Effects of Technology on Society

Evaluate the  Hype Cycle select a technology & discuss how it may be beneficial or harmful to society. 

Above is the Hype Cycle 2017 which illustrates and visually shows the development of technology currently in the pipelines, being researched, prototyped and tested for public release. There are four stages in the Hype Cycle, the innovation trigger, peak of inflated expectation, trough of disillusionment, slope of enlightenment and plateau of productivity. On that slope there are currently 32 types of technology innovation being researched, tested and prototyped. Such technologies on the Hype Cycle include digital twin, autonomous vehicles, cognitive computing, virtual assistant, commercial UAV’s, 4D printing, augmented reality, virtually reality and smart robots.

Each once released to the public will have both positive and negative effects on society, some of which can be estimated. However, since such technologies have yet to be released some effects on society may not be known or realised until they are brought into the public domain.

Machines have been around since time began with such mechanisms like horse and carriage, levers and pullies, wheels and axis. With time these basic mechanics evolved when technology became involved. Basic machines & technology was established in 1799 when Oliver Evans invented the conveyer belt, in 1821 when Michael Faraday demonstrated the principle of the electric motor & then invented the electric motor. Faraday then went on to discover electromagnetic current that made generators and electric engines possible to use & that are still in use today. Followed wireless communication invented by Nikola Tesla, followed by electronic television in 1923 by Philo Farnsworth, video game console by Ralph Baer in 1968, a personal computer by Xerxo NARC in 1973 and the famous World Wide Web in 1990 by Tim Bernes Lee, according to Alchin (2017)

Such machines came about with inventions & advancements, it can be said that technology became involved in the later years with wireless communication, video game console, personal computers and the world wide web. These innovations & inventions have had positive impacts on society for the most part, however there are some negatives. The world wide web has now become a necessity in the 21^st century with "3.8 billion people connected to the internet in 2017" according to the Miniwatts Marketing Group (2017)

Machines to assist with work have always been advancing with time and available resources. In 1961 the first robot was implanted to a factory to move hot pieces of metal, this robot completed the same task over and over as programmed, says Consortium on Cognitive Science Institution, (2017). Such machines are still in use today in factories that manufacture food and snacks to turn and flip containers, to sort and automatically weigh and package foods along with being used in some car manufacturing processes.  According to Consortium on Cognitive Science Institution, (2017) in 1966 another robot was invented, the first of such to make its own decisions on how to behave and how to complete given tasks. In the 21^st century, researches have invested some time and money into developing robots similar to the one invented in 1966. These robots are also known as intelligent autofocus machines that can reason doing several difficult & complicated tasks, drive automated vehicles and artificial limbs that react to neural impulses. Such robots can be found in use at establishments such as Amazon that has robots in its retail stores and warehouses that are able to read and identify items required and retrieve those selected items. Artificial limbs that respond and react to neural impulses can be found in surgeries and locations that create 3D printing of models in order to facilitate the rehabilitation of amputees. 

Facial, voice & finger recognition is something that has become available as part of technological devices and it something that I, personally don’t understand or feel comfortable with. Technology, its innovators and creators are taking away privacy and security each person has that is unique to them. I feel that having a device that recognises the owners voice, finger print or voice is imposing strongly onto their personal privacy and information. Such elements of a person should only be taken when required such as being registered in prison or similar institutions and not for ease and convince to unlock devices or search on the world wide web. I feel that such elements are almost promoting laziness amount society as they feel imputing a personal password is a hassle and find convince in using their finger print or face to unlock such devices.

Other technologies that have been integrated into business operations today are self-service systems in retail stores, facial, voice and finger print recognition, businesses choosing to operate online rather than a bricks and mortar presence.

Cognitive computing is mentioned in the Hype Cycle and can be found at the end of the peak of inflated expectation, on the verge of the trough of disillusionment. This third phase is when inventions and innovations make it or fade away, and with improvement of such ideas will yield investments if investors see potential with its technology and its inventors. Cognitive computing, according to Rouse (2016) is the simulation of human though processes in a computerised model and is used to mimic how the human brain works such as artificial intelligence. An example of cognitive computing is such by IBM known as Watson.

This technology can be used to allow machines and humans interact with one another. Cognitive computing systems can learn vests amounts of information, allowing the computer to become experts in different fields of discipline such as medicine, education & business. As a result, the cognitive computing devices can become the ideal and perfect assistant as it can learn information & become an expert. Due to this technology being within a machine such as a computer or technological device like a smartphone or tablet, it can save both time and money for humans.

Positives; Saves money for businesses and industries such as medicine and business, it does so as it reduces the need for staff to keep training in their chosen discipline. It saves them having to be constantly training as artificial intelligence & its programme can know the most up to date information and real-time updates. 

This may come in useful for businesses to keep up to date with laws, customer purchase and log products purchased when loyalty cards are scanned, medical research and developments or holistic remedies.

It can also be used to replace receptionists in offices such as dentists and doctors as the AI can answer phone calls and give available dates and times for appointments along with update time schedules for practicing general practitioners and dentists. And in some cases, I can assume that AI as a receptionists might even be more polite then human receptionist…

Negatives; The negatives of this product come from the positives, it saves money by reducing staff costs. If staff are not required as information is coming from cognitive computing such as AI, there will be a decrease in staff which may be linked to unemployment amount society.

There may be some teething problems as AI is being introduced to the work place, some staff may not wish to interact with the system as they will be used to completing tasks as they already do. Older employees will not be familiar with using technology and training or demonstration evenings may be required to introduce them to the new system.

AI may be used as a method of convenience and make humans lazy as they will use AI to source information and ignore traditional means of obtaining information such as word of mouth & interactions with other humans which is vital for humans – interaction and socialising.  Other traditional means of sourcing information are dictionaries and libraries.

Overall, cognitive computing can be used to enhance business operations and assist with obtaining the most up to date and new information, innovations and news on a wide range of topics and subjects. It can solve problems and offer solutions in a shorter period of time then a human may offer solutions to the same problem or issue. However, with positives there are negatives which are reduction of human staff, human interaction and giving society alternatives that require less effort & energy. As AI can divulge vasts amounts of information and knowledge, society may rely on this form of obtaining information rather than the traditional means of gathering such information like word of mouth which leads to human interaction and relationships.

Cognitive computing and systems like AI can be useful and utilised by a number of industries with the correct level of integration and use as it may take over and replace humans in the workplace.  

Bibliography:

Panetta, K (2017); Top Trends in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2017;Available http://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/top-trends-in-the-gartner-hype-cycle-for-emerging-technologies-2017/ Last Accessed 06 Oct 2017.

Gartner. (2017). Gartner Hype Cycle. Available: http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/methodologies/hype-cycle.jsp. Last accessed 06 Oct 2017.

Miniwatts Marketing Group. (2017). World Internet Users 2017.Available: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm. Last accessed 06 Oct 2017.

Alchin, L. (2017). Technology Timeline. Available: http://www.datesandevents.org/events-timelines/12-technology-timeline.htm. Last accessed 06 Oct 2017.

Consortium on Cognitive Science Institution . (2017). Robots: In the Beginning.Available: http://www.mind.ilstu.edu/curriculum/medical_robotics/robots_in_beginning.php. Last accessed 06 Oct 2017

Rouse, M. (2016). What is Cognitive Computing . Available: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/cognitive-computing. Last accessed 06 Oct 2017.