speech on impact of technology in our life

5 Minute Speech on Impact of Technology in our Life in English for Students

Technology has played a significant role in all of our lives. It is undeniable that technology has made our lives so much simpler and more manageable.  But at the same time, it has immensely brought a lot of effect on our health. With the popularity of technology growing every year, it has become a part of our lives. Life as we see it, seems rather impossible to live without technology. A day without technology would be a day of hell for the majority of us. I think we can all admit that we would all get very restless without it. 

Ever since the introduction of technology, it made our body and our mental state very dependent on it. We see that the majority of us prefer to do everything online. Such as shopping, communication, work, and many others. This has caused a serious impact on our health. People are becoming lazy and we also see that very few people tend to come out of their houses to exercise or work, all because of the dependence on technology. Because of technology, there is a rise in mental stress and more mental problems like depression, anxiety, and many more. Technology has made us sit down more often than we did before and this turn has made our body very weak. The human body needs exercise. It has been so since time immemorial. But we see a huge change in our health with the coming of technology. 

We must really learn to limit the use of technology and use them when only in need for the dake of our health. 

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• Speech on Technology

Technology in This Generation

We are in a generation, where technology has surrounded us from all sides. Our everyday life runs on the use of technology, be it in the form of an alarm clock or a table lamp. Technology has been an important part of our daily lives. Therefore, it is important for the students to be familiar with the term technology. Therefore, we have provided a long speech on technology for students of all age groups. There is also a short speech and a 10 lines speech given in this article.

Long Speech on Technology

A warm welcome to everyone gathered here today. I am here to deliver a speech on technology which has taken a tremendous role in our day to day life. We all are in a generation where everything is dependent on technology. Let’s understand what technology is through the lens of Science. 

Technology comes in the form of tangible and intangible properties by exerting physical and mental force to achieve something that adds value. For example, a mobile phone is tangible, and the network connection used by the phone is intangible. Technology has taken its place as indispensable, wherein it has resulted in economic benefits, better health care, time-saving, and better lifestyle.

Due to technology, we have a significant amount of knowledge to improve our lives and solve problems. We can get our work done efficiently and effectively. As long as you know how to access technology, it can be used and proves to benefit people of all ages greatly. Technology is constantly being modified and upgraded every passing year. 

The evolution of technology has made it possible to achieve lots in less time. Technology has given tools and machines to be used to solve problems around the world. There has been a complete transformation in the way we do things because of contributions from scientific technology. We can achieve more tasks while saving our time and hence in a better place than our previous generation. 

Right from the ringing of the morning alarm to switching off the fan, everything runs behind the technology. Even the microphone that I am using is an innovation of technology and thus the list continues. With several inventions of hi-tech products, our daily needs are available on a screen at our fingertips. These innovations and technologies have made our lives a lot easier. Everything can be done at the comfort of your home within a couple of hours or so. These technologies have not only helped us in the digital platform but have also given us innovations in the field of medical, educational, industrial as well as in agricultural sectors. If we go back to the older generations, it would take days to get any things solved, even if there were not many treatments for several diseases. 

But today with the innovations of technology, many diseases can be treated and diagnosed within a shorter period of time. The relationship between humans and technology has continued for ages and has given rise to many innovations. It has made it easier for us to handle our daily chores starting from home, office, schools and kitchen needs. It has made available basic necessities and safer living spaces. We can sit at home comfortably and make transactions through the use of online banking. Online shopping, video calling, and attending video lectures on the phone have all been possible due to the invention of the internet. 

People in the past would write letters to communicate with one another, and today due to technology, traditional letters have been replaced by emails and mobile phones. These features are the essential gifts of technology. Everything is just at our fingertips, right from turning on the lights to doing our laundry. The whole world runs on technology and hence, we are solely dependent on it. But everything has its pros and cons. While the benefits of technology are immense, it also comes with some negative effects and possibly irreversible damages to humanity and our planet. 

