Future Left Podcast Ep. 52: The Techno-Politics of Watch Dogs 2
Future Left is back! We took some time off due to technical difficulties (blame the flu) and the holiday season (blame capitalism). We return this week with our first ever video game review! We're discussing Watch Dogs 2, a game that takes place in a far away place called "San Francisco" that challenges videogamers with issues like big data, self-driving cars, and the Internet of Things. Watch Dogs 2 is a fun way of approaching some of the most important issues of today and their implications for tomorrow. You accomplish this learning experience by hacking into to self-driving cars and careening them off the road as well as making someone's cellphone explode.
Listen for more details--We highly recommend the game!
We also discuss the future according to Star Wars, because we'd just seen Rogue One and also we are nerds. No spoilers though!
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Some of the article we mentioned during our discussion:
Chicago's real-life pre-crime analytics: https://www.engadget.com/2016/05/23/chicago-turns-to-big-data-to-predict-gun-and-gang-violence/
China's "Social Capital" program: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinas-plan-to-organize-its-whole-society-around-big-data-a-rating-for-everyone/2016/10/20/1cd0dd9c-9516-11e6-ae9d-0030ac1899cd_story.html
Three Paradoxes of Big Data: https://www.stanfordlawreview.org/online/privacy-and-big-data-three-paradoxes-of-big-data/
Quick shout outs: Big thanks to our new supporters on Patreon, Ford Fischer (who we've spoken with, twice) and TJ Bradley! Expect shout outs on the podcast next week. Ford and TJ are good dudes. Be like Ford and TJ: https://www.patreon.com/futureleft
