O BRAVE ‘NEW NORMAL’ WORLD: Living with Coronavirus

About the Book

It is ironic that, having spent several thousand years subjugating all other life forms so we could become the dominant species, we have wilfully ceded our hard-won authority over our fellow animals to inanimate technology. In many cases we have become so blindly reliant on machines that we have stopped using our own wits to the point where our brains are becoming dangerously redundant. We hardly need to think for ourselves at all. This vacuous mentality that we seem to be embracing is pervading all aspects of our behaviour and society. The rise of AI that now exceeds our own intelligence raises new ethical and existential dilemmas. As we develop synthetic minds, we will need to weigh up how we design them, what we allow and don’t allow them to do, and (crucially) how to ensure their needs are aligned with our own. Meanwhile, humanity is waging a “suicidal” war on the natural world, according to secretary general of the UN Antonio Guterres, which also ultimately jeopardises our very existence.

About the Author

I was born in Hull in 1950. Having graduated in English at Leeds University, I worked for Newcastle upon Tyne City Libraries for 20 years, where I wrote articles for professional journals as well as giving talks to national conferences and seminars around the country. I then moved into liaison work between councillors, voluntary agencies and the community for various local authorities in the north-east of England until I retired in 2007. My work included writing a revised submission for Newcastle’s New Deal for Communities’ to Central Government which received £50 million funding, and leading a community involvement exercise which led to the establishment of the Sunderland Arc Urban Regeneration Company. As Partnership Manager at South Tyneside, I managed 40 staff in area working, community safety and health and drug action issues within the Borough Council, which was recognized in it achieving its fi rst national Beacon status for neighbourhood working. As a visiting lecturer at the University of Northumbria, I gave talks on health and regeneration, partnership working and community engagement.