David Auerbach

Last updated
David Auerbach
Occupation
  • Writer
  • technologist
  • software engineer
Alma mater Yale University
GenreNon-fiction

David Auerbach is an American writer and former Microsoft and Google software engineer. [1] [2] [3] He has written on a variety of subjects, including social issues and popular culture, the environment, computer games, philosophy and literature. His 2018 book Bitwise: A Life in Code was well received, and chosen by Popular Mechanics as one of its 30 "Best Sci/Tech Books of 2018". [2]

Contents

Career

A graduate of Yale University, [4] Auerbach worked on Microsoft's Messenger Service after college in the late 1990s – he is credited in The New York Times as having introduced smiley face emoticons to America during this time – before moving on to Google, where he stayed until 2008. [1] [2] [5] He was a columnist for Slate magazine from 2013 to 2016, [6] [7] and has also been a contributor to Reuters, [8] The American Reader, [9] MIT Technology Review , The Nation , The Daily Beast , n+1 and Tablet . [10]

In an article for Slate, Auerbach expressed criticism of facilitated communication, referring to it as a pseudoscience. [11] [12] [13] Auerbach has also written on what he calls "A-culture", associated with anonymous online forums like Encyclopedia Dramatica and 4chan. [14] [15]

In 2017, BuzzFeed published screenshots of correspondence between Auerbach and Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos in which Auerbach appeared to provide Yiannopoulos with tips on topics such as Wikipedia controversies and the relationship status of Anita Sarkeesian, a Gamergate target at the time. [16] [17] [14] [18] Auerbach disputed the BuzzFeed article's statements about him. [7] [18] Speaking to The New Republic writer Jo Livingstone in 2018, he said he had checked the screenshots against his own account and found they didn't match; he called Yiannopoulos a "harmful troll", but said he had been in contact with him on "a Wikipedia-related scandal". [6]

Bitwise: A Life in Code

In 2018, Auerbach published Bitwise: A Life in Code, a book described by The New York Times as a "thoughtful meditation on technology and its place in society". [1] The book – part memoir, part historical review of the relationship between computer programming and the human being – contains anecdotes on such topics as the early rivalry between MSN Messenger Service (which Auerbach worked on) and AOL Instant Messenger, and garnered positive reviews. [6] [19] The Times Literary Supplement said that Auerbach discusses the consequences of Facebook's codifications of gender and race – which in part serve as tools for the targeting of advertisements – "with a degree of level-headedness that is seldom seen, especially when these issues are discussed online." [5] The New Republic noted an at times "unfeeling tone", but concluded Bitwise was a "valuable resource for readers seeking to understand themselves in this new universe of algorithms, as data points and as human beings." [6]

Kirkus Reviews described Auerbach as "the rare engineer who is also conversant with literature and philosophy, both of which he brings to bear on interpreting his experiences as a builder of these thinking machines and the heuristics and languages that guide them", and called the book an "eye-opening look at computer technology and its discontents and limitations". [20] Publishers Weekly said Auerbach is a "natural teacher, translating complex computing concepts into understandable layman's terms", characterizing Bitwise as an "enjoyable look inside the point where computers and human life join". [19]

Meganets: How Digital Forces Beyond Our Control Commandeer Our Daily Lives and Inner Realities

Auerbach published his second book in March 2023 titled Meganets: How Digital Forces Beyond Our Control Commandeer Our Daily Lives and Inner Realities. [21] Andrew Anthony from The Guardian interviewed Auerbach and explored several key themes. [22]

Auerbach defines a meganet as a "persistent, evolving and opaque data network that heavily influences how people see the world", that necessarily involves constant interaction between services provided by big tech and the millions of users that use and influence those services. Auerbach opines that meganets are contributing to a "severe fracturing of society" as users split into "like‑minded self‑policing groups that enforce unanimity and uniformity, and prevent any larger‑scale societal consensus", a process also inherently self‑reinforcing. [22]

Auerbach suggests that one solution to the current problems that meganets generate is to intentionally impair the algorithms that "track people demographically and pair like with like" so that local homogeneity and the accompanying doctrinaire attitudes are hindered. Anthony described this strategy as "fight[ing] chaos with chaos" during his questioning. [22]

Recognition

Works

Online

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instant messaging</span> Form of communication over the internet

Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and triggers a transmission to the recipient(s), who are all connected on a common network. It differs from email in that conversations over instant messaging happen in real-time. Most modern IM applications use push technology and also add other features such as emojis, file transfer, chatbots, voice over IP, or video chat capabilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emoji</span> Symbols often used as emotional cues in text

An emoji is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed conversation. Emoji exist in various genres, including facial expressions, common objects, places and types of weather, and animals. They are much like emoticons, except emoji are pictures rather than typographic approximations; the term "emoji" in the strict sense refers to such pictures which can be represented as encoded characters, but it is sometimes applied to messaging stickers by extension. Originally meaning pictograph, the word emoji comes from Japanese e + moji; the resemblance to the English words emotion and emoticon is purely coincidental. The ISO 15924 script code for emoji is Zsye.

