There is no denying that the capability of technology has skyrocketed in the last decade. With the proliferation of computers and phones, there is no telling what could be next. A robot powered by Artificial Intelligence that cooks for you or a car you do not have to pilot may come off appealing, but this significant advancement in technology is causing concern. Is it going to be beneficial or harmful? With the development of A.I. and self-driving cars rising so quickly, upcoming technology will diminish human dignity by performing intellectual tasks for them. Furthermore, by replacing humans, technology is putting them at risk for job loss, as well as decreasing development of social skills. With developing technology, we as humans are at risk for job loss. In the article, “The Creeping Ethical Challenges of Artificial Intelligence”, author John Miller explains how A.I. is being developed to mimic human mannerisms and reasoning skills. A.I. ethicist Tae Wan Kim says that “the current technological revolution is different because it is the first to replicate intellectual skills” (Miller 24). If robots can now do the same tasks involving logic and understanding as humans, jobs such as counselors, therapists, teachers, and even doctors are at risk of replacement. Why go through the process of hiring a human that is eligible to make mistakes when you can buy a seemingly “perfect” robot that will do the same job with no error? Mr. Kim explains that “this kind of automation could create a permanently underemployed class of people” (Miller 24). With the new development of self driving cars, occupations such as cab, taxi, bus, and limo drivers are also at risk. Miller says that “the most common jobs for American men are behind the wheel” (MIller 25). With the advancement of self driving cars, there would be no need for humans to drive other humans around when the cars could do it themselves. Customer experience futurist Blake Morgan wrote the article “What Is the Netflix Effect?” explaining the effect Netflix has on other companies and the entertainment industry as a whole. Morgan writes, “consumers can stream content instantly to any device, anywhere” (Morgan 1). Since users can now watch any movie or TV show right from their phone or TV, movie theaters are at risk of becoming outdated. Why drive to a movie theater when the movie you want to see is just a click away? Because of this, not only will movie theaters and their workers lose money and or jobs, large film companies will have to learn to adapt their marketing strategies to make sure their movie gets advertised enough that consumers will see it when it is not on Netflix. Technology is also being advanced to replicate human feelings and emotions. John Miller also explains in his article how incoming human populations are at risk of suffering from under-developed social skills. Philosopher Alexis Elder says that “the hazard involves these robots’ potential to present the appearance of friendship to a population” (Miller 26). Kids in younger generations that will grow up with these advanced A.I.s may not learn how to interact with other humans as well as those in older generations. Children learn most of what they know from watching how others interact, and if that interaction is between robots that are just mimicking human habits, the kids may not develop strong social skills. Although these robots are “copying” human communication skills and emotions, it is not the same as talking to a human with life experience. Some argue that since technology would be taking jobs, there is less need for humans to go into work, because they could do most of the work from home or on a device. Less time in the office could lead to more time to do enjoyable things like spending time with family and or hobbies. However, Tae Wan Kim also argues in Miller’s article that “you get so many other things out of work like community, character development, intellectual stimulation and dignity” (Miller 24). A big part of the benefits of commuting to a work place is the collaboration that it forces people to take part in. This helps develop social skills that are going to be used in day to day life. Taking away the opportunity to go to work and be around other humans, further erodes the ability to develop human connections. Social worker Amy Morin wrote the article “10 Reasons Teens Have So Much Anxiety Today”, in which she explains different factors that play into the anxiety in today's teens, one being technology. She writes “constant access to digital devices lets kids escape uncomfortable emotions” (Morin 1). She is arguing that since teens today always have a phone in their pocket, they can easily avoid dealing with emotions that cause discomfort such as stress, sadness, or anxiety. Instead of going to a parent to talk about an issue they are having, they will go straight to social media or to a game to “relieve their stress” (Morin 1). This generation of teens have lost opportunities to establish coping mechanisms and strategies since electronics have taken over the place of communicating face to face with somebody about an issue. Some teens abuse the privilege of technology to either harm others, or make their situation worse. Kids are not being able to develop methods to deal with their struggles, which they will need in the real world. When these kids go out on their own, they will be behind those that have learned to deal and cope with their stress and anxiety. Both job loss and undeveloped social skills are a huge risk to the advancing technology approaching us. There is not just one way to stop this technological progression, rather humans need to recognize that these long term effects have the potential to be fatal for coming generations. This way, we can see the writing on the wall before it is too late. Precautions such as limiting A.I.’s development and interpretation of humans can be put in place in order to help “save” a generation of unemployed and socially behind people. Sources Miller, John W. "THE CREEPING ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Technology is already bending our perceptions of the world around us." America, 12 Nov. 2018, p. 20+. Gale One File Religion and Philosophy, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A565200790/PPRP?u=mlin_s_weyhs&sid=PPRP&xid=15d24f04. Accessed 17 Aug. 2019. Gale Document Number: GALE|A565200790 Morgan, Blake. “What is the Netflix Effect?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 26 June 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2019/02/19/what-is-the-netflix-effect/#1f328732560 Morin, Amy. “Health, Help, Happiness Find a Therapist.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/.
