Trampled by Unicorns: Big Tech’s Empathy Problem and How to Fix It, reviewed

Review of Trampled by Unicorns: Big Tech’s Empathy Problem and How to Fix It by Maelle Gavet. Available from Wiley here.

Trampled by Unicorns: Big Tech’s Empathy Problem and How to Fix It explores how technology has progressed humanity’s most noble pursuits, while also grappling with the origins of the industry’s destructive empathy deficit and the practical measures Big Tech can take to self-regulate and make it right again. Author Maëlle Gavet examines the tendency for many of Big Tech’s stars to stray from their user-first ideals and make products that actually profoundly damage their customers and ultimately society.

Offering an account of the world of tech startups in the United States and Europe—from Amazon, Google, and Facebook to Twitter, Airbnb, and Uber (to name a few)—Trampled by Unicorns argues that the causes and consequences of Big Tech’s failures originate from four main sources: the Valley’s cultural insularity, the hyper-growth business model, the sector’s stunning lack of diversity, and a dangerous self-sustaining ecosystem. However, the book is not just an account of how an industry came off the rails, but also a passionate call to action on how to get it back on track.

Gavet, a leading technology executive and former CEO of Ozon, an executive vice president at Priceline Group, and chief operating officer of Compass, formulates a clear call to action for industry leaders, board members, employees, and consumers/users to drive the change necessary to create better, more sustainable businesses—and the steps Western governments are likely to take should tech leaders fail to do so. Steps that include reformed tax codes, reclassification of platforms as information companies, new labor laws, and algorithmic transparency and oversight.

Trampled by Unicorns’ exploration of the promise and dangers of technology is perfect for anyone with an interest in entrepreneurship, tech, and global commerce, and a hope of technology’s all-empowering prospect. An illuminating book full of insights, Trampled by Unicorns describes a realistic path forward, even as it uncovers and explains the errors of the past. As Gavet puts it, “we don’t need less tech, we need more empathetic tech.” And how that crucial distinction can be achieved by the tech companies themselves, driving change as governments actively pave the road ahead.

Trampled by Unicorns: Big Tech’s Empathy Problem and How to Fix It, reviewed

We are seeing more and more books like this, as we have clearly raced into a future where tech bros have massively affected our society without due consideration of ethics, morality, and the potential impact on our lives and future. Do we really want Mark Zuckerberg making decisions that fundamentally affect our lives, societies, and the democracies we are trying to protect under the onslaught of fact free populists leaders.

Even as we write this #potus45 is contemplating if he can introduce martial law to prolong his 1 term White House episode and achieve further time on Pennsylvania Avenue. Facebook has a lot to answer for in terms of this state of affairs. Gavet’s book therefore arrives at a timely point. Gavet spends the first part of the book identifying the issues we face.

Part two, ‘Fixing the Chaos Factory’ then attempts to outline some possible solutions to this parlous state of affairs. These are all good starting points for discussion, and hopefully, as more people become familiar with these concepts it ensures a more nuanced conversation and hopefully will ensure that FB is not able to merely stonewall with bland platitudes as has been seen by their CEO’s appearances in front of the US Congress to date, and his nonappearances in similar EU hearings.

These challenges remain serious and massive, and hopefully, books like Gavet’s can inform and prompt better awareness about the importance of not leaving society altering technologies solely in the hands of billionaires who just happened to be good coders and then got lucky on the tech IPO lottery.

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