Christmas is around the corner and with it the gifts. It doesn’t matter if Santa Claus, Olentzero, Tió or the Three Wise Men bring them to your home. They will bring you gifts, but you will also have to “assign” them to bring more gifts to your loved ones. In many cases, there is nothing better than a book to discover some new aspect of technology, or to expand knowledge about new techniques or discoveries. Also about the influence of geopolitics in the world of hardware.

During this year, a large number of technology-related titles were published in Spanish. There are six of them that deserve to be taken into account, either by their subject matter or by their depth in certain topics, so that your loved ones can receive them as a present for Christmas this year.

1 – The Coming Wave: Technology, Power and the Great Dilemma of the 21st Century (Editorial Discussion).

The author of this book, Mustafa SuleymanYippee one of the creators of one of the pioneering companies in the development of artificial intelligence of this century, DeepMind, which is currently owned by Google. Suleyman, who is one of the world’s leading experts on intelligent systems, explains that it won’t be long before we live surrounded by artificial intelligence that is responsible for performing all kinds of complex tasks.

These tasks range from running a business to producing unlimited digital content. But it will also be responsible for such critical issues as the direction and management of basic public services or the maintenance of infrastructure. In addition, new systems and devices such as quantum computers and assistance robots will emerge. But along with them will come other advanced systems for committing evil, such as autonomous weapons. It is therefore a radical transformation of the world and society as we know it.

In this book, Suleyman discusses how he will enable massive change in the next decade, marked by technological innovation that will expand rapidly, also driven by all kinds of business and strategic incentives. With them, all types of challenges can be better faced and will be a source of wealth creation.

But they will also be the focus of many protests and revolts and may even threaten the foundations of order in the world. Something they believe we are not ready for, although we will have to face the effects of uncontrolled exposure to AI if precautions are not taken and the threat of misuse of surveillance. In addition to breaking it all down, Suleyman wonders if we’ll be able to get out of this situation safely.

2 – The Chip War (Editorial Peninsula)

Chris Miller offers in this book all the keys to the war over chips and their production and development, which is being waged by several major world powers. It may seem like a mere confrontation of a few supreme powers, but the truth is that this is a conflict that carries a lot of weight in contemporary global geopolitics.

All current technology, or almost, runs on chips today. Therefore, the world economy and world development, as well as the balance of power and the superiority of some countries over others, depend on their constant production.

It has not been that long that the US has been its main producer, but in recent years, Asia, and especially China, has taken this role, far ahead of Taiwan and South Korea in the production of chips. But China takes the cake with the government putting in more and more money and putting more effort into its manufacturing as well as research and development. All this in order to surpass the United States in the struggle that seeks not only technological, but also military supremacy.

The author of the book also tells how processors revolutionized all types of sectors and advanced history. But also why the struggle to be the country that produces and researches the most and the best can lead to even worse shortages than we have experienced in recent years, but also to a hidden war to be first. It is therefore an essential book for understanding all the implications of chip manufacturing in the current and future global political and economic environment.

3 – The truth about Facebook (Editorial Deusto)

After what former Facebook employee published data confirming that Facebook was aware of the harmful effects it was causing in society and that it had no intention of correcting the situation, criticism fell on the company that created the social network and even led to the opening of an official investigation.

First anonymously, via a report in the New York Times in September 2021, and a few weeks later without anonymity, Frances Haugen He disclosed all the data he had on the matter, in addition to accusing the company of prioritizing its economic benefits at the expense of the well-being and safety of those who have a Facebook user account.

Not only did he do this in the media, but he also testified before the United States Senate. This former Meta engineer, who worked in Facebook’s disinformation and hate speech monitoring section, uncovered, as she does now in this book, reports and investigations that warned of the platform’s impact on society.

The book goes into great detail about how Facebook affects the mental health of young people, in addition to promoting the spread of fake news and hoaxes. It also enables the presence of all types of illegal businesses on the network. In short, it is a text that focuses on platform algorithms and how they promote extremism and amplify controversial and polarizing content that even incites violence.

4 – The world of lies: the state of truth in times of technological revolution (Editorial Gestión 2000)

Xurxo Torres explains in this book why, despite being more connected than ever, we feel increasingly alone on the Internet. There are several reasons, but for Torres, the biggest blame lies in the confusion related to technological advances, social networks and the fatigue caused by so many advances so quickly.

This, together with a certain restlessness about globalization and disillusionment about the future, leads many to the need to believe in something and to accept certain messages that are not news at all, which we encounter more and more often on social networks.

Its publication and dissemination are not exactly done for altruistic purposes. Not even in a humorous way. They are published and disseminated deliberately to manipulate public opinion and cause confusion and misinformation. But instead of blaming others for spreading it, Torres analyzes why we are the ones who believe and spread the hoaxes. In certain cases, even with the knowledge that they are.

This text invites the reader to think about why society has become permeable to hoaxes and fake news that aim to encourage critical thinking and require more tools and systems to end the situation. It also requires the companies that create and maintain the platforms on which these fake news are spread to strictly control their content and put an end to fake profiles and the reproduction of fake news.

5 – Survival of the Richest (Captain Swing Editorial)

He technology, culture and society theorist Douglas Rushkoff In this controversial book, he explores the fantasies billionaires have about a future apocalypse and how they might survive it but leave the rest of society behind. Rushkoff found himself face to face with this situation when several of them invited him to an exclusive event to speak with him.

Considering the questions and solutions they raised, Rushkoff deduced that they were thinking in a very special way, common among some Silicon Valley elites. The author simply calls these ideas “mentality” and they are based on the fact that the technological elites and their entourage can violate any type of current economic and social law in order to escape the disaster they would create themselves. Of course, they realize that for this they need to have the appropriate technology and enough money to use it.

Rushkoff examines the origin of this idea and its expression a few years ago, and how it is currently manifested in beliefs such as trips to Mars, metaversion or the future proposed by artificial intelligence. It also shows how people with a lot of power to change the way the world goes are not interested in doing so and how to overcome this mentality to support and help each other as a community.

6 – History of computers (Editoriales Capitan Swing and Nordika)

Rachel Ignotofsky In this book, which stands out for its careful and attractive illustrations, it covers the history of computers from their predecessors in ancient times to the modern world. In addition, it shows how step by step they have changed how we interact with the environment and how we do our work or train. It is also of increasing importance in the communication we maintain.

The text is accompanied by amusing and curious details, and through available and curious information, tells how the first systems for counting elements appeared and from what devices they came. Today, it goes beyond what a computer physically is to show what the algorithms are that drive artificial intelligence and even how this technology has led to space travel and of course the role of computers in it.

In addition, he also talks about the birth and development of portable technology, which has allowed the size of computers to shrink so much that we now carry a real pocket computer in every smartphone, much more powerful than the first personal desktop computer. computers.