I’m a Luddite, and I Work in Tech
When you imagine a technophobe, you may think of an elderly person complaining that how technology is ruining society, how back in their day they didn’t have computers, they went to the library and read books, “real learning”, or maybe a haggard-looking person who’s been off-the-grid a bit too long, avoiding “5G pollution” with tinfoil lined walls.
The reality is, though, that technophobia actually relatively common. One study found that technology was Americans’ second greatest fear, just below natural disasters and ranking higher than crime. Why? Likely because technology, like natural disasters, is beyond our control. In modern life, there is no way to completely avoid technology, and yet we understand surprisingly little about it. There are three main fears about technology : privacy, which can lead to identity theft and surveillance; automation, which puts people at risk of losing their jobs; and safety, as robots are increasingly involved in our physical health. I would argue that technology is more terrifying than natural disasters, if only because it pervades society, an unavoidable danger we all engage with every day.
Yet even though I feel this way, I work for a tech company. So how exactly do I do my job, given my technophobia? Here’s how I come to terms with the risks of technology while working in tech.
The Reality of Our Fears
When people express privacy concerns, the main worry is being tracked. There are some benefits to tracking technology, in that it can find criminals and recommend products that we didn’t know we wanted. The trouble is, however, when tracking someones data funnels them into the alt-right pipeline, when data breaches leak sensitive information, and when data collection is used target and silence protestors. At the same time, however, my own experience studying data science taught me that its a shaky “science” at best, with many blackbox algorithms and mediocre results. Also , data storage has and security is increasingly well regulated, so the risk of data leaks has decreased signficantly. The concerns listed above are still real and need attention, of course, but data collection is luckily not as dangerous as some might say.
I also have experience with automation, as I work for Narwal, which makes 2-in-1 robot vacuum and mops. It seems small, but yes, even that is automation, and but of course you aren’t worried about it, even though theoretically it is taking jobs away from cleaning personnel. The fact of the matter is, automation is useful to save time and energy, and it should be viewed as a positive — if there is appropriate government policies to accompany it. In theory, as work is automated, labour costs will decrease, lowering the cost of products. If an automation tax is levied to provide a universal income for workers replaced by robots, the outcome would be incredibly positive : freedom from work, giving people the ability to pursue your true passions. In some strange way, robot vacuums are just the tiny prelude to the possibility of a work-free utopia — again, if policies are made to protect workers who lose their jobs.
Finally, safety concerns primarily stem from ethical questions and potential malfunctions — but this should be the least of our concerns. People often ask : if forced to, should a self-driving car harm its passengers or someone else? I don’t know that it matters; as long as people are informed of what their car would choose and the legal consequences ahead of time, that shoudl be enough. Choose a car that saves its passengers? Then you are legally responsible for harm caused to others. Choose a car that harms its passengers? Then you are legally responsible for that as well. The fear of malfunctions seems similarly simple to me. Do you have a car even though its brakes might fail? Or a cell phone that might catch on fire? Then why be afraid of a robot performing surgery on you? As long as it has undergone rigorous safety testing and has a failture rate comparable to or less than non-technological methods, there is no reasonable excuse to be afraid.
How Much Control We Have
Realistically, very little. As I already said, technology is an integral part of our modern lives. Even if I didn’t work in social media, I would still have to talk to my teammates online, commute on roads and in metros with cameras and other tracking methods, and make online transactions. Even things we choose to go without are hard to actually do without; while there’s no societal obligation to use social media, without it I wouldn’t be able to keep in contact with my friends, most of whom live in another country.
Our control over our data only extends to those platforms where we can select whether or not to share our data; while we aretheroetically be able to choose to not use platforms that require us to share our data, this is often not the case, and once your data is being collected by one slightly-dubious source, it’s hard to justify not sharing it with another. Otherwise, we can try to lobby politicians to be more rigorous in their data protection, but the final decision is still out of our hands. Automation and the safety risks posed by tech are also decisions made by politicians and CEOs, not the average person. Technology, and the parts of it we fear, are fundamentally beyond our control.
What We Can Do
So… what? We should continue using using technology, despite the associated risks? Just ignore our fears and move on, simply because it’s out of our control? Of course not! While the average person isn’t choosing the paths that technology is taking, we can and must make efforts to guide it nonetheless. This can take the form of contacting politicians and holding them accountable, spreading the word when companies are failing to meet the standards we feel they should be meeting, or boycotting businesses that care more about profit than they do safety. The key is educating ourselves about tech and the tech industry — after all, knowledge is power. Once we understand technology and the problems that come with it, we can make an effort to fight back.
So why do I work in tech, in social media no less, despite being less of a techie and more of a technophobe and almost never using social media? Because it’s my responsibility to make my voice heard and to shape the future of technology. My fears around technology aren’t actually about tech itself, but about the potential for a tech distopia. So I made sure to find a company like Narwal, where even a social media intern could voice their thoughts on what direction the company and its product would take — by working here, I can help voice the concerns of all my fellow luddites.
Would you consider yourself a luddite, or do you dream of having a smart home? What are your biggest worries about technology? What do you wish that tech companies would do better? Leave a comment to let me know, and if you’re interested in tech, cleaning, and social media, feel free to check out the rest of my blog.
Thanks for reading!
