Depending on who you will talk to, answers to the title question can be totally different. Some people will say that the impact of technology on our society is positive, others that it’s definitely negative. And as always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Undoubtedly, over the past ten-fifteen years, technology has taken a major step forward. Technology that surrounds us is becoming more effective and intelligent by the minute. For instance, thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning, we live and work more comfortably and effectively. Modern web technologies provide us with access to top-notch digital experiences. Thanks to smartphones, we can learn, work, and have fun 24/7, everywhere in the world.
Moreover, the vast majority of knowledge online is available entirely for free! Things that were troublesome or expensive in the past now are at hand, primarily thanks to YouTube and thousands of various mobile apps. And think about new opportunities that became accessible thanks to virtual reality (VR) and remote learning – you can live in Germany and study at a university in the United States without leaving your desk.
On the other hand, it’s technology that causes significant damage to the natural environment. The technology is responsible for our lack of social skills and hundreds of hours wasted on watching kittens on the same YouTube that provides users with useful knowledge and how-to videos. Finally, it’s the technology that’s responsible for misinformation and the destruction of countless lives.
Granted, it’s difficult to maintain full control over the way we use the technology, and many people want to use it for malicious purposes. So, how should we answer the title question? Is the technology good or bad? The answer is complicated, to say the least.
What should we do with technology?
In our opinion, it all comes down to just one question: How you use technology and what for. Technology is nothing more than just a tool. It’s up to you how you use it. Maybe a few examples:
- You can use social media to meet and stay in touch with new people living in another city or even country, or you can spend time watching other people’s posts and comments.
- You can use artificial intelligence to learn a new language or to create deep fakes that can even wreak havoc in the whole country.
- You can use VR to present products you offer more directly and interactively or spend hundreds of hours playing online games.
Does the fact that many people use technology in a harmful way should influence the way we think about it? Not necessarily. We believe that educating people and showing them potential threats is not only indispensable, but it’s simply a better solution. The world evolves, and technology will continue to evolve along with it.
What we should do, is make sure each one of us uses it to do good and develop our skills and abilities. If you want to read more about different technologies that have a positive (and negative, too!) influence on our society, we invite you to read this article: Positive & Negative Impact of Technology on Society.
