoming in theory. Choosing to invite marginalized hackers in is more powerful than just “leaving the door open” for them. 3) Broadening the definition of hacking to include areas in which men are not already the default experts, creates a more just, diverse, and equitable hacker field of expertise, thus breaking hierarchies and power relationships in this technological field. 4) Feminist pedagogies stressing on collaborative learning and applying in the hacker practice open the barriers set in traditional hackerspaces, creating spaces respectful of participants’ differences and needs. In a nutshell, I suggest that the ideals and practices of the feminist hackerspace examined in this thesis could be the beginning of a movement from a DIY (do-it-yourself) toward a DIT (do-it-together) hacking culture focused on more connected local communities, encouraging sustained engagement and more inclusive participation in the hacker movement