2024 is now in its final acts, with only a few weeks left in the year, but before you reach for the mince pies, consider spending some time exploring the range of great tech-focused books and other digital media that could help you prepare for the new year. In a year when artificial intelligence has continued to advance rapidly and fears of disinformation have remained prevalent, there’s no shortage of books, podcasts, and documentaries to enjoy over the festive period.
Books
How AI Thinks by Nigel Toon
Since 2022, when OpenAI released its chatbot ChatGPT, the world has been captivated by artificial intelligence, and this obsession is not set to shift anytime soon despite fears of an AI winter, a period of reduced funding and public interest in artificial intelligence research. As the AI industry seems to be in a constant state of change, it can be difficult to maintain a good understanding of all the interesting developments that are taking place, which is why it may be an ideal time to read up about it during the quieter moments of the festive break. One great AI-focused book to read is Nigel Toon’s “How AI Thinks”, published in February 2024. For those trying to gain a solid understanding of artificial intelligence, it provides a grounded introduction to how AI has evolved since the term was first coined in the 1950s, as well as how it is used today and how it may be controlled.
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
One of the key themes of 2024 has been the increased call for social media regulation, especially in relation to younger people. In the UK, it has recently been reported that the government is not ruling out implementing a ban on social media for under 16s, in a proposed extension to the Online Safety Act, similar to actions taken by the Australian government in recent weeks. In 2022, the BBC reported that there had been a 77% rise in the number of children needing specialist treatment for severe mental health crises, an issue that psychologist Jonathan Haidt would believe has been driven by the mass adoption of smartphones and the advent of social media, describing it as the “great rewiring of childhood”. Upon reading the book “The Anxious Generation” by Haidt, it becomes very clear to see why national governments are now rethinking their stance on social media regulation in relation to young people. In his book, Haidt dually explains how social media use has led to depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems among young people, and argues that governments should make it legally binding for tech companies to have a duty of care to young people, raise the age of internet adulthood to 16, and force them to instate proper age verification.
Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter by Kate Conger and Ryan Mac
An individual that always seems to be making headlines in the tech world is Elon Musk, a prominent figure in the world of artificial intelligence as well as social media. Musk made headlines in 2022 when he acquired the micro-blogging app Twitter, now known as X, and transformed many aspects of the app. Some of the key changes that Musk has made include reinstating controversial figures’ accounts, including those belonging to Andrew Tate and Kanye West, and introducing the subscription service Twitter Blue which offers boosted visibility of content and the once difficult to get blue tick. In recent weeks, some X users appear to have had enough of the app, with millions jumping ship to BlueSky, the social media app created by former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey. Some media commentators have cited Musk’s support of the successful Trump presidential campaign as a key reason for users leaving the app, as well as the increase in bots on the platform that has made X difficult to use.
In a new book “Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter”, journalists Kate Conger and Ryan Mac pinpoint Musk’s purchase of X from his initial bid, to taking over the platform and the changes that would follow. The book also spends time discussing X before Musk, which helps the reader appreciate what Twitter was like in retrospect and understand how much the app has changed since Musk took over. As seen in recent weeks, the (potential) downfall of X is continuing to unfold, and this book offers a great insight into everything that has happened so far.
Podcasts
The Coming Storm
In 2024, the most watched election was undeniably the US Election, with some commentators warning that democracy itself was on the ballot. In the months before the election took place, the podcast “The Coming Storm” hosted by journalist Gabriel Gatehouse returned for a second series. Back in 2022, the first series offered a fascinating insight into the January 6 insurrection that was fuelled by the QAnon conspiracy theory, a topic that is revisited in series two. In the first episode of the podcast, Gatehouse introduces the listener to a YouGov poll, in which over 1,000 Americans were asked if they thought a single group of people control world events and make things happen, no matter who is officially in charge of the government and other organisations. Surprisingly, the poll revealed that 41% of Americans believed this to be the case, highlighting how mainstream conspiracy thinking has become. In season two of the podcast, Gatehouse explores how US politics has been captured by conspiracy theories, and what this will mean for democracy around the world.
Documentaries
In the past year, BBC Storyville has released two brilliant documentaries that focus on artificial intelligence, programmes that ask vital questions about the technology and its influence on our society.
In February 2024, the documentary “Another Body: My AI Porn Nightmare” was released by the BBC, a programme that explored how a female college student in the US became victim of a deepfake porn attack. In the documentary, it was revealed how an individual had used AI to create convincing pornographic videos of the college student and upload them to popular porn websites, without obtaining her consent. It was later revealed how the creator of the pornographic content was actually a former friend of the college student, who had made the videos out of spite. The most harrowing aspect of the documentary was that the college student was unable to access any real justice, as there were no legal grounds that could be used to prosecute the perpetrator. The documentary is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
The documentary “Eternal You” was released in January 2024, a film that seems reminiscent of the Black Mirror episode “Be Right Back” when a young woman uses AI to communicate with her deceased partner. The programme explores the digital afterlife industry, focusing on the companies responsible for creating AI-based realistic avatars of deceased individuals, so that their grieving loved ones can communicate with them. It weighs up both the psychological and ethical implications of using the technology, and introduces viewers to real people that have used the technology to “reconnect” with their loved ones. The documentary is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
On a lighter note, the documentary “Eno” was released in January 2024, a biopic of celebrated British musician and producer, Brian Eno. Director Gary Hustwit collaborated with generative art specialist Brendan Dawes to create endless one-of-a-kind versions of the documentary built on hundreds of hours of footage, meaning that every screening of the film is always different. Even if you’re not interested in Eno, the documentary which has been described as the “first generative feature film” marks an interesting development in filmmaking and could signal what is to come.