<i>Autism Is a World</i> Documentary promoting a discredited communication technique

Autism Is a World is an American short subject documentary film allegedly written in 2004 by Sue Rubin, an autistic woman who is purported to have learned to communicate via the discredited technique of facilitated communication. It was nominated in the 77th annual Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short Subject. The film is controversial for promoting the debunked facilitated communication technique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Breitbart</span> American conservative writer and publisher (1969–2012)

Andrew James Breitbart was an American conservative journalist and political commentator who was the founder of Breitbart News and a co-founder of HuffPost.

Educational technology is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech," it often refers to the industry of companies that create educational technology. In EdTech Inc.: Selling, Automating and Globalizing Higher Education in the Digital Age, Tanner Mirrlees and Shahid Alvi (2019) argue "EdTech is no exception to industry ownership and market rules" and "define the EdTech industries as all the privately owned companies currently involved in the financing, production and distribution of commercial hardware, software, cultural goods, services and platforms for the educational market with the goal of turning a profit. Many of these companies are US-based and rapidly expanding into educational markets across North America, and increasingly growing all over the world."

<i>Breitbart News</i> American far-right news and opinion website

Breitbart News Network is an American far-right syndicated news, opinion, and commentary website founded in mid-2007 by American conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart. Its content has been described as misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist by academics and journalists. The site has published a number of conspiracy theories and intentionally misleading stories. Posts originating from the Breitbart News Facebook page are among the most widely shared political content on Facebook.

Threshold Editions is an imprint of book publisher Simon & Schuster, a division of Paramount Global, specializing in conservative non-fiction. The imprint was co-founded by Mary Matalin, serving as its first editor-in-chief, and Louise Burke, who served as publisher until 2017.

Kik Messenger, commonly called Kik, is a freeware instant messaging mobile app from the Canadian company Kik Interactive, available on iOS and Android operating systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milo Yiannopoulos</span> British polemicist and political commentator

Milo Yiannopoulos is a British right-wing political commentator. His speeches and writings criticise Islam, feminism, social justice, and political correctness. Yiannopoulos is a former editor of Breitbart News, an American far-right news and opinion website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clickbait</span> Web content intended to entice users to click on a link

Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content, being typically deceptive, sensationalized, or otherwise misleading. A "teaser" aims to exploit the "curiosity gap", providing just enough information to make readers of news websites curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content. Clickbait headlines often add an element of dishonesty, using enticements that do not accurately reflect the content being delivered. The "-bait" suffix makes an analogy with fishing, where a hook is disguised by an enticement (bait), presenting the impression to the fish that it is a desirable thing to swallow.

Wickr is an American software company based in New York City, known for its instant messenger application of the same name. The Wickr instant messaging apps allow users to exchange end-to-end encrypted and content-expiring messages, and are designed for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems. On June 25, 2021, Wickr was acquired by Amazon Web Services.

Superfish was an advertising company that developed various advertising-supported software products based on a visual search engine. The company was based in Palo Alto, California. It was founded in Israel in 2006 and has been regarded as part of the country's "Download Valley" cluster of adware companies. Superfish's software is malware and adware. The software was bundled with various applications as early as 2010, and Lenovo began to bundle the software with some of its computers in September 2014. On February 20, 2015, the United States Department of Homeland Security advised uninstalling it and its associated root certificate, because they make computers vulnerable to serious cyberattacks, including interception of passwords and sensitive data being transmitted through browsers.

Civic technology, or civic tech, enhances the relationship between the people and government with software for communications, decision-making, service delivery, and political process. It includes information and communications technology supporting government with software built by community-led teams of volunteers, nonprofits, consultants, and private companies as well as embedded tech teams working within government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Signal (software)</span> Privacy-focused encrypted messaging app

Signal is an encrypted messaging service for instant messaging, voice, and video calls. The instant messaging function includes sending text, voice notes, images, videos, and other files. Communication may be one-to-one between users, or for group messaging.

<i>Dangerous</i> (book) Book by Milo Yiannopoulos

Dangerous is a self-published book by British media personality Milo Yiannopoulos, released on July 4, 2017.

The rapid prompting method (RPM) is a pseudoscientific technique that attempts to aid communication by people with autism or other disabilities to communicate through pointing, typing, or writing. Also known as Spelling to Communicate, it is closely related to the scientifically discredited technique facilitated communication (FC). Practitioners of RPM have failed to assess the issue of message agency using simple and direct scientific methodologies, saying that doing so would be stigmatizing and that allowing scientific criticisms of the technique robs people with autism of their right to communicate. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has issued a statement opposing the practice of RPM.

