Abstract

Discourse on the social implications of cloud computing has until now focused mainly on questions of data ownership, privacy and security, and the increased dependence of users on third party service providers. In this lecture, Ian Kerr explores these issues as well as the broader implications of ‘the cloud’ as an instance of our increasing tendency to delegate complex human operations and activities to machines. Is the voluntary relinquishment of control (not merely by individuals to corporations but also by corporations to machines) warranted? Through an investigation of the underlying vision of cloud computing and an equally opaque series of related processing techniques in the fields of ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence and robotics, Professor Kerr ponders whether – and under what circumstances – we ought to trust the machines to do our bidding.