Why does computer code have such a huge impact on our lives? From the Y2K bug to the history of pop-up ads, discover how code has changed the world.
Buy the book here: https://geni.us/X2EN
Watch the Q&A here: https://youtu.be/jTvcnGzPj8Y
Everything from law enforcement to space exploration relies on code written by people. Throughout the history of coding, people have made choices and assumptions at the time that would turn out to have long-lasting, profound implications for society.
Join Torie Bosch as she brings together stories from many of today’s leading technology experts to provide new perspectives on the code that shapes our lives and the human stories behind programming.
In this talk, discover the importance of code that has changed our lives and some outdated choices that reflect how society has changed.
00:00 Intro to Torie’s book project
20:23 The birth of pop-up ads
29:02 The Police Beat algorithm
36:31 The Harvard Virus (Morris Worm)
42:07 The best comments in code
47:43 Why we use 60 year old code
50:22 Elon Musk and Twitter
53:28 How Chat GPT could change coding
This talk was recorded at the Ri on 3 April 2023.
Torie Bosch works at the intersection of technology, culture and critique. In her role as the editor of Future Tense (a collaborative project of Slate magazine, New America, and Arizona State University), she explores the implications of new technologies for our current and future world. She is the editor of “You Are Not Expected to Understand This”: How 26 Lines of Code Changed the World, in which leading technologists, historians, and journalists reveal the stories behind the computer coding that touches all aspects of life—for better or worse. She has written on subjects from religion and medicine to reality TV and boy bands, and recently launched a Slate-ASU project called State of Mind to host more nuanced coverage of mental health.
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