The Dark Side of Innovation
On January 22nd, 1984, Apple crashed Superbowl XVIII with an advert for the ages: a Ridley Scott-directed, Orwellian fling of the sledgehammer into the mindnumbing Telescreen. Thoughtcrime is dead. The ad makes clear that technology is here to free us from ourselves. The Raiders crushed the Redskins 38–9.
Eighteen years later, Larry Page and Sergey Brin penned an ambitious Founders’ IPO Letter. It stipulated that somehow the three heads of Google would make decisions as a “triumvirate” and that their stated mission is “Don’t Be Evil.”
Henceforth, Silicon Valley heavyweights and startups have wrapped themselves in noble robes…that their technology would make life better for all of us in some way, shape or form. The gods of our new industrial revolution are fair-minded protectors of our data and the experiences they create will make lives easier, more delightful and more prosperous.
By now, we are all aware of the fine print.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Capitalism and technology have been wedded ever since coal-fired energy simultaneously kickstarted the Industrial Revolution and silently foretold the demise of our planet’s stable, animal-friendly climate. All our predecessors wanted was to switch from horses to horsepower and from torches to light switches. Now scientists are investigating the brooding prospect of desperately triggering volcanic eruptions to darken skies and cool us down.
Humans must face facts — we are flat awful at predicting all the consequences of our actions, especially after we’ve muddied our judgment by entangling a profit motive with an altruistic spirit. No doubt that Bird scooter creators imagined safe, carbonless transport in our cities rather than a horrifying urban nuisance. The idea was just so good, so clean, and so pure that the consequences, I imagine, were ill-considered, if at all.
Humans are good. And evil.
We are all we’ve got. We’ve convinced ourselves that progress is ever upward, and Tech’s ability to smooth out the lumpy parts of our lives and connect distant friends does us good… and yet consequences lurk in the shadows. Well-intentioned algorithms meant to keep our news feed fresh and palatable to our taste instead segregate us into bubbles. And so long as our species has breath, the worst members of it will find ways of subverting technology to weaponize free speech or rob us blind.
Be grateful. History tells us we’ve never been better off. But the tide of negative side effects continue to wash up on the shores of Google, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Apple, and others, with potentially severe impact on our pocketbook, our pride, our privacy, and our planet.
Here’s a quick list for reference:
- Google and others are unable to fully protect our information and may sometimes cover up breaches.
- Facebook and Twitter are used as vehicles by Russian propaganda artists in Western elections.
- Anyone’s face can be mapped onto someone else’s. What could possibly go wrong?
- You are being watched by the objects around you. And it could be much worse than Orwell’s 1984 telescreens.
- Computer scientists are successfully hacking the human brain to make you more addicted to their apps and destroying your ability to focus.
- We thought technology would be good for democracy, but this great new article from Wired shows: The AI Cold War That Could Doom Us All.
What can be done?
There is a market bubbling up to counteract some of the negative effects of technology. The range runs from apps that are doing tiny things like monitoring screen time to big crazy things like the triggering of volcanos idea. Today, the countervailing technology market is not nearly big or mature enough to wage proper battle on what we’re up against, however, there is quite a lot of demand for a cure.
Within that gap lies our opportunity.
Future Good: Launch Innovation Series
The only way to stop the dark consequences of innovation is with more innovation. Unfortunately, these battles to counter our problems will go on forever. But we gotta try.
So here at Launch, we want to do our part to save ourselves from saving ourselves. We are planning a special event, here in Atlanta on January 22nd, 2019 – thirty-five years after Apple introduced the Macintosh, where we will explore this theme.
The event will include:
- A panel of leaders discussing the dark side of innovation, and then…
- Teams will pitch four brand new ideas, all themed on innovative designs that cure our technological troubles.
- A panel of investors will judge the ideas and award a winner, with input from the audience via twitter stream.
Before the event, Launch will split into 4 teams, each competing to envision new innovations that fulfill each of these criteria:
Level 1: Viable Business Models Centered Around Simple, Marketable Products
Level 2: Tech Products That Do No Harm
Level 3: Tech Products That Undo The Harm
More details and updates will follow as we evolve our planning. For those of you in the Atlanta area or, who have cash to fly in, we look forward to hosting you on 1/22/19.
