The Effects of New Technology in Human Lives
In every industry, new technology has an impact on our daily lives, including the automobiles we drive, the smartphones we use, the computers and networks we access, and the amount of electricity we consume.
Research suggests that the introduction of new technologies has dramatic and long-lasting impacts on human lives. The authors argue that we are witnessing a phase change in human societies due to new forms of media and communication.
Technology is often portrayed as an all-encompassing force, capable of doing good or evil, and therefore to be feared. In one sense this fear is justified: the invention of new technology could have catastrophic effects, like the black plague or nuclear annihilation. But in another sense it is unjustified: technology has many beneficial and neutral uses.
In reality, the advancement of new technology has always had a significant impact on the lives of individuals. Modern information technology, on the other hand, has become a little more difficult, thanks to cloud computing, new security mechanisms, and data encryption!
New Horizons in Information and Technology
It is a commonly recognised fact that new information technology helps the broader population, not just programmers, database administrators, hardware engineers, and network analysts. The 1940s and 1950s saw the development of new information technologies aimed at increasing the efficiency of military and educational organisations.
As a result of the internet and smartphones, there is now an entire generation of children and teenagers growing up who have no idea what life was like before the development of these technologies. This is a once-in-a-lifetime and rare event for the older generation.
We can expect science and technical developments to continue to occur throughout our lifetimes and the lives of our descendants, and these advancements will have a significant impact on the world in which we live.
New Technology in Everyday Life
Anxiety about the effects of new technologies on humans is particularly pronounced in relation to AI. As with any new technology, one worry is that there may be unforeseen consequences for AI, including the loss of human agency.
AI, after all, is about replacing human agency with the control and power of software systems. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that there are concerns about unintended effects on the environment and on human lives. Recent debates have also revolved around whether there is a moral distinction between the creation and use of AI. Some ethicists and other concerned parties maintain that AI must have a role to play in human flourishing, and argue that using AI to create AI poses ethical problems.
Others contend that the concerns about existential risks – which apply to other forms of innovation in the same way as AI – are misplaced and that an objective concern for the wellbeing of the human race must take precedence over any possible concern about the impact of the creation and use of new technologies. In contrast to AI, other new technologies are likely to pose far fewer questions about the impact of new technologies on human lives. Nevertheless, ethical concerns about the consequences of new technologies on humans will continue to arise.
One concern about emerging technologies that are likely to have a large impact on human lives is how the design of technology affects people’s lives. Some design issues have raised important ethical concerns in the past. For example, it has been argued that the design of many technologies is such that people are forced to make life-altering decisions and enter into relationships with strangers.
Daily, new business technology is introduced to aid organisations in getting an edge over their rivals and in developing more attractive goods and services to introduce to the market. The fact is that, although new business technology will contribute to better efficiency, it will also result in increased competition.
In years past, new technology may have been responsible for the invention of the wheel, the telescope, the printing press, or the first steam-driven automobile. Nonetheless, it cannot be disputed that new technology has pushed civilizations towards greater health and wealth as well as increased security and well-being.
