Positive and negative effects of technology on society - elpassion.com (2023)

June 17, 2021 fromPatrycja PaterskaPatrycja Paterska

Technology is equally capable of making life easier and more difficult. As with everything else in this world, a lot depends on how we use it.

AfterEdelman Confidence Barometer 2020, trust in technology fell 6 points globally (on a scale of 100 to 68). In the US, it hit an all-time low of 57 out of 100. It's a good time to take a step back and review what technology and the tech industry are doing well and what needs to improve. Is technology good or bad for us?

Positive impact of technology on society

The development and adoption of technology has helped societies increase productivity, include services, and improve general well-being. Where have technological advances helped the most?

Advances in health and wellness

Technology has tremendous potential to improve health and healthcare systems as we know them. From AI-based drug clinical trials to preventative patient monitoring and wellness solutions like wearables. We have seen technology address the health gap in the pandemic. Telemedicine apps are the first step in making healthcare more equitable and accessible to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status.

The widespread adoption of technology by patients and healthcare professionals has enormous potential to improve the efficiency of public health facilities. Technological advances in healthcare (for example, wearable devices) can reduce overall healthcare spending and allow you to monitor patient conditions and detect abnormalities sooner, allowing you to respond sooner. Complex healthcare systems powered by AI analytics can deliver better care and treatments.Virtual reality therapy is being tested in severe trauma patientsGoing back and facing your fears once again and surviving has proven to be the biggest therapeutic leap for many.

Health tech and start-ups are moving much fasterthan traditional companies, with fewer regulatory hurdles. A good example of this would be the xCures Beat 19 study, which was published in the US in the first month after the pandemic.

xCures, an AI-powered company that matches cancer patients and their oncologists with approved or investigational therapies, has used its algorithm to collect data on the spread of COVID-19, including gender, race, and underlying diseases. It is now used for scientific research purposes.

• You can read more about the xCures project on ourDigital Health Trends Report 2021.

Education (EdTech)

We already have many learning platforms aggregating courses for different ages from different fields and sectors. They often include videos, interactive whiteboards, or games to practice. that by itselfmakes education much more accessible and scalablenever

However, the impact of technology on education does not end with virtual learning. Learning becomes a more immersive and holistic classroom experience through the use of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and learning science technology. startups likeDivingUse virtual reality to help students learn English by communicating and practicing their English skills across a variety of subjects and topics using a virtual reality headset.

Artificial intelligence can help students with disabilities to find the best way to learn efficiently and with tangible progress. Automation and systematization can solve the biggest problem for teachers around the world: time-consuming administrative tasks.

Environmental protection and smart cities

If you ask someone how technology affects the environment, they'll probably say "very bad." While this has been true in the past, the ultimate awareness of the need to protect the environment has grown over the last decade, and technology has been one of the industries that has jumped on the fastest bandwagon.

Environmental startups (also called "green startups") create sustainable solutions for using hard-to-recycle materials and reducing waste, purifying water, and monitoring changes in the environment to ensure a more sustainable future.

A Nigerian startup,Brickificarit recycles plastic waste into bricks that are resistant to water, fire and heat and can be used for both road construction and low-cost housing.

I HAVE A GRANTfrom Germany is the first company to make a backpack out of ocean plastic. They work with 1,5000 fishermen in Asia to collect plastic from the ocean.

Another startup from Germany,POWER BLOCKdeveloped a storage-based thermal power system that can operate up to 1,300 degrees Celsius. 85% of the system is made from recycled materials and therefore has a lower carbon footprint than the competition.

After months of massive bushfires in Australiareturn to the dryadlaunched its product: a network of wireless environmental sensors to detect forest fires about 60 minutes before they actually start. It is based on the leading open standard for long-range wireless IoT networks. They have recently upgraded their product and offer growth and health monitoring solutions for public and private forests. Some of the metrics that can be measured are humidity, dryness, air quality, CO2 levels, O2 concentration in water, etc.

