Technologies come with their pluses and minuses. Here are a few examples of how I benefit from them:
- GPS: I don’t know where I would be without GPS. No, really. I don’t know where I would physically be! Without it, I’d have a much harder time finding destinations and making my way home.
- Calculators: I use a calculator sometimes. But I really enjoy math, so other times I challenge myself to figure things out in my head or with pen and paper.
- Writing assistance: I often use Grammarly to correct my spelling and improve my word choices and flow.
The question isn’t just whether we should use these technologies; it includes how we use them. We have at least three choices:
- We can choose not to use certain technologies to maintain and strengthen our mental capacities.
- We can use these technologies while actively engaging with what they offer. For instance, when I consider Grammarly’s suggestions rather than automatically accepting them, I can actually become a better writer through the process.
- We can passively use technologies, simply accepting what they give us without questioning or learning from them. In this case, outsourcing our thinking really can result in losing mental capabilities.
But more important questions remain. The consequences of outsourcing our thinking en masse affect society, too.
Throughout history, technological advances have transformed how we think and work. When writing became widespread, we increasingly relied on written records rather than oral storytelling to preserve histories and traditions. As factories grew, many skilled artisans and tradespeople saw mechanized production displace their work. Today, artificial intelligence is accelerating another transformation. For instance, call center employees are being replaced by automated speech recognition, and tasks once performed by office administrators are increasingly being automated.
We are being told that many more industries will undergo similar transformations as machines and software take over tasks once performed by people. Significant job displacement and unemployment will follow.
But there’s another consequence that may be even more concerning. What happens when we increasingly rely on technology not just to perform tasks, but to think for us? We risk losing our ability to make independent judgments. We may become less capable of recognizing mistakes and distinguishing reliable information from misinformation.
Power is also at play. Some of the world’s most powerful people and corporations are developing and controlling artificial intelligence. As we increasingly depend on these technologies to inform our decisions, we risk becoming submissive to a power outside ourselves and our democratic institutions
This raises an unsettling question: Are we using technology to expand our freedom and capabilities, or are we gradually surrendering our autonomy to those who control it?
(This essay responds to today’s Intellectual Roundtable question.)
