It does not matter if you like it or not, the future is coming and with it are rapid technological changes and improvements. These new technologies are going to change the way people live and how we think. These new technologies are offering new innovations, opportunities, projects and what else. So it seems logical that technological changes are great as they make our lives easier, increase productivity and make more things more accessible for more people. However, many people need time to adapt to new technologies as they often require us to change our habits, the way we do routines, and actions and change our daily lives (Digitalskillup, 2021).
History shows us that it can be hard to predict the future but what seems certain is that new technologies will emerge and significantly impact our lives. Some people might say that technology has developed steadily in the last decades but if you start analyzing you realize how immensely rapid things have developed. This makes me wonder what will happen in the next decades. Some of the new technologies and innovations that are happening right now seem frightening to me. Artificial intelligence innovations can create images on their own, read people’s minds, and create human parts. It might look innocent but what if certain technologies are used with the wrong intentions? Where do we draw the line?
Personally, I’m mostly worried about autonomous vehicles and robots. Most of us would have seen the following video which shows the recent development by Boston Dynamics. Their robot dog seems just another cool technology development which might prove to be very helpful in certain situations. Just look at the cool stuff it can do in the video below:
But what if this technology is further developed by people with the wrong intentions? Well then you can get the following:
Therefore, I think we should ask ourselves several questions to keep making cool and exciting technological developments but also make sure we do not push for some dangerous developments in certain areas. This is something the organisation called PAX is striving for in the Netherlands (Who We Are – Peace Organization PAX, n.d.). I argue more of these initiatives should be taken more seriously.
Questions we can ask ourselves on this topic are:
- What will be the breakthrough technology in the next couple of years? How can we prepare for it?
- What is a technology you do not look forward to seeing emerge?
References:
Digitalskillup. (2021). How emerging technologies impact the future of business and services for citizens? Retrieved 12 September 2022, from https://www.digitalskillup.eu/articles/how-emerging-technologies-impact/
Who we are – Peace Organization PAX. (n.d.). Retrieved 12 September 2022, from https://paxforpeace.nl/who-we-are
Personally I am mostly worried about the development of robots in industry – sure, those can significantly improve the effectiveness of companies and businesses, but I am worried about how this will affect the job market in the long run. Either the people will find a way to learn new skills quickly and change their professions or in a couple of years we might face a crisis because of a wave of layoffs from factories and manufacturing businesses. It is something that can hardly be solved by companies and it is an area where the governments will have to intervene.