Credit: Max van den Oetelaar

Many modern designers are tasked to improve interactions between humans and computers. Yet how often do we focus on learning more about the systems, assumptions, disputes and historical contexts from which we create meaning for various stakeholders?

Here’s some books that may offer a new take on how you see the internet:

1. The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation (Cathy O’Neil)
On how social media weaponizes shame, from the renown algorithm guide Cathy O’Neil.

2. Disrupting Africa: Technology, Law, and Development (Olufunmilayo B. Arewa)
A eye-opening look across the intersections of how tensions in data governance in Africa reflect the history of imperialism.

3. Ghost work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass (Mary Gray and Siddharth Suri)
The invisible ‘gig economy’ underbelly of human labor employed under the pretense of AI.

The great paradox of automation is that the desire to eliminate human labor always generates new tasks for humans.

— Mary Gray

4. Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence(Kate Crawford)
A thought-provoking and comprehensive tour of the history of AI till the present; it’s limitations, implications and biases.

5. The Master Switch (Tim Wu)
A look at the rise of American Information empires, and a look behind the curtain of the empire builders.

Conclusion

Learn to create technology for a more humane future. Consider approaching design as a tool to offer more equitable opportunities while sidestepping unfortunate pitfalls. While virtual space may seem limitless for the optimistic, limitations exist in other forms.

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Feel free to check out my design work or my handbook on UX design, upgrading your portfolio and understanding design thinking.