Where‘s the Tech Revolution?
When will we start pushing back?
A couple of weeks ago, I was on vacation in Portugal. It was lovely: The food was great, the people friendly, and the scenery beautiful. Exactly what you need for a fabulous time off.
It’s a beautiful country and I found myself taking tons of photos - my love for image making reignited. More often than once, I wished I had a place to share them outside of my creative newsletter. I started toying with the idea of bringing my Instagram back, just for the love of posting photos. I was excited about returning to a format I had enjoyed a lot in the past. A quick shot shared in stories to connect with others sounded enticing…
I decided to sleep on it to avoid a rash decision.
Then I got back and learnt that Meta is now training their AI on users’ content and data in the EU, too. My Instagram fantasies died right then and there.
It’s appalling to think that after breaking our brains and democracies, and after fiddling with the mental health of young people the world over, now our creative output is next. The very essence of our being, subsumed, hovered up in yet another inescapable “change” that will “improve the user experience”.
If I’m being used, certainly that’s also a user experience.
A little after that, Meta’s AI assistant popped up on WhatsApp (unremovable, of course), I learnt that AI use may erode critical thinking skills and foster cognitive decline, and - great fun! - about the many ways AI is already being used in surveillance (just read any of the recent articles on 404 media for that). Bonus points for this company that created an AI that calls your elderly parents in case you can’t be bothered to.
Positively dystopian!
Add to that the widespread anxiety workers feel about AI taking their jobs and I wondered what it will take for people to start pushing back.
When is enough, enough in this exploitative game we’re playing in the name of supposed progress?
When will people realize that we, too, can shape how tech shows up in our lives?
My greatest concern is that we’re at an inflection point. A tipping point with a clear before and after - more intensely than with social media.
This is not about eschewing technology altogether. It’s about us stepping into the ring as adults with agency and moving tech in a direction that respects and benefits people.
It’s time for a tech revolution!
The future with tech is ours to create. That’s very exciting.
How do you want to shape it?
Johanna