The machines are not coming

Speak-by-Louisa-Hall

There is a dark secret lurking behind every critique of technology, and the secret is us. Smartphones, CPUs and algorithms may indeed be inescapable in modern life, but they are ubiquitous because we demand them. We like our newly endless capacity for self-photography. We like our ability to weigh in, to be consulted, everywhere, all the time. We like the friendships we develop online, however odd, thin or ephemeral. So it isn’t the machines that are coming for us. We are coming for ourselves."

Michelle Dean reviewing Speak by Louisa Hall, Guardian, 21.07.15