Abstract
Purpose – Digital transformation offers new media of social communication. Starting from this point, the article asks whether this means a chance of survival or development of a new society, and by doing so it refers to ‘quantified theory of behaviour’ by Alex Pentland. Or, presumably, it opens enormous space for invigilation and social manipulation. Research method – This is a review of literature based on Alex Pentland’s publications, and referring to works of David Riesman, Jeremy Rifkin and Shoshana Zuboff. Results – Rather than on technical and systemic issues, the emphasis has been put on a fundamental transformation of social relations, which occurred in the developed countries prior to the digital transformation taking place at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Originality / value / implications / recommendations – This transformation was discovered and described by outstanding authors like David Riesman, Jeremy Rifkin and Shoshana Zuboff. The review of their ideas concludes that digital culture makes existing institutional structures based on agreement weaker while making the inclination to instrumental and amoral re‑building of the collective order stronger.
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