The Digital Society
Brian M. O'Connell
Central Connecticut State University, USA

The close relationship between the social and technological has been
recognized from the beginning of scholarly history. With the advent
of computer-mediated technologies, however, the depth and reciprocity
of this relationship has been revisited. Scholars of both the
humanities and computing have suggested that the terms of this
interaction are more bilateral and require a new form of
human-machine dialogue than with former generations of tools. This
paper will employ the author's perspective as a computer scientist
and professor of philosophy to explore such humanistic conversations
that our digital society presents, including those concerning the
role of human agency in the creation of artificial systems, their
advancement and justification.
Throughout, the presentation will emphasize the role of human
creativity and choice in the development of computational devices and
lifestyles. It will identify the means by which our freedoms to
clearly recognize dangers, opportunities and responsibilities are
often hampered by the dynamics of computing and engineering,
including how they are taught to future engineers and are related to
the public, to our advisors, colleagues and our fellow decision
makers in the humanities. The result is frequently the production of
untrustworthy dangerous decisions that exaggerate technological
capabilities, inflate expectations and excite hubris.
In many ways, this presentation will seek to emulate the thought
processes recorded by Saint Thomas More in "A Dialogue of Comfort
Against Tribulation", in which issues touching the heart of humanity
and of truth were treated through close conversation, relating at
once to present questions and to those values that transcended the
moment. Likewise, to properly address the challenges of the digital
society, the multi-dimensional elements of engineering, computing,
the humanities, values, public and professional responsibility must
presently be brought into meaningful and vital conversation.