Are computers setting us up for disaster?

Computers are brilliant. They have made our lives easier in innumerable ways and we couldn’t dream of a life without computers now. Computers and other forms of digital technology have forever altered the way we perceive the world. However, technological progress is a double-edged sword that could potentially ruin the future of human civilization, making all your worst fears about ‘The Terminator’ movies a reality.

Our reliance on automation numbs our skills

When Air France Flight 447 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in May 2009, killing everyone on board, it caused an international stir. Later on, it emerged that the pilots’ may have been unable to respond to the failure of the onboard flight control computer as they were unable to fly the Airbus 330 without the assistance of a computer. The pilots also had no way to practice their flight skills as the plane typically did most of the flying. This leads to an automation paradox.

While the above example may be a little extreme, it represents fears about how constant computer reliance diminishes our skills. The eventual fear is that computers will have control all aspects of our lives in the near future such as driving, cooking, and cleaning, making it easier for a hypothetical self-aware artificial intelligence (AI) to take control of the human race.

Prominent scientists such as Stephen Hawking have warned us about the potentially fatal implications of advanced AI. Maybe humanity will have to become one with machines to avoid the inevitable.

Computers reduce the quality of human interactions

Everyone around you has a smartphone and it is quite normal to see most people buried in their smartphones on a constant basis. A large majority of people, especially the millennial generation, confess to spending a great deal of time on their devices on a daily basis. Most workplaces also staring at a computer screen for nine hours a day.

We have already become inseparable from our computers and the Internet. There is a growing gap between physical interaction and communication. For a lot of people, the obscene amount of time spent on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks is preferable to actually meeting the same ‘friends’ in public.

Computers have undeniably improved our quality and ease of life. We need to be careful that we don’t forget what makes us human in an era where digital technology is only going to become prominent.