<i>Loving Lampposts</i> 2010 documentary about autism and neurodiversity

Loving Lampposts is a 2010 documentary film directed by Todd Drezner, exploring the neurodiversity movement and the principle of autism acceptance through a series of interviews and candid footage. Drezner is the father of an autistic child whose attachment to and fascination with lampposts gave the film its title.

<i>Slate Star Codex</i> Blog focused on psychology, philosophy, artificial intelligence, and futurism

Slate Star Codex (SSC) is a blog focused on science, medicine, philosophy, politics, and futurism. The blog was written by Scott Alexander Siskind, a San Francisco Bay Area psychiatrist, under the pen name Scott Alexander.

Comparison of user features of messaging platforms refers to a comparison of all the various user features of various electronic instant messaging platforms. This includes a wide variety of resources; it includes standalone apps, platforms within websites, computer software, and various internal functions available on specific devices, such as iMessage for iPhones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Eubanks</span> American political scientist, author

Virginia Eubanks is an American political scientist, professor, and author studying technology and social justice. She is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University at Albany, SUNY. Previously Eubanks was a Fellow at New America researching digital privacy, economic inequality, and data-based discrimination.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kapur, Akash (28 August 2018). "Attempting the Impossible: A Thoughtful Meditation on Technology". The New York Times . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Tribble, Robin (25 December 2018). "The Best Sci/Tech Books of 2018 – 19 of 30: Bitwise". Popular Mechanics . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  3. ↑ Staff (12 February 2014). ""Robot Odyssey", le jeu d'ordinateur le plus difficile de tous les temps" ["Robot Odyssey," the most difficult computer game of all time]. Atlantico (in French). Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. C'est l'opinion de l'Américain David Auerbach, écrivain et ingénieur logiciel.
  4. 1 2 "David B. Auerbach". New America.
  5. 1 2 "Shooting the messenger - Book Review - Technology". The Times Literary Supplement. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Livingstone, Jo (9 August 2018). "Our Algorithms, Ourselves". The New Republic. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  7. 1 2 Shane, Ryan (6 October 2017). "Former Slate Writer David Auerbach, Alleged Breitbart Ratfink, Teaches Us the Worst Possible Way to Handle Valid Criticism". Paste Magazine . Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  8. ↑ Auerbach, David. "A child born today may live to see humanity's end, unless..." Reuters Blogs. Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  9. ↑ Auerbach, David. "Review: Thomas Pynchon's "Bleeding Edge"". The American Reader. Archived from the original on 2016-09-09. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
  10. ↑ "David Auerbach". Tablet . 19 March 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  11. ↑ Auerbach, David (12 November 2015). "Facilitated communication pseudoscience harms people with disabilities". Slate.com . Archived from the original on 2015-11-12. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Singal, Jesse (16 Nov 2015). "A Sad, Enraging Story About the Pseudoscience of Facilitated Communication". New York . Archived from the original on 2016-09-09. facilitated communication, the subject of a long, must-read article by David Auerbach
  13. ↑ Elliott, James (20 Jul 2016). "The Battle Over a Controversial Method for Autism Communication". The Atlantic . Archived from the original on 2016-09-09. Retrieved 23 August 2016. SWIFT, which includes recommended materials that some, including the Slate columnist David Auerbach, allege are almost indistinguishable from FC
  14. 1 2 Spencer, Keith A. (October 6, 2017). "Liberal journalists reportedly sent tips to Breitbart now they're scrambling". Salon. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  15. ↑ Auerbach, David. "Anonymity as Culture - Treatise". Triple Canopy.
  16. ↑ Golshan, Tara (5 October 2017). "2 big takeways from a scandalous report on internal Breitbart documents". Vox. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  17. ↑ Hughes, William (5 October 2017). "Read This: How Milo Yiannopoulos served as a bridge between pissed-off tech bros and white supremacists". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  18. 1 2 Bernstein, Joseph (5 October 2017). "Alt-White: How the Breitbart Machine laundered Racist Hate". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  19. 1 2 "Bitwise: A Life in Code by David Auerbach. Pantheon, $27.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-101-87129-4". Publishers Weekly . 17 August 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  20. ↑ McNamee, Gregory (14 August 2018). "BITWISE". Kirkus Reviews . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  21. 1 2 Auerbach, David B (March 2023). Meganets: how digital forces beyond our control commandeer our daily lives and inner realities. New York, USA: PublicAffairs. ISBN   978-1-5417-7444-5. Hardback edition.
  22. 1 2 3 Anthony, Andrew (12 March 2023). "Software engineer David Auerbach: 'Big tech is in denial about not being in control'". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  23. ↑ McGeveran, Tom. "Controversy! Disruption! Mossian magnificence! Your 2014 ASME award nominees". Politico . Retrieved 25 April 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.