Has Tech Lost All Humanity? With Mark Little

The internet was once imagined as a place that would bring us closer together – a shared space for curiosity, creativity and connection. So how did it become a machine for capturing our attention, amplifying division and shaping what billions of people see and believe?

In this episode of Intelligence Squared, Conor Boyle speaks to journalist and technology entrepreneur Mark Little about the themes of his new book, The Last Good Day on the Internet: Finding Hope and Humanity in a Superhuman World. A former RTÉ foreign correspondent who went on to found the social news agency Storyful and online safety company Kinzen, as well as working with Twitter and Spotify, Little has witnessed the transformation of the internet from both inside the newsroom and inside the technology industry.

Together they explore how the attention economy changed the web, why algorithms optimised for engagement have contributed to misinformation and polarisation, and what the rapid development of artificial intelligence could mean for our relationship with technology. But Little’s argument is not simply one of technological decline. He believes we have an opportunity to move from an age of attention to an “age of intention” – reclaiming control of our feeds, rebuilding genuine online communities and putting human agency back at the centre of the digital world.

Can we take back the internet? And in an age of increasingly superhuman technology, how do we make sure we don't lose what makes us human?

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