Subtitle: The Dark Side of Progress: How Technology Is Changing Humanity.
Technology and Its Impact: Progress or Peril?
When we compare current technology to the past, it’s obvious that the scale of advancement is exponentially growing. Yet, despite this rapid progress, one might argue that we aren’t truly advancing — at least not in a holistic sense. Reflecting on past times, we see a world where technology was limited, but people were physically stronger and more active. Daily life itself was a form of exercise. For instance, cycling was a common means of transportation, and manual labor, such as lifting weights by hand in factories, contributed to building muscular strength. Physical activity was naturally integrated into daily routines, making people healthier and more resilient.
Today, however, technology dominates every aspect of our lives. We’ve replaced bicycles with motorbikes and cars, where minimal physical effort is required. It is merely a turn of the steering wheel and a pedal instead of a whole body cycling. And at workplaces, lifting weights is being replaced by heavy machinery that does its work with a minor push of the button or pull of the lever. It systematically removes physical engagement that once used to be part and parcel of our lives. Due to this reason, one’s physical fitness and strength are going down day by day.
Technology is making the impossible possible, even when it comes to the simplest tasks: in some countries, food is delivered by drones, and hotel services are performed without human interference. The UAE has displayed various drone-based delivery systems, and in most of the hotels guests are being served by robots. This all seems so handy, but is this progress really worth it?
My answer is a loud and clear “no.” While businesses and corporations significantly benefit from such innovations, the effects on the larger workforce are nothing less than scary. Inflation is on the rise, while unemployment increases as technology assumes jobs that were once manually performed by humans. Just a few examples of technological fields replacing human labor at work include:
Graphic Design
Logos, banners, and more are now created by AI tools within minutes. Professional designers have been greatly impacted, which forces many of them to abandon this business or go part-time. The creative time that used to take days now can be done in only a few clicks, so in that way it lessened the demand for humans to do it.
Travel Agents
Online booking platforms and AI-powered travel assistants make it quite easier to book trips. This starts from the creation of routes to the management of reservations; hence, it decreases further demand for travel agents.
Warehouse Workers
Inventory management, the picking of orders, and packaging was done quite efficiently by AI robotics, taking away several jobs in the process.
These are only a few examples, but the growing reliance on AI raises some questions about long-term implications. Think of the videos that have surfaced: robots developing their own language, unintelligible to scientists; robots trained with weapons and showing alarming signs of autonomy; even a small robot telling others to “ let’s go home.” These instances hint at one day when technology may overpower human control and create risks beyond our current ability to manage.
Now, I want to turn to you with the question: is this technological takeover a good thing for humanity? If this is what happens to humanity one day, what will you do? Please feel free to comment on your thoughts, and let’s discuss the future awaiting us as far as technology goes.
