Technology and Politics — Does Technology Contribute to Inequality?
“If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed” — Stephen Hawking, 2016. With the recent passing of Hawking, I looked into more of his ideas and how they tie into the concepts of our class. In the most recent article from class, “Do Artifacts Have Politics?”, the theme of technology having a socioeconomic bias was incredibly similar to Hawking’s claim.
According to the TechCrunch, even though global poverty is decreasing, the people who are experiencing extreme poverty are at an all-time low. The root of this issue is argued to be the introduction of technology that has taken blue collar jobs away. Furthermore, by 2055, McKinsey states that half of the world’s jobs can be automated and done by artificial intelligence. Another argument that ties in with concepts from Jenny Reardon’s pieces, is that advancements in gene editing may also lead to a new “class” of people where they have physical and mental enhancements as a result of gene editing.
These are all very real issues and considerations when advancing technology, yet it seems we don’t have any structure when it comes to limiting the consequences of the technology we produce. Just because it may significantly help the lives of the upper middle class, does not mean that it is a successful tool. In fact, it still has the potential to be incredibly polarizing and harmful to the world. We cannot measure the domino effect that it could have. While technology itself is not “political”, the way in which it is is implemented and used in society shed considerable light on the current state and balance of our world.
Sources:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/29/is-technology-contributing-to-increased-inequality/
