Are Machines Replacing People?

Highlights from the Book:

The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. (2002). Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press.

In The Social Life of Information, Brown and Duguid assure the reader of the importance of people in The Information Age.

In the not too distant past, information was limited and progress was impeded. Because of technology, that is no longer true. In today’s landscape, there is an excess of information. The current challenge lies in navigating through, organizing, and aggregating the information overflow

"Where once there seemed too little [information] to swim in, now it's hard to stay afloat." (p. 12).

Chatterbots, also called bots or “autonomous agents,” have proven to be helpful in managing the informational glut; but the bots, or machines, are not the total solution.

“These technologies are quite remarkable, but what they do remarkably is very different from what humans do.” (p. xii).

“The human and the digital are significantly, and usefully, distinct. Human planning, coordinating, decision making and negotiating seem quite different from automated information searches or following digital footsteps. So for all their progress, and it is extraordinary, the current infobots, knobots, shopbots, and chatterbots are still a long way from the predicted insertion into the woof and warp of ordinary life.” (p. 61).

The humans, behind these machines—beyond technology—are also invaluable. Machines and humans are separate, but complementary ingredients of the recipe for success.

“We are not trying to ignore or denigrate information technologies. . . Rather, we are arguing that by engaging the social context in which these technologies are inevitably embedded, better designs and uses will emerge.” (p. x).