We are living in exceptional times. The role of technology has never been so crucial and relevant. Many people, if not most, depend on being connected via digital technologies.
Tech companies are ranked number 2 most profitable businesses after financial institutions in 2022. This rise and massive growth of the sector is great but the question that remains is how is this affecting humanity in terms of how people relate and connect to each other? In my own opinion I would say there have been many advantages it has brought about but also many disadvantages. Tech is beneficial in the following ways and more:
Time saving
The use of online shopping and online services helps save time a lot of ways.
Banking has also given us the option of doing it online. Technology has made it possible to transfer money, maintain accounts, invest in shares, and much more without standing in a queue at the bank.
Access to information
Learning from an unlimited number of resources has been made possible by the internet. We have more information at our disposal now, a simple example would be the use of Google. Tech enables us to have 24/7 access to books, libraries, online courses, articles, and even online agents are available to help us. Internet-based crowdsourcing is an easier and quicker way to find solutions to the problem.
Easy communication
Communicating around the globe has become as easy as talking to your friends in a coffee shop. If you can’t afford to visit a country for business, an email can help you. People who are far apart can easily communicate at any time.
Increased productivity
Thanks to technology there can be more production with the same quality maintained thereby, increasing productivity. Unskilled labor gets enough time to develop skills for better earning. Thus, technology has created new tools to help businesses improve productivity. Technology helps increase productivity where human efforts and energy of working are limited.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence can be used to automate anything ranging from tasks that involve extreme labor to the process of recruitment.
There are a number of applications that can be used to automate the recruitment process. Such tools help to free the employees from tedious manual tasks and allow them to focus on complex tasks like strategizing and decision making.
It is easier to market a business through the use of various digital marketing tools. This creates a lot of opportunities to humans.
On the other hand studies have also shown that the excessive use of social media and other apps has led to very little or rather not much human intimacy, social illnesses, depression, sleep deprivation, and addictions.
5 types of technology addictions include:
- Cybersex addiction
- Net compulsion
- Online Gambling
- Cyber relationship addiction
- Online Gaming addiction
Most platforms such as Tik-Tok, Instagram, and Facebook are designed in such a way that they become addictive through continuous use. In my own experience while online, I have found that the adverts that keep appearing on my feed are based on my search history and this has in the past kept me glued to my phone leaving me to question the consequences of technology.
Tech professionals need to establish alignment and deep collaboration with peers, clients, investors, academia, NGOs, and governments in areas of tech governance, ethics, transparency, and safety. Corporate Social Responsibility is another way tech companies can seek to redeem themselves.
Corporate Social Responsibility refers to corporate initiatives taken by big businesses to impact and affect the environment and social well-being of the communities they serve. This concept has taken center stage with the multi-billionaire and tech guru Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of donating US$50 million to the University of Hawaii Manoa School of Ocean Earth Science and Technology to fund its research on climate change and its impact on climate change.
These donations are good for the society however tech companies should shed more light on overuse so that humans have more control and benefit more from technology. Tech companies do have a tendency of sometimes pushing us to act against our values through aggressive marketing, data collection, and a linked-up set of software that can lock one’s life into their ecosystem.
A vision of the future
There can be a future in which technology contributes to humanity in all aspects. We need a future where the focus is not on technology and Silicon Valley but on different points of view and life experiences making it more diverse. Technology has brought about so many advantages and it should be re-evaluated on the parts which cause more harm to humanity.
Tech companies need to be answerable to the law in terms of their operations and held accountable for their methods of marketing and data collection. If we suspect that technology is ultimately headed to bring humanity more harm than good, we need to make efforts to alter this reality. As a community we need to enforce this and only then can it be a benefit for humanity without causing much damage. Technology is human invention after all and what we create we can tame.
