Tech should adapt to us not us adapting to it.

I find this week’s topic extremely interesting and have given the ethics of technology much thought as it has become more impactful to our lives. Through the evolution of technology, most of the time a product is successful because of user need, marketing, and most of all, money. As a result, money ends up driving and vetting out many potential technological advances that may have been positive for our society. The money piece also controls the final software because ultimately for most companies there has to be a way to make money. 

We are currently in a technology world that in a lot of ways does not serve the user through adapting to them. I believe a large problem with technology now which will likely get worse, is that tech is changing us and making us adapt to it rather than adapting to our natural lives. With the Black Mirror Episode, everyone in that society began to change their identities, the way they connect and conduct relationships or interactions, and the entire design of the society itself. I think this episode is attempting to show us that we are beginning to bend toward technology and the potential harm that this has to our society. 

I think technology can be very helpful and can actually be used as a tool to further thrive as a society, however it must do so by staying in the background and evolving in ways that encourage natural, raw, present, and healthy lifestyles. The same point can even be made with The Feed, as the technology was probably working in a balanced way, yet became very problematic when it began to alter humans and change the fundamental natural way we move and act through life.

To design with the intention of improving human lives without disrupting them is difficult as it is hard to predict what harm or disruption the technology could produce, especially those where the users are the ones creating the content. Many might say that the line of disrupting the natural human processes and lifestyle comes to the body. This could manifest as a rejection of potential biotechnologies that can help humans medically. Others may just reject this all together and work toward an entirely new “natural” way of life that is full of disrupting technologies that have the immense risk of causing insurmountable levels of harm.