Is modern technology becoming a threat to traditional skills?

From the discovery of tools like axe, spear, and microliths in the Mesolithic age to the invention of Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Big Data, and 5G, technology has seen no bounds and is continuously increasing in our lives. But the question that arises with the rise of technology is whether these new inventions and technologies act as a threat and compete with traditional skills or support and complement them. In this essay, therefore, we will try to explore, firstly, the patterns of technology’s influence on traditional skills historically. Then we will move forward to discuss the threat and competition between modern technology and traditional skills. Thirdly, we will stress briefly the effects of modern technology on traditional skills in a complementary manner. Lastly, shed some light on how both can be reconciled to achieve a stable society.

LEARNING FROM HISTORY
Flipping the pages of history, we reach the Mesolithic, Palaeolithic, and Indus Valley periods. Herein, technology developed in the form of tools, bows, and was accompanied by wheels, pottery, bead instruments, etc. On the one hand, work like hunting, painting, and transportation, which were earlier done through traditional skills, were overtaken by bow and arrow, bamboo brushes, and carts respectively. However, these technological developments took place because of traditional skills. At the same time, these skills were further developed. For example, the traditional skill of painting was made sustainable by using good colors and brushes. The evidence of this is manifested in the Bhimbetka caves.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND TRADITIONAL SKILLS: A THREAT AND COMPETE
With the advent of the internet and Industrial Revolution 4.0, modern technology is moving at a fast-paced rate. This speed is posing a threat to traditional skills. The traditional skills are a huge bundle of techniques and tools that people have followed as a tradition. One such traditional skill is the craft industry, cottage industries, agricultural practices like organic farming, etc. These economic traditional skills in India as well as in the world are threatened by technologies like mass production by machines, fertilizers, pesticides, crop burning, etc. These threats do not recognize the traditional skills of farmers or producers. Not just economic skills, political traditional skills of conducting elections and voting also face a threat due to the decreasing face-to-face interactions between candidates and voters due to the advent of social media technology and virtual interactions. Moreover, the traditional skill of ensuring elections as festivals that are free of bias has been ruined by the swaying of voters in US elections.

Along with the political traditional skills, the world as well as India is witnessing a threat to traditional social skills. These comprise sociality due to decreasing face-to-face interaction, community participation in times of social clubs, voluntary time going to a charitable cause, etc. These social skills facing a gruesome threat are due to increasing usage of social media as a conduit for interaction, lack of physical connection due to replacements of outdoor games by indoor mobile games. Environmental traditional skills aim at maintaining the stability of the environment by using methods like crop rotation, walking to destinations, giving the status of brothers/sisters to trees as done in silvicultures, desegregating Ganga and Yamuna as living beings. These skills meant to protect the environment are eroding due to available convenient options like cars for transportation and deforestation or polluting rivers by high technology companies. For example, fires at Bellandur Lake in Karnataka due to industrial discharge. Lastly, the traditional legal skills of settling disputes by mutual consent and registration which ensured sustainable peace have been degrading as they are being replaced by technology-based legal systems like Tele-law, financial hearings based on Big Data Analytics and so on.

Therefore, the traditional economic, political, social, environmental, and legal skills are facing the ugly threat of modern technology. But the other side to this is also presented below.

TECHNOLOGY AND TRADITIONAL SKILLS: COMPLEMENT
In this section, we will revel upon the thought that modern technology and traditional skills not just compete but also complement each other. First phase of complementarity can be witnessed in the economic sphere where technologies like AI and IoT can help in engineering the market for traditional goods and services. At the same time, tractors and harvesters complement the traditional agricultural skills. Secondly, the political skills are treasured by the advent of technologies like EVM and VVPAT which maintain the sanctity of free and fair elections of the traditional political skills. Thirdly, the sense and skill of solidarity is strengthened by connecting through social media like the recent global support to Brazilian Amazon forest connected the people of world. Fourthly, various technologies like cloud seeding wale on the traditional environmental skills; therefore both stay in harmony. Lastly, the traditional legal skills of mediation and consensual decision making are acknowledged by recent technological developments. For example, initiatives like National Judicial Data Grid highlight the decisions taken by arbitration and mediation.

Now, knowing both sides of the picture, we can reach a condition where both modern technology and traditional skills can be reconciled.

NOT COMPETE OR COMPLEMENT: BUT RECONCILE
With the growing need for stability, harmony, and peace in society, both the thesis and antithesis should reconcile and form a synthesis. Various efforts like Geographical Indication Tag, personalized gift industries, international agreements consensus over judicial proceedings aim at creating a synthesis.

Therefore,
“Development is measured by technology, but it alone cannot lead to stability. As there is a need for synergy between both skills and technology.”