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Do you have a smartphone with you right now? While most people today would answer yes, this was not the case 20 years ago. New technology has been rapidly introduced into the world whether it is wanted or not. Some may argue that this technology is improving the quality of life and making the world a better place, but there is a lot more to it. Though technology can increase efficiency, productivity, and sometimes even safety, the consequences outweigh the benefits. According to former senior researcher for Pew Research Center, Mary Madden, and Pew researcher Sydney Jones from their article “Networked Workers”, “96% of employed Americans use the internet, email, or a cell phone ‘in some way’” (Greenwood). From work to social media, today’s world revolves around technology. The impact of modern technology is increasing every day as new technologies are developed. With new technology comes higher expectations on students and working adults. The article “Networked Workers” also reveals, “of the 96% of workers who use communications technology in some way, nearly half say they are expected to work more hours and deal with more stress,” (Greenwood). Though its impact is significant, stress is not the only downfall of technology. The consequences of technological proliferation that pose the greatest challenges to society are loss of jobs, invasion of privacy, and potential harm to physical and mental health.
Technological proliferation has taken and will continue to replace a number of human jobs with machines. While technology has allowed for cheaper and more efficient work, this has resulted in more and more humans are finding themselves unemployed. Jobs from taxi drivers to factory workers are being replaced by technology. According to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, taxi trips in Los Angeles, California declined by 30% from 2012 to 2016 since the early 2013 introduction of Uber and Lyft (Nelson). The idea of a self-driving car could potentially be safer and reduce crashes, but it has its downfalls. According to former staff reporter and foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, John Miller, from his article published in America, “the most common jobs for American men are behind the wheel” (Miller). Many Americans make a living off of driving taxis and trucks. The ridesharing company Uber currently has 3 million drivers globally. (Much Needed) If all forms of ridesharing and human-driven vehicles were eliminated and replaced by self-driving cars these three million people plus taxi drivers, truck drivers, and delivery people would lose their jobs. A.I. ethicist at Carnegie Mellon University, Tae Wan Kim, talks about technology destroying jobs in Miller’s article. He says, “A.I. ethicists say the current technological revolution is different because it is the first to replicate intellectual tasks. This kind of automation could create a permanently underemployed class of people,” (Miller). Instead of trying to decrease the unemployment rate, technology is causing it to climb. The more new technology created, the more jobs can be replaced. Blake Morgan, contributor to Forbes and the Harvard Business Review, has written multiple articles on the negative effects of technology. In her article “Robots Will Take Our Jobs And We Need A Plan”, she presents research from McKinsey Digital. The research shows that, “45% of current jobs can be automated,” (Morgan). Automated jobs are beneficial to large companies because they do not have to pay robots like they would humans in order to get the work done. As long as the availability of technology continues to increase, it will continue to take the jobs of humans. In addition to decreasing job availability, new technology has allowed for new ways to invade privacy. Companies like Netflix use the data they track in order to improve the quality of experience for their users and make their product catered to specific individuals. While it may sound beneficial, it is a little unsettling to think that they’re tracking everything one watches. In another article written by Morgan, “What Is The Netflix Effect?”, she says, “Netflix grows its number of subscribers by around 10% a year and now has an estimated more than 59 million subscribers in the U.S. alone” (Morgan). Although companies are improving their experience for users, it makes one wonder what other data they could be collecting without anyone knowing. Netflix is not the only company doing so. In Miller’s article, he mentions the effect A.I. collecting data on people could have in the future. He says, “in one dystopian scenario, a government could deny health care or other public benefits to people deemed to engage in ‘bad’ behavior, based on the data recorded by social media companies and gadgets like Fitbit” (Miller). While these devices may help people keep track of their health, who is to say that the data collected will not be used against them later? In addition to compromising private health data, using technology allows