War Virtually - The Quest to Automate Conflict, Militarize Data, and Predict the Future (Hardcover)

A critical look at how the US military is weaponizing technology and data for new kinds of warfare-and why we must resist. War Virtually is the story of how scientists, programmers, and engineers are racing to develop data-driven technologies for fighting virtual wars, both at home and abroad. In this landmark book, Roberto J. Gonzalez gives us a lucid and gripping account of what lies behind the autonomous weapons, robotic systems, predictive modeling software, advanced surveillance programs, and psyops techniques that are transforming the nature of military conflict. Gonzalez, a cultural anthropologist, takes a critical approach to the techno-utopian view of these advancements and their dubious promise of a less deadly and more efficient warfare. With clear, accessible prose, this book exposes the high-tech underpinnings of contemporary military operations-and the cultural assumptions they're built on. Chapters cover automated battlefield robotics; social scientists' involvement in experimental defense research; the blurred line between political consulting and propaganda in the internet era; and the military's use of big data to craft new counterinsurgency methods based on predicting conflict. Gonzalez also lays bare the processes by which the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies have quietly joined forces with Big Tech, raising an alarming prospect: that someday Google, Amazon, and other Silicon Valley firms might merge with some of the world's biggest defense contractors. War Virtually takes an unflinching look at an algorithmic future-where new military technologies threaten democratic governance and human survival.

General

Imprint:	University of California Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	April 2022
First published:	2022
Authors:	Roberto J. Gonzalez
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 25mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Cloth over boards
Pages:	270
ISBN-13:	978-0-520-38476-7
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > American history > General Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Military history Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social issues > General Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > International relations > Espionage & secret services Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political control & freedoms > Human rights > General Books > Business & Economics > Industry & industrial studies > Service industries > Security services > Surveillance services Books > History > American history > General Books > History > History of specific subjects > Military history
LSN:	0-520-38476-8
Barcode:	9780520384767

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