What is technology? How can we use it for Good?

Reading this week’s resource, Frankenstein enabled thinking about whether technologies are neutral or shaped by human intervention in a broader perspective.

Understanding technology in a better context and concentrating on the nature of technology will help us understand the origins, effects, and other influences on people.

"Human Intervention in technology"

Since technology itself is a passive tool, we might assume that technology is neutral. However, its impact can be determined by how it is used, what it is used for, and who uses it. Human intervention in technology is one of the determining elements that shape our actions and purposes in life. Various social, political, psychological, and economic factors create technology as the whole concept. It is not possible to think of technology apart from these origins. It has been affected by these various motives and creates a context. As Mutale Nkonde, adviser on artificial intelligence, states, “the inability for algorithmic-driven tools to understand the social contexts means they do not have the capacity to drive civic innovation without significant human intervention.” However, besides the influence of human intervention, the focus needs to be on how technology should be used for humanity, like improving education, health, or our social lives. Mike Roberts, Internet Hall of Fame member and pioneer CEO of ICANN, expressed, “we are in a technology-fueled Age of Innovation. Technology got us into this mess, and technology will get us out of it.”

"Ethical Context"

There is a significant ethical context in Frankenstein's story. Since Frankenstein failed to include the moral elements of social life, such as relationships with others, and social paradigms in his creature, we read that the creature sought companionship as his primary need and was also really sensitive. Despite the creature being depicted oppositely, he learned to speak various languages and demonstrated interest in subjects like literature. Although he was not entitled to most moral standings like normal human beings, it might occur intuitively that he sought these moral standings from his origins.

Resources

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/06/30/tech-is-just-a-tool/4

Shelley, M. W. (1818). Frankenstein. Literature.org. https://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/