Technology creates more problems than it solves.    

Wearing a shabby white-colored dress, Rani is a 12-year-old student studying in a govt. primary school. With the advent of online education, especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, armed with a lack of internet and without a smartphone, she feels like a ‘baby thrown out of the bathwater’. Her father lost his job to the ‘automation’ drive of the company. The demand for jute products, which her mother used to sell, is already down since years with the advent of ‘better’ textile products. She and her family are the latest victims of technology where it has done more harm than good.

Technology is applied science, i.e. when science is used in various socio-political and administrative affairs, it turns into technology. Hence, the science of today is the technology of tomorrow. Primarily, technology is meant to ease lives, improve efficiency and productivity of processes, and in contemporary society to enforce transparency and accountability. But as Thomas Piketty in his book ‘Capital in the 21st Century’ discusses, it has also led to increasing inequality. This essay will analyze both sides of the coin and discuss how it can be used in a welfarist perspective with a utilitarian approach.

TECHNOLOGY: A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
Since time immemorial, stones were lying on the surface of the earth. They were lifeless and of no use. But as soon as (wo)men learnt to strike stones to generate fire, they became a crucial part of technology as they solved the problem of food and wild animals. It didn’t stop at this and led to cascading inventions in the form of fire-forging weapons, bows, and arrows. This solved the biggest problem of food security for humans and led to civilized life, thus solving many problems. It would have been better if it would have stopped at this. Armed with weapons, it led to more wars among clans, increased bloodshed, and with greater empires led to the genesis of casteism and discrimination. These problems are still faced today. Apparently, technology created more problems than it solved.

Similar was the case with guns and cannons, which helped forge large empires with stable life but at the cost of mass-scale bloodshed.

At the end of the 17th CE, with the invention of the steam engine, the Industrial Revolution changed the course of technology. Mechanized processes with better efficiency gave greater choices to consumers at cheaper prices but at the cost of large-scale unemployment of ‘proletariat’ (Marx). With productivity levels highest ever and overflowing money in the ‘bourgeoisie’, it led to colonization, imperialism, and even increasing inequality, as Shashi Tharoor points out in his book, ‘An Era of Darkness’. Thus, even in the modern world of today, technology created more problems than it solved.

Technology in the 21st century is leading to a crisis of identity and ideology. Yuval Noah Harari in ’21 Lessons for the 21st Century’ points out that ‘infotech’ and ‘biotech’ revolutions are endangering the only widespread ideology of today, i.e. democracy.

Although technology has helped decrease vices of booth capturing & wrong votes, it has also exacerbated criminalization and hate speeches, which are instigating mob lynching and riots (Muzaffarnagar 2013). Election meddling by Russia in the USA (2016) and the Cambridge Analytica case are a manifestation of it.

Technology in the economic sphere has improved productivity of processes and with (IR) Industrial Revolution 4.0 (WEF) in line, it is leading automatisation. But at what cost? Today unemployment levels are at an all-time high (CMIE: 9.1% in India) and inequality is scaring (Amartya Sen: Argumentative Indian). Technology is creating more problems than solving for crores of workers.

With technology, newer mediums of communication have emerged in the form of social media. This has led to interconnectedness and a ‘globalised world’. Today distance is calculated not in miles but in hours and a person in the USA is a click away from their acquaintances. But all that glitters is not gold; cyberbullying, Blue whale challenge, and deepfakes are the genesis of the same technology which has destroyed many lives. The recent reports of WhatsApp groups being used for spreading Delhi Riots (2020) are a manifestation of technology creating more problems than solving.

Technology has disrupted personal lives of individuals too. Today, sitting a thousand kilometers away, a person feels closer than ever with video calls every night. But this is only one side of the coin. Forwarding birthday wishes are only showing fake emotions; childhood is lost in video games; people posting about their ‘filtered’ world has increased narcissistic behavior among youth. Self-centeredness rather than common brotherhood is running high in veins of youth, thus leading to more problems than good.

Even tribals, who are generally considered cut off from day-to-day world, have been impacted. Although with tribal haats and initiatives like ‘Going online As leaders’ (GOAL: Facebook), they are getting empowered but at the cost of increased exploitation of MNCs. A recent report by UNESCO, of 82 languages being endangered tells about the seriousness of problems which technology has brought rather than solving.

TECHNOLOGY: HARBINGER OF PROSPERITY
Not every sector has been impacted negatively. Technology has also tried to rectify its mistakes. With global warming (due to IR) and groundwater exploitation and decreasing soil productivity (due to Green Revolution) in place, renewable energy is trying hard to reduce it. Smog towers, Electric vehicles, carbon credit mechanisms are some of the ways by which technology is trying to solve problems.

Oppenheimer, while inventing the Nuclear bomb, would not have thought that its use might save 1 million lives and reduce the duration of war by almost 2 years (BBC Report). In fact, today they are used as a deterrent for war.

The role of technology has come to the forefront especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. People battling with depression are using telemedicine, students at home are learning online, and global leaders attending online conferences (G20, SAARC). It has led to increased collaboration amidst increasing uncertainty.

TECHNOLOGY: TAME THE TIGER
Stephen Hawking had warned, “If technology unleashes its full potential, it will destroy humanity”. Hence, the solution lies in regulating it. If technology is not controlled, it’ll control humanity.

The government has taken steps to ease the lives by various e-Governance measures like ICEGATE portal (online custom clearance) PRAGATI, CPGAMS (grievance redressal), and others. The government needs to continuously innovate and upgrade in order to be one step ahead and allay the fears which Yuval Harari has raised.

Technology needs to be used not to impress but impact. The solution also lies in value education of people using it as technology in itself is value neutral.

Rather than turning a Nelson’s eye towards the problem, the need is to assimilate it who invented the revolver, repented after decades of inventing it.

Technology is here to stay.