The Impact of Technology on Human Life

Technology and its Negative Impacts

Technology can be defined as the practical application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. The idea behind technological inventions has been to make life more comfortable. Such comforts are got when a task that could otherwise be risky or tedious is easily executed by machine without having to engage yourself. Consider the case when fire breaks out in the ninth floor of a building and people have to be rescued, engaging a robot to perform the rescue could be the best option since the loss of robot in the process could not be that intriguing, knowing that it could have been you after all. Some of these technologies have grown to a point where they demonstrate a near natural intelligence that is exhibited by humans and other animals. That intelligence demonstrated by machines is referred to as artificial intelligence. No one can definitely dispute the benefit of machines but when they pose serious threat to source of their livelihood or even worse off threatening their existence, then definitely they will not accept it at all cost. I would therefore argue that throughout history, the changes that have been made on technology are mostly negative. This research paper is thus based on the negative impacts that should worry human about the machines.

Unemployment Crisis

Humans believe that the use of machines is to make their work easier and that they only have to make some little input to make the entire process complete. Ideally, machines have proved to be very efficient in various scientific, agricultural, or corporate fields; however, they threaten the possibility of securing a job in the future when employers would prefer them instead of human. Some of the coveted professions like medicine will greatly be affected by the machine if a clear boundary is not drawn. Radiology for example which is a branch of medical science that deals with the medical use of X-rays or other penetrating radiation are handled better with some machine program as compared to human radiologists (Williams, 2017). Owner of a health organization who is interested in maximizing profit would most likely use a machine program that would read X-ray scans accurately within the shortest time possible rather than human that would highly be paid and takes longer in the process of reading the scan.

Poor Psychological Development

Social interaction among people is very essential for the psychological development, and there is the risk that robots could be programmed to coexist with humans. An article from the Redshift web by Madeline Gannon talks about a robot called Mimus that can communicate her thoughts by the use of body language, for example, she makes a fearful or suspicious posture when someone approaches her while as you come closer she gives an exciting posture (Gannon, 2017). Designer of this robot claims that empathy is the only necessity required for such machines to coexist with humans at homes, offices and cities. What if future parents decide to keep these robots at home to help in looking after their kids and then maybe at school they are also taught by the robots? This will mean that these children will have a unique mental and physical development that might affect future generations. Cognitive development of such kids will imitate robots and such children will most obviously manipulate the robots to perform nearly everything for them from basics like homework and house chores.

Threat to Human Existence

There is the possibility that human can be annihilated by technology. Alex Williams says that among the jobs most likely to be taken over by technology is security force by using Russia and United States as example. Russia unveiled a robot soldier that can perform various military duties like using firearm, driving, and giving first aid. He also states that there is the possibility that the US will have more robot forces as compared to humans (Williams, 2017). In fact it could be a relief to soldiers who are always exposed to danger in the combat to be replaced with the robot; however, there is the danger when they turn against human. There is a point when it is believed that the intelligence level of these machines can match that of human or even surpass it. This can expose us to the danger of having robots as our superiors. In the same line of thinking, there may be those people who train robots and they may progress to a point when they can impart these robots with the skills of how they can program themselves and it might prove disastrous when these robots come up with their own line of thinking that view human as enemies and they may decide to wipe out human race.

Encourages Laziness

Claire Miller reports of an interview research she carried out about people’s view about the involvement of robots in the professional fields and one of the correspondents stated that “The question isn’t how to train people for nonexistent jobs. It’s how to share the wealth in a world where we don’t need most people to work.” That attitude of having to chiefly depend on what robots have to produce reduces human productivity. This attitude also eliminates some moral beliefs that people have to work hard for their daily survival. The other challenge is that in case of a sudden technical glitch of these machines, it will mean that human will have to adjust to a new form of life that without the ’providing’ machines. This implies that only those people that will adapt to life without machine are the ones that will survive.

Conclusion

Human has been committed to conducting research that aims at empowering the machines to a point where they can socialize and perform nearly all tasks, we should somehow be worried. These machines in the near future will face human with several challenges from unemployment crisis, poor psychological growth, promotion of laziness, and even the possibility of annihilating human beings.

Works Cited

Gannon, Madeline, ‘Empathy Is Essential to the Future of Human-Robot Coexistence.’ Redshift,  May 27, 2018 https://www.autodesk.com/redshift/human-robot-coexistence/

Accessed 14 Nov. 2018

Miller, Claire, C. ‘How to prepare for an Automated Future,’ New York Times, May 3, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/upshot/how-to-prepare-for-an-automated-future.html

Accessed 14 Nov. 2018

Williams, Alex, ‘Will Robots Take Our Children’s Jobs?’ New York Times, Dec.11, 2017  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/style/robots-jobs-children.html

Accessed 14 Nov.2018