Guardrails

Our decisions are shaped by societal norms, the "guardrails" that guide us, such as the laws and rules that govern our lives. Urs Gasser and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger ask what good guardrails look like in a world of overwhelming information flows and increasingly powerful technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Drawing on recent findings in the cognitive sciences, economics and public policy, the book proposes a new way of shaping decisions that treats human agency as part of its social context. The authors argue that a quick embrace of technological solutions can produce results we do not actually want. They explain how society itself can supply guardrails better suited to the digital age. Such guardrails would support individual choice while taking the social good into account, allow flexibility as circumstances change, and help people make better decisions on the hardest problems of our time, including global injustice and climate change.

Thousands of decisions, large and small, shape daily life, whether we change jobs, buy a house or quit smoking. Decisions also drive economies, determine the fate of democracies, bring about war or peace, and affect the planet's well-being. The book challenges the idea that technology should take over where our own decision making falls short. Instead it sets out a human-centered set of principles meant to open up space for better decisions and a more equitable and prosperous society.