Is modern technology becoming a threat to traditional skills?

A young craftsman, living in a remote village in India, struggles to make ends meet. He is unable to sell his handloom at a remunerative price. This changes when he is introduced to digital technology, and is able to engage with buyers, who offer better prices. Simultaneously, however, the selling of cheaper mill-made, mass-produced cloth is also rendering many traditional artisans unemployed.

The aforementioned instances reflect that modern technology is a double-edged sword. It can boost traditional skills as much as threaten them. The outcomes indeed depend on how modern technology is used and how it is adopted by those practicing traditional skills.

The adoption of new technology considered modern for the times has a long legacy. The ancient era saw pottery wheels in Harappa, use of burnt bricks, paddy transplantation in the Mauryan era – all enabling the hitherto traditional methods. In the medieval era, artisans benefitted from the development of new technology such as double domes. The modern times have seen revolutionary changes in the available technology, such as mobile and machines, aiding those who practice traditional skills.

The ability of modern technology to transform itself into a tool that can benefit traditional skills, if used properly, is remarkable. It can lead to a number of new ideas being presented to the individual practicing traditional skills. Modern technology, such as machine saws, can also lead to more precision in the artwork, thereby creating finer masterpieces. For instance, a potter using temperature-controlled ovens can determine exactly when the clay is ready, create large batches, prevent wastage and save time.

The creation of finer masterpieces can lead to better economic benefits if technology is used effectively. Modern technology can help in speeding up production, while enabling the reach to a larger market; often, such traditional skills may occur in places segregated from large metropolitans. Modern technology like transportation and digital payments enable a seller in Gond to deliver his tribal art to Guwahati without much hassle.

Modern technology puts forth various other prospects for traditional skills. It creates the scope for adaptation and transformation, enabling a certain skill (which may be limited in terms of experiments due to traditions) to meet various forms of demands. It is not rare to find Tanjore paintings, traditionally done in temples, on bags and clothing as a form of fashion! This also leads to awareness creation in the younger generations of the traditional skills of India. The use of social media has also greatly helped more practicing traditional skills in spreading knowledge about their art.

Nevertheless, the virtues that modern technology presents are but one side of the story; and technology is a double-edged sword with its share of risks. The era of mass consumption aided by easily available cheap goods has pushed the costlier goods, produced using traditional skills, to the backseat. There has been a thrust to mechanize the production process and create identical products in bulk. This has led to a penchant for machine-made ‘perfect’ goods over the ‘imperfect’ traditional goods. The vast use of plastic cups to drink tea and discarding of the traditional earthen pot – the Kullad – is but one such instance.

Gandhi ji’s aversion to modern technology stemmed from his analysis that it led to vast unemployment levels, wherein machines replaced people. The disruptions caused by complex modern technology are indeed of grave consequences, especially when our traditional artisans aren’t equipped to use them to their benefit. Modern technology leads to a divide of haves and have not’s, creating inequalities and ultimately trapping the have not’s in a cycle of poverty.

It is this cycle of poverty, arising from a distorted access to modern technology, that the government has sought to curb. The introduction of ATUFS for technology up-gradation in the textile sector is an instance. Distribution of subsidized machines and enabling capital expenditure is an effort to make modern technology more accessible. The government has also created cluster-based schemes to enhance skills and training of traditional artisans. The use of new technological tools such as social media by TRIFED to bring tribal art to the center stage evinces the use of modern technology to mainstream the hitherto lesser-known skills. Various schemes for the sericulture sector, and their linkages with modern technological equipment are also significant in this regard.

The need of the hour is thus to take initiatives that enable modern technology to aid traditional skills. The access to modern technology must be made easier and inequality in this regard be done away with. Equipment banks can be opened for this. The Bharatnet project must be hastened to boost connectivity and widen the reach of traditional skill to yet untapped markets. Knowledge and awareness classes can be helpful to make people more informed of modern technology and ways to integrate it into one’s skills. Infrastructure also needs to be created so that technology can be effectively used.

In order to handle the negatives arising from disruptions due to modern technology, the government can procure traditional arts and goods. These can be used as gifts later for foreign delegations, implying not just our culture but also sustainability. The move to gradually do away with plastic also brings a golden opportunity for traditional industries to adopt modern technology and offer cleaner alternatives.

It is thus evident that technology by itself is neither virtuous nor vicious. It is the use that technology is put to, which governs the nature of the outcome. The endeavor must be to ensure that traditional skills are enabled, not disabled, by modern technology. The effort thus has to be towards ensuring that each craftsman gains more due to technology, not becomes unemployed; that traditional skills are more secure due to modern technology – not insecure.