Om Malik on the Moral Crisis of Silicon Valley

The victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election surprised Californians very much because residents of this state do not know the conditions in which the rest of the country lives, and that many Americans who voted for the Republican candidate are afraid of losing their jobs due to the advent of new technologies.

This opinion in the blog for publication The New Yorker expressed journalist and entrepreneur Om Malik.

According to him, after the protests related to the presidential elections in the United States, San Francisco looks unusually quiet.

“The conversations in the coffee shops are muffled, and the ominous silence around is broken only by the chants of individual protesters. Sometimes it even seems that there are more empty parking spaces, ”he writes.

Representatives of the IT-industry are shocked by the victory of Donald Trump, because they are confident that he is the enemy of innovation and Silicon Valley. But the opinions about how he won, differ.

“Some blame themselves for defeating Clinton for not doing enough to advance to the White House. Others are attacking giants like Twitter, Facebook and Google for helping spread slanderous messages about Clinton and help defeat an unpopular candidate, ”writes Malik.

Such a formulation of opinions does not surprise the author.

"The Valley's weakest point is not poor product marketing or failure to deliver on promises, but a moral crisis - a pronounced lack of compassion for those people whose lives have been disrupted by new technologies," he says.

The author suggests that Silicon Valley residents think about why so many voters voted for Donald Trump. According to journalist Glenn Greenwald and director Michael Moore, American voters from the working class were motivated by the same motives as those who voted for the UK to leave the European Union. This is a desire to stop globalization, in which they see a threat to their well-being and hopes for the future.

“Globalization is a conductor of the interests of IT capitalism, whose benefits go to an ever smaller number of members of society,” writes Malik.

“I hope that representatives of the IT industry will be able to put aside smartphones and try to understand how their inventions affect many compatriots who have lost hope for the future and feel forgotten,” he continues.

According to the author, it is not easy for entrepreneurs to see the picture that is taking shape outside their business.

“It’s hard for the founder or CEO to think about the consequences, because they are focused on the growth of the company and the satisfaction of investors. When you are faced with the task of increasing sales and the user base, as well as the need to implement solutions, it is very easy not to notice that something bad is happening to outsiders, ”writes Malik.

However, the author is confident that large “informational oligarchs,” like Facebook, Google, Amazon, or Uber, cannot so easily avoid responsibility for the performance of their algorithms and the ability to formulate certain moods in society.

“I'm not just talking about the ability to sway votes because of fake news. For example, Amazon must understand that through its actions the company is gradually destroying the retail sector, which employs millions of people in our country. Regardless of how much Airbnb wants to please tourists, the company must understand that it is hitting the hotel business, which also employs a lot of people,” Malik said.

Uber recently acquired a startup Otto, which specializes in the creation of unmanned trucks and logistics. Recently, 50 delivered thousands of beer cans from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs.

“From a technology perspective, this is an incredible achievement that will help make our roads safer. From the point of view of a truck driver with a mortgage and debts for a child’s education, this is a reason to sound the alarm,” writes Malik.

According to his calculations, innovations can lead to a reduction in 2 of the millions of employees who work in the field of freight.

“This is one of the few areas where a higher education diploma is not required to work. In addition, the changes will not only affect drivers. What about roadside gas stations, motels, convenience stores? The spread of unmanned freight transport can destroy an entire ecosystem,” the journalist noted.

“We talk a lot about the filter bubble on social media—the algorithms that connect us with people we feel comfortable with and show the world as we want it to be seen. They have a negative effect, but filter bubbles in the real world—like the one that exists in Silicon Valley—bring much more problems,” Malik writes.

This is due to the fact that the author continues that people turn into numbers that are controlled by algorithms, and data determine reality.

According to Malik, there are many examples where Facebook employees do not think about how their product affects one and a half billion users. Two years ago, the social network got into an unpleasant situation when it launched the “Remember the year” function, which collected all the important events in one small video. But not all memories were happy. So, Eric Meyer saw photos of his dead daughter in a festive ribbon.

“Algorithms have no feelings. But those who create them have them, ”he wrote then.

“Perhaps such situations arise because of the absent-mindedness of developers who did not consider this scenario, because there were no such events in their lives. Or because during development, the team does not discuss how the product will affect other people's feelings. This is natural for a company focused on user engagement and audience growth, ”said Malik.

The lack of empathy in IT products arises not because developers are insensitive. This is due to the fact that they do not know what is happening in reality outside of the technological bubble.

According to Malik, empathy is not just a buzzword, but a skill that needs to be developed.

“So let's start by not writing angry comments on Facebook, but go on a trip to America where a $ 5 latte and fresh juice is not just nice bonuses, but a reminder that there are haves and have-nots. Otherwise, by 2020, in the eyes of ordinary people, Silicon Valley will turn into an even more sinister place than Wall Street, ”he concludes.

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