AGAINST PLATFORMS

A critique of the neoliberal ideology that underpins digital platforms.

Pepi, a critic writing at the intersection of art and technology, argues that digital platforms are designed to undermine collective institutions and foster an individualism insensitive to collective obligations. Technology, though, is just a tool, Pepi says, and our attention should focus instead on intellectual justifications and “the socio-political formations in which digital technology and software are deployed,” including the role of venture and finance capital in privileging growth and profit over social purpose. Pepi’s critique consists of nine counterclaims, three of which are that computers are not sentient and cannot think, the internet is not a “single, united entity” but rather a complex and layered ecosystem of human relations, and algorithms are made by class-positioned people with specific prejudices and hidden intents. What concerns him is the extent to which digital platforms diminish a public life, suppress judgments regarding the impacts of digital platforms (e.g., Uber detracting from public transit), and turn us away from our shared responsibility for the hardships that many people face. Digital ideology, in short, embodies a wholly unrealistic techno-utopianism. Pepi specifically bemoans the way that proponents of artificial intelligence portray it as a replacement for the serendipity and emotional valence of artistic culture. He has little to offer as far as what needs to be done, except to assert that we need to “reform our institutions to become reliable stewards of skeptical techno-progressivism.” The value of this book is in debunking self-serving claims of digital technology.

An unsparing exposé of how digital platforms stifle personal and collective efficacy.