A Purposeful Tech Manifesto
Welcome to Purposeful Tech, a space where I hope to explore my increasingly conflicted relationship with technology. In the last few years, I have noticed, and I’m sure you have too, a dramatic shift in the way we think about technology. A backlash. A cursory browsing of the technology section of any website or bookstore will result in a multitude of think pieces about how we need to throw away our phones and reclaim analog connections. I myself have taken a much more active role in analysing the technology that I let into my life. I’ve deleted facebook, favor firefox over chrome and have banished my phone to the kitchen instead of the bedside table when sleeping.
But I am also skeptical of some of the claims being made, technology can’t be all bad, can it? I have made a career working in technology, and more recently working in for a purpose based b-corp. Technology and positive impact are the two pillars of my working life. Here, in this series of posts, I aim to explore our shifting relationship with technology and answer the question, what role (if any) does technology play in living a good life?
To set the tone for this exploration, I have written this manifesto. A summation of my feelings towards tech in 2019, and a call to action for those, like me whose job it is to use technology to make things. It’s something I expect will shift on this journey, like a line in the sand, perhaps having to be redrawn several times over as the wind blows it away.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. On one hand, there are daily advances in machine learning and AI, we are more connected, and technology is cheaper and more powerful than ever before. On the other hand, we are plagued by fake news and botnet armies fuel the flames of division. While temperatures rise, politicians still debate the existence of climate change. Public discourse has been reduced to 280 characters. Silicon Valley’s mantra of ‘move fast and break things’ has left a lot of things broken, including our mental health and attention span. There is a growing division between the tech-haves and the tech-have-nots as automation threatens jobs and algorithms perpetuate human bias without human accountability.
Technology will not miraculously solve all our problems. In fact, without concerted effort it will divide us and more deeply, and further entrench inequality. Technology wants to be evil. The incentives of our political and economic system reward companies and products that trade in our attention and data, that discriminate against the already disadvantaged and optimise away our humanity.
The tech utopias dreamed up in the space age and cyberspace age never came. And maybe that’s for the best. Those visions for the future lacked diversity, empathy and humanity. We need a new vision for the future. The 20th century was full of fantastical projections of the 21st century. Now that we have arrived, we find ourselves unable to envisage what the 22nd century might hold — perhaps because we have grown fearful of how technology and the political climate might evolve.
We need to envision a future where technology enables human flourishing. A future that promotes empathy, brings us together and allows us to see the world from different viewpoints; a future where diversity is seen as a value to be sought, not a challenge to be overcome; a future where we share in the social and financial benefits of our data; a future of accessible education and sharing of knowledge; a future with freedom of expression and freedom from discrimination; a future where technology augments and enhances human ability, opening up new opportunities for disadvantaged groups; a future where we think and act in ways that minimise our impact on the planet; a future that’s more compassionate, sustainable and equitable than the present.
The future isn’t something that happens to us, it’s something that we are building, today. There is a growing backlash against big tech and the destructive effects of technology, but it’s time to move away from pointing fingers and shouting into the void. We need to change our passive mindset and take responsibility. We need to take action. We need to take a purposeful approach to technology.
Purposeful technology means technology for purpose. Focusing on how we can use technology to make things better for people and planet. Moving beyond fixing broken experiences towards creating successful, uplifting, beautiful, engaging, effective, thought-provoking, exciting and valuable innovation.
Purposeful technology means technology on purpose. Being proactive and deliberate. Moving forward in a way that benefits all and thinking about the consequences of what we design.
Purposeful technology means getting your hands dirty. Building things, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of emerging tech and then getting it in front of people with lived experience.
Purposeful technology means building communities. Co-designing inclusive futures by bringing together diverse cultures, abilities and mindsets.
Purposeful technology means taking responsibility. Bringing human accountability to the things we make. Technology doesn’t hurt people, people hurt people.
Purposeful technology means taking action. Taking a stand, having a point of view. Letting the anger and dissatisfaction in current systems fuel our optimism and ambition. Co-creating a positive vision for the future, and building towards it together.