The concept of smart cities is also closely linked to environmental protection. Many cities around the world are using technological solutions to implement measures to reduce waste and pollution and optimize energy use. Electric cars are preferred in the center of cities; Waste distribution regulations also rely on the Internet of Things to streamline processes. IoT can reduce the frequency of garbage collection and minimize the overall cost of garbage collection, reducing carbon emissions in cities.

equal opportunities

The universal value behind technology is to equalize products and services and minimize socioeconomic differences between societies and people. As discussed above, technology is making healthcare and education accessible to more people, making it easier for them to learn and receive care, no matter where they come from.

In a work environment, technology can eliminate hiring bias by uncovering pay differences and standardizing payment systems. Technology helps uncover all forms of discrimination: gender inequality, the marginalization of minorities, etc. Artificial intelligence models are learning (and getting better) to recognize hate speech of all shapes and sizes. For people with disabilities, the implementation of technological solutions makes physical spaces more accessible.

Negative impact of technology on society

The negative impact of technology on society refers to mass products, with social networks being the main cause. A lot of research has been done on this topic, listing social media as the number one place for misinformation, hate speech and bullying on the one hand, and as a place that leaves people isolated and depressed on the other.

Fake news and misinformation

Fake news and misinformation have been with us for a while, but with the rapid pace of technological advancements, people are finding it hard to keep track of what is true and what is not.

61% of the 2020 Edelman Barometer admitted that the pace of technological change is very fast. 57% of them believe that the digital media platforms they use are contaminated with unreliable information. And after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, 76% of people fear that fake news is being used as a weapon of polarization and radicalization. This has been exacerbated by the pandemic, which has led to a boom in fake news.growing confusion and insecurity in the world population.

Deepfakes are an example of a relatively new threat and a major problem for all social media platforms. Countless deepfake incidents have already occurred. A recent one was with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Dutch Parliament, which wastricked into a video call with a deepfakeposing as the leader of the Russian opposition. No real damage was done this time. However, it was a quick lesson that illustrated a potential threat for the future.

To combat fake videos, Facebook launched a deep fake detection challenge in 2019 to develop autonomous algorithmic detection systems.

Social media platforms generally struggle with content moderation. In early 2021, Twitter launched a "bird watching" pilot program with the goal of building a community to combat misinformation and fake news.

The impact of social media on mental health

Social media is all about instant gratification. All app notifications are for dragging a person back into the app and scrolling.That's what neuroscientists at the Freie Universität Berlin say, Social media notifications (especially likes, followers, etc.) activate our brain reward system.

Numerous studies have shown that exposure to social media can lead to persistent feelings of loneliness and detachment. The popular phrase FOMO (fear of missing out) is directly related to the intensive use of social networks. It refers to a situation where a person is inundated with content from friends, colleagues or even influencers doing interesting things while their life or activities seem mundane and a bit worse. It's especially damaging at a young age, because even if people know that the content they're watching is just a series of highlights from a person's life, it still makes them who they are.feeling lonely and needy on a subconscious level.

Linked to FOMO and social media, anxiety lowers self-esteem. A lot of research has been done on this topic, but the conclusions are still inconclusive.

A team of researchersRyerson University of Torontoanalyzed the cumulative results of 121 studies to see if they could reach a consensus. They found a small but significant negative relationship between social media use and a person's self-esteem, suggesting that the more social media use, the lower their self-esteem. Other findings were that people who use social networking sites may do so at the expense of their personal relationships. People with low self-esteem were naturally more drawn to social media, as it helped them avoid unpleasant real-life experiences.

More or less technology: what does the future hold?

Ultimately, technology has changed the world as we know it, supporting faster development in many areas and providing greater equality and opportunity, regardless of socioeconomic background.

Most of the damage caused is due to the misuse of technology. The previous example of social networks confirms that we need more empathy and responsibility for users when creating technological products. It's time to start the conversation about how better technology can protect us from distractions, increase meaningful interactions, and encourage non-addictive behaviors that affect the brain's subconscious.

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