Why should we make tech more human?
Why did we create G.M.S.C. Consulting? For our inaugural newsletter, Communications Lead Angelique Lusuan, Ph.D wrote about the importance of re-examining our relationship with technology as it continues to advance at an exponential rate.
This was written by Angelique Lusuan, Ph.D. for AI Newsletter #1’s editorial piece
Reference:
1 Kranzberg, M. (1986). Technology and History: "Kranzberg's Laws". Technology and Culture, 27(3), 544–560. | Link to full article
2 World Nuclear Organization. (n.d.). Chernobyl Accident 1986. World Nuclear Organization. | Link to full article here
3 World Nuclear Organization. (2022, April). Three Mile Island Accident. World Nuclear Organization. Link to full article here
“Making Tech More Human”
This is our company’s motto, our North Star.
As millennials, we’ve witnessed how fast technology evolved over the decades. We got the best of the analog and digital worlds. We were the generation who knew all about the Dewey Decimal System, the Walkman, the Yellow Pages, VHS Rental Stores, the iPod and dial-up internet.
As good as they sound, we were also the generation that witnessed a lot of hysteria and conflicts. Unlike the wars retold by our parents and grandparents, we cannot pinpoint the bad guys this time—and technology is heavily involved in the narrative.
Kranzberg’s First Law: “Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral”
While taking up my master’s in France, we were taught about the ethics of science and technology. Many perceived this course as a joke because it did not involve anything as difficult as quantum mechanics. Why was ethics essential to us?
I can still remember the first case we were handed by our professor like it was yesterday. Can you guess what it was about?
I’ll give you a clue: It involved a town in the former USSR and an island in the USA.
Nuclear meltdowns were hard to deal with. It destroyed people’s lives, as well as their surrounding environment. While nuclear energy seemed to be a promising solution to our energy woes, two accidents influenced the way we perceive nuclear energy today: the Chernobyl incident2 in 1986 and the Three Miles Island mishap3 in 1979.
Despite the mishaps, our society continues to move forward with innovation.
But rather than staying naïve and passive in the face of new technology, we need to be more accountable this time around.
This is the raison d'être of G.M.S.C. Consulting. We are not here for the glory of joining the AI hype train, but rather as advocates championing the cause of more responsible and human-centric technological development.
Our work in artificial intelligence (AI) consultancy and science & technology communications is constantly guided by this core principle. More on this in the next issue of our newsletter!
