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Strategic consultant, author/writer, keynote speaker dealing with data and humanity. @kateo. Mor
Jul 28 7 min read
Because what Ive realized is that data and technology in all their forms
are becoming integrated ever more tightly into our lives and ever more
powerful, to the point where the work of making technology successful
for human use is inseparable from the work of making the world better
for humans. I would even argue that the work of making better technol-
ogy needs to be in lockstep with the work of being a better human.
And no, I didnt grow up wanting to be a tech humanist. I mean, its not
like I read science fiction as a kid and thought someday I would think,
write, and speak about the emerging impact of data and technology on
human experience.
I still dont read science fiction now as an adult, by the way, although I
do see the connection between the work that I do and that genres ex-
ploration of technology and culture.
Is this what science fiction looks like? image via https://pixabay.com/p-1677542/
Its just that Ive always preferred stories that explicitly examine human
relationships. Because what interests me most is always people: were
such complicated systems of nerves and emotions and thoughts and im-
pulses.
Were self-aware animals, pondering our own existence, conscious of
our place in the universe. (Not always conscious enough, but still.)
Cosmic primates.
And its not because we use technology. In other words, it isnt just the
tools.
Ravens use tools. So why am I not, say, a tech ravenist?
Unless we find out about other intelligent species with technology in
the universe, humans are the best identifiable link between the domi-
nant technology and the rest of organic life on this planet and beyond.
So our best hope for aligning the needs of all living things and all tech-
nological progress is in our own human enlightenment.
But for our own sake, and for the sake of humans who come after us,
we need to wrap that progress around human advancement.
Because the fact is we encode our biases into data, into algorithms, into
technology as a whole. So as we develop an increasingly machine-dri-
ven future, we need to encode machines with the best of who we are.
And in that way, infuse the future with our brightest hope, our most
egalitarian views, our most evolved understandings.
We need to recognize the humanity in the data we mine for profit, to
see that much of the time, analytics are people. That everything we do
in the digitally and physically connected worlds creates a data trail.
That who we project ourselves to be onlinethat self, that digital self
is our aspirational self, liking things and connecting with other peo-
ple and wandering through the digital world in awe, and our aspira-
tional self, our digital self deserves due privacy and protection in every
way.
Because so much of the way weve derived our identity, our sense of ac-
complishment, achievement, contribution, value, self-worth, is subject
to radical overhaul in the next decade and the one following that and
beyond. More jobs will be automated, augmented, enhanced, and yes,
eliminated. And certainly new jobs will be created, but we cant wait
for them to make sense of this. We have to begin re-imagining now
what meaningful contribution looks like in that context.
And see, its not that Im a human exceptionalist, exactly. Ive been ve-
gan for 20 years, after all, which I point out to illustrate that I dont
think rights are something only humans deserve. And eventually if Im
around when machines become sentient, Ill probably care about AI
rights and ethics, too. I cant help it: Im a sucker for equality.
So its not that I think humans are so special that we deserve protecting
and coddling, except that just maybe we are, and just maybe we do.
I could go on and on, but I dont even know if any of that is really the
best of humanity, or even the best of what humanity has achieved. And
what lies ahead of us are even greater challenges. So I dont know what
the best of humanity has been and at some level I dont really care.
I just think we have to be at our best now. And somehow striving for
our best, somehow making something lasting, and most of all working
to make the best future for the most peopleI think that is the best of
what humanity can be and has to be.
And we need to start making it our mission to give it, to be it, to encode
it, to build it in our culture, in our data models, our work environ-
ments, our relationships, and all throughout the technology that is in-
terwoven in our lives. Its not science fiction; the future really does
depend on it.
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