
I recently came across a LinkedIn blogpost by Tim Rogers entitled, Who should we insist wear Health Tech? In it, he advocates the use of various wearable technologies as ways of improving individuals’ health, and then speculates about the potential benefits that these could bring to wider society. On the face of it, it all sounds reasonable and straightforward.
However, I find the use of the verb "insist" in the post’s title revealing. As often seems to be the case, there is also a "we" doing the insisting of some unnamed others. So power and politics are very much in play here (as they always will be, of course) even though these underlying dynamics of human interaction will rarely if ever be acknowledged when the use of such technologies is advocated. The same could be said about the morality of the whys, whats, and hows of their deployment. In a similar vein, the word “opportunity” usually features prominently – as it does here. But one person’s opportunity is another person’s threat, as they (almost) say.
Unquestionably good?
What concerns me most is that proponents seem to take it for granted that all such developments are unquestionably good - invented by 'good' people, with the intention of doing 'good' things, for the 'good' of other individuals, and thereby enhancing the common 'good'. The real-world dynamics of human interaction are conveniently ignored, in favour of a utopian view in which there is universal wellbeing, co-operation and harmony. A similar pattern can be found in relation to a lot of the stuff that is advocated as a way of ‘dealing with’ complexity.
Collaborating with AI
Is anyone else concerned about the increasingly pervasive notion of humans “collaborating” with AI?
Relationship of mutuality
Collaboration - whatever its diverse motivations and means of expression - is a relationship of mutuality between living and breathing human beings. Properly perceived and applied, so-called “artificial intelligence” undoubtedly has a lot to offer us in support of the living of our lives. But it needs to be seen as a technological aid to our human being, doing and becoming; not as in any way equivalent to it.
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Posted on 08 January 2023 in Complexity, Current Affairs, News Commentary, OD, Science, Social software | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: AI, artifical intelligence, collaboration, complexity, organization
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