“While the future is unknowable, the winds always blow in the direction of human progress.” - Barack Obama
Today if you ask a layman about the first time when technology was introduced to humankind, they certainly won’t be able to put a finger on the exact date. But as soon as you hit the search engines online, an immediate response flashes, “Two million years ago- the stone age”.
It is fascinating to see that humanity has evolved so much, right from the pre-historic stone age to today’s highly advanced AI. In terms of agility, spontaneity and adaptability, our creations have also come a long way.
Technology, a viable and crucial source in today’s era, has exceeded humane expectations and capabilities. Automation has completely taken over ancient human efforts, paving the way to a highly progressive state of affairs. In recent years, technological advancement has created a permanent place that has now turned into more of a ‘need’ to function in day-to-day lives.
The basic aim of the technology innovation was to reduce humane efforts through the use of science and create a superficial humane aid that carries out all the hardcore & strenuous jobs. Now, while the trepidation about this whole scenario was just among the workforce, its introduction and special abilities excited the capitalists. Right from the first water-powered machine to be ever made in the 4th century, to speculations regarding the term ‘supercomputers’ in the 1920s leading to the US creation of the world’s first supercomputer (CDC 6600) in 1964, it is safe to say the endless efforts were worthwhile.
Since then, humanity has never
looked back. Every day we come across new inventions in the science and
technology field, another tech or an AI is introduced to further lessen the
human efforts. Technology and its rapid upgradation in all the sectors of the
economy have undoubtedly made working more efficient and less burdensome. We
are surrounded by unwaveringly surrounded by technology and artificial
intelligence. The device you are reading this on? A highly advanced tech- The
refrigerator to store all your perishables? Constantly evolving electronic device-a
tech, the Fitbit showing your heartbeat and stamina level? A newly formed
AI. In 1937, the American sociologist Read Bain wrote that
"technology includes all tools,
machines, utensils, weapons, instruments, housing, clothing, communicating and
transporting devices and the skills by which we produce and use them."
Amazing, isn’t it? If one would have travelled back in time to convey
humanity’s advancement in future, the early men might have considered them
lunatic!
There’s
so much more to the technological sphere than that meets our eyes. In the
current fast-paced world where the clock is ticking too fast, having an AI by
your side saves a huge proportion of your time. All your requirements are one
click away. With the introduction of AI like Alexa and Siri, one can easily
operate and surf the internet just through voice modulation. Needless to say,
technology helps us communicate better with more mobility options. The entire
world evolved from sending handwritten letters to sending direct messages via
social media platforms. Thanks to the ever-engaging innovations by technology
enthusiasts, our society is slowly heading towards a cashless and purely online
based system. Technology has positively impacted millions across the globe and
helped them in specializing in their domains, learning through lived
experiences, getting insights into new skills and research programs. More or
less, it has enabled the masses to look beyond the realms of reality and build
something totally new. Technology has given wings to innovations and new hope
for the sustainable survival of humankind.
Recently, the British Navy was seen testing newly formed jetpacks in the sea of their operation which confirms the fact that the future technology will encompass all human limitations and evolve to an entirely new level.
“Technology
is a useful servant but a dangerous master.”-Christian Lous Lange, Historian
The advantages of technology augmentation may be incomparable to its cons but even a child knows that too much of something is dangerous. All the significant technological developments to date have left humankind awestruck with a hope for further explorations. This greed of ‘wanting more’ over the generations have had a bad influence on the young, developing minds. The feeling of achieving greater heights and exploring the unexplored has taken a serious toll on health and has made every need insatiable. Taking an instance of - “MARS Mission’.
It has
recently popped up in news articles that NASA (National Aeronautics and Space
Administration) is planning to send a crew to Mars exploration mission by the
year 2030. At first, the mere possibility of humankind travelling beyond light
years seems unreal but as we come to terms with the sheer advanced mechanized
era we exist in, the question of expanding humane boundaries comes into play.
Even with extremely augmented AI and robotics, nations worldwide have failed to
discover the depths of our oceans. According to the National Ocean Service,
it’s a shockingly small percentage. Just 5 per cent of Earth’s oceans have been
explored and charted – especially the ocean below the surface. The rest remains
mostly undiscovered and unseen by humans. At this point, humankind has explored
more portion of space than the big blue bodies back at home.[1]
Another great disadvantage of technology is certainly the sense of dependency it creates. Artificial Intelligence created personal assistants like aforementioned Alexa and Siri might be playing you the best of music tracks but their use in front of children encourages the notion of ‘silver spoon’ wherein the kids learn from a very young age that calling out to Alexa will get them a faster response than their parents. With an upcoming generation of spoon-fed individuals, technology surely puts their potentiality at grave risk. Students no longer put in hours of hard work to complete an assignment but rather are flag-bearers of the “Google generation”-with hours of screen time damaging their eye muscles and making them less productive. The level of dependency on these technological gadgets is very unbelievable and highlights a darker side to the advancement.
Apart from this, another major issue in the technology industry is very often data breaches, that is, stealing of high-security information through hacking with mal intentions. Hackers don’t belong to a particular nation, they are omnipresent, just like our data. The cases of leaked credentials, sensitive and personal information through big companies have formed the news lately. The latest one being the Facebook data breach, leaking out the personal data of around 553 million users! Mere imagination of your phone numbers, addresses reaching people with bad intentions or ending up on the dark web sends chills to the core. Although there have been several innovations to curb the breaches and strengthen the competency of software programs, the technology remains ever uncertain.
In this contemporary
world where most of the jobs have been replaced with highly competent and dynamic
AI, the value of human efforts is somewhat looked down upon. A machine may be
faster than an average human but it can never supersede the core values and
ethics. Moreover, it lacks emotions and the ability to feel, which
differentiates it from a living, breathing soul.
Therefore, technology
may bring you the utmost convenience and comfort but one must not forget the
devastating effects it carries along with itself. To ensure a safe and
sustainable future for humankind where humanity works alongside the growing
modernization is what every leader should envision. After all, as said by Clive
James- “It is only when they go wrong
that machines remind you how powerful they are.”, it is in the benefactor
of humankind to eradicate complete dependency upon the technology and instead
evolve in terms of skills and become an irreplaceable resource.
[1] An extract from “How much of the Oceans have
we explored?”
Link-
https://www.worldwideboat.com/news/miscellaneous/ocean-vs-space
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