hackers a way into the private lives of those using self-driving cars. According to an article written by Digital Trends, “maps can be remotely manipulated by crafty hackers” (Digital Trends). As long as technology is being used, nothing is safe from hackers. Private lives are becoming less and less private as new technologies come about. The most unsettling consequence of the increase in technology in today’s world is the potential physical harm it can bring to humans. Technologies such as power plants that help run cities of the world could also cause their downfalls. When a tsunami caused by a massive earthquake in Japan damaged nuclear technology, nuclear waste was leaked into the ocean. The haiku “Lingering Grief” written by Jacquie Pearce won the League of Canadian Poets’ National Haiku Contest. The poem states, “lingering grief.../ a trace of Fukushima/ in the salmon” (Pearce 1-3). The ocean is a major food source for the whole world and this accident potentially poisoned some of it. According to the United Nations, “over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods” (United Nations). Using certain technology to attain high efficiency in industries is not worth risking one of the most valued sources of food. More accidents like Fukushima are bound to occur as long as more technology continues to be introduced. Additionally, technology meant to increase safety, such as self-driving cars, can actually increase danger. According to the Digital Trends article, “at a 2013 technology conference in Las Vegas, researchers demonstrated how the computers in driverless cars can be hacked to make them drive erratically and dangerously” (Digital Trends). The more technology implemented into people’s everyday lives, the more opportunity there is for hackers. According to a report written by Janna Anderson and Lee Rainie from Pew Research Center “digital users who have not lived without technology will not know how to cope with utilizing resources outside of solely tech,” (Anderson and Rainie). Kids who are growing up in the world of modern technology do not know any different. They are raised with the ability to hide behind a screen and control virtually every aspect of their lives due to their smartphones. Social settings will become more and more difficult for kids who are not used to the lack of control in the real world. The potential for harm induced by technology will continue to increase in the coming years. The rapid pace at which technology is taking over the world is alarming. Humans are creating things with the hopes of making their lives easier, but in reality, they are inflicting harm upon themselves. Today’s world is so fast-paced that any new technology that offers efficiency will help large industries grow. While industries are growing, jobs that require humans are declining in number. Everything that people do becomes data for companies to use to make more money off of them. Privacy is becoming less and less relevant as virtually all of everyone’s information is somewhere on the internet waiting to be found. The world is putting making money over its own health and wellbeing. As humans become more like machines in the way they operate, their role in the modern world is becoming less important. Machines are becoming more human than humans themselves. Sources: Anderson, Janna and Rainie, Lee. The Future of Well-Being in a Tech-Saturated World.” Pew Research Center, 17 April, 2018. https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/04/17/the-future-of-well-being-in-a-tech-saturated-world/ Digital Trends. “Driverless Cars Will Not Solve the Problem of Road Rage.” Road Rage, edited by Amy Francis, Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, Accessed 17 Aug. 2019. Greenwood, Bill. “Pew reports targeted networked families and workers.” Information Today, Jan. 2009, p. 35. Gale OneFile: Business, Miller, John W. “THE CREEPING ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Technology is already bending our perceptions of the world around us.” America, 12 Nov. 2018, p. 20+. Gale One File Religion and Philosophy, https://link.gale.com/apps/docs/A565200790/PPRP?u=mlin_s_weyhs&sid=PPRP&xid=15d24f04. Morgan, Blake. “Robots Will Take Our Jobs And We Need A Plan: 4 Scenarios For The Future.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 5 Sep. 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2018/09/05/robots-will-take-our-jobs-and-we-need-a-plan-4-scenarios-for-the-future/#48feb7136db4 Morgan, Blake. “What Is The Netflix Effect?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 26 June 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2019/02/19/what-is-the-netflix-effect/#1f328 7325640 Much Needed. “Uber by the Numbers: Users & Drivers Statistics, Demographics, and Fun Facts”. Much Needed, 2019, https://muchneeded.com/uber-statistics/ Pearce, Jacquie. “Lingering Grief.” League of Canadian Poets, Canada Council for the Arts. http://poets.ca/2018/02/12/2018-national-haiku-contest-winner-jacquie-pearce |
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