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Murray's avatar

No surprise that I agree with you Keith but there is another twist on this. Those who promote all things technology are also guilty of "smearing meaning" and creating the equivalent of green wash wrt all things AI and computer. It you believe the likes of Kurzweil and Harari et al then there is nothing that AI won't be able to do and there is all kinds of oohing and ahhing about computer modeling that has been going on for decades. It is just repackaged as AI and oh wow! So there is a need to be more precise about the benefits of the technology as well as the downsides.

I am on record stating that Starlink is a game changer of perhaps Gutenberg proportions simply because it will extend the entire corpus of human knowledge contained on the internet to kids in the developing world. (Calling all potential Einsteinian kids who would otherwise never be identifiable!) But along with the knowledge will come the filth and lies of pornography and other dark corners of said human knowledge. But these are solvable problems whenever we get off our butts long enough to solve the problem. So the technology is not inherently bad, but rather it is our sloth in solving the problems that come with all new breakthroughs. The printing press caused the largest institution of the world to split and somehow the world muddled through. And there is a good argument that this split led to the enormous burst of creative energy called the Protestant church and the rise of western civilization.

All this to say that the issue is not the technology but the changing worldviews of those who seek to exploit, for good and for ill, the potential of the technology. Sorry... got carried away... with me it is always about underlying worldview. 1525 came and went as will 2025. I remain optimistic even as we flatter ourselves about the power of our technologies. I will bet that Luther and Melanchthon had a similar conversation. lol

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Síochána Arandomhan's avatar

Very good points, thank you. When I look through old FB posts (I rarely post anymore, but I did for many years and I have not removed anything) it actually surprises me how recent the reaction buttons are. I actually had to explain to my eldest daughter why her baby picture didn’t have a ton of “hearts”. “Well at that time there wasn’t that reaction….” (She is not on any social media but she knows generally how it works. Explaining the details to her made me cringe. She also wanted to know who could see her baby photo - good for her! - and so I explained all my safety options and why I no longer post her photos.)

I use and benefit from many technologies, even while being critical of some aspects. I like the safety features of my car, though it can feel like driving with a neurotic ghost when it bleeps at me and tries to steer itself. But I consider driving deeply unnatural so it seems acceptable to augment myself. GPS technology is a must when driving too.

I also love Google classroom and the whole Google suite; the tools are great for special needs students and Google classroom has helped me be more organized, more collaborative and has reduced my daily stress level significantly.

At the same time, the claim that “it’s just about how you use technology” and the implication that our moral choices somehow exist outside of the technological environment seems a too pat, even foolish answer. If nothing else, resisting the omnipresence of technologies helps reveal just how powerful they are, and that awareness is revelatory. When I took steps to reduce my Facebook engagement it was actually funny how desperately the algorithms tried to get it back. My feed is almost nothing but ballet, shoes and historical art because those are the only things I would sometimes click on.

Anyway, this is far too long. With regards to medical technology….we’ll I’m not sure what my thoughts are but I kinda want to see someone take that on. It would be controversial I know, but I’d like to see someone question if medical tech is always good. I know with regards to fertility technologies, I started having doubts quite a while ago, and they have gotten stronger with time.

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