We have become so dependent on technology that we often avoid doing things on our own. It as a result makes us lazy and physically inactive. This has also led to several health issues such as obesity and heart diseases. We prefer booking a cab online rather than walking a few kilometres. Technology has increased screen time, and thus, children are no longer used to playing in the playgrounds but are rather found spending hours on their phones playing video games. This has eroded children’s creativity, intelligence, and memory. No doubt, technology is a very essential part of our life, but we should not be totally dependent on it. We should practise being more fit and do regular activities on our own to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The other aspects that have been badly affected us are that since technology replaced human interference, is unemployment. Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc., were meant to connect people and increase our community circle. Still, it has made people all the more lonely, with cases of depression on the rise amongst the youth. 

There are several controversies around the way world leaders have used technology in defence and industrialisation under the banner of development and advancements. The side effects of technology have resulted in pollution, climate change, forest fires, extreme storms, cyclones, impure air, global warming, land area getting reduced and natural resources getting extinct. It’s time we change our outlook towards selfish technology and bring about responsible technology. Every nation needs to set aside budgets to come up with sustainable technological developments. 

As students, we should develop creative problem solving using critical thinking to bring clean technology into our world. As we improve our nation, we must think of our future for a greener and cleaner tomorrow. You would be glad to know that several initiatives have been initiated to bring awareness amongst children and youth to invent cleaner technology. 

For example, 15-year-old Vinisha Umashankar invented a solar ironing cart and has been awarded the Earth Shot Prize by the Royal Foundation of the duke and duchess of Cambridge and honoured to speak at the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Her invention should be an inspiration to each one of us to pursue clean technology.

The top five technologically advanced countries are Japan, America, Germany, China and South Korea. We Indians will make our mark on this list someday. Technology has a vital role in our lives but lets us be mindful that we control technology and that technology doesn’t control us. Technology is a tool to elevate humanity and is not meant to be a self-destroying mechanism under the pretext of economic development. Lastly, I would like to conclude my speech by saying that technology is a boon for our society but we should use it in a productive way. 

A Short Speech on Technology

A warm greeting to everyone present here. Today I am here to talk about technology and how it has gifted us with various innovations. Technology as we know it is the application of scientific ideas to develop a machine or a device for serving the needs of humans. We, human beings, are completely dependent on technology in our daily life. We have used technology in every aspect of our life starting from household needs, schools, offices, communication and entertainment. Our life has been more comfortable due to the use of technology. We are in a much better and comfortable position as compared to our older generation. This is possible because of various contributions and innovations made in the field of technology. Everything has been made easily accessible for us at our fingertips right from buying a thing online to making any banking transaction. It has also led to the invention of the internet which gave us access to search for any information on google. But there are also some disadvantages. Relying too much on technology has made us physically lazy and unhealthy due to the lack of any physical activity. Children have become more prone to video games and social media which have led to obesity and depression. Since they are no longer used to playing outside and socialising, they often feel isolated. Therefore, we must not totally be dependent on technology and should try using it in a productive way.

10 Lines Speech on Technology

Technology has taken an important place in our lives and is considered an asset for our daily needs.

The world around us is totally dependent on technology, thus, making our lives easier.

The innovation of phones, televisions and laptops has digitally served the purpose of entertainment today.

Technology has not only helped us digitally but has also led to various innovations in the field of medical science.

Earlier it took years to diagnose and treat any particular disease, but today with the help of technology it has led to the early diagnosis of several diseases.

We, in this generation, like to do things sitting at our own comfort within a short period of time. This thing has been made possible by technology.

All our daily activities such as banking, shopping, entertainment, learning and communication can be done on a digital platform just by a click on our phone screen.

Although all these gifts of technology are really making our lives faster and easier, it too has got several disadvantages.

Since we all are highly dependent on technology, it has reduced our daily physical activity. We no longer put effort to do anything on our own as everything is available at a minute's click.

Children nowadays are more addicted to online video games rather than playing outside in the playground. These habits make them more physically inactive.

FAQs on Speech on Technology

1. Which kind of technology is the most widely used nowadays?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the field of technology that is being used the most nowadays and is expected to grow even more even in the future. With AI being adopted in numerous sectors and industries and continuously more research being done on it, it will not be long before we see more forms of AI in our daily lives.

2. What is the biggest area of concern with using technology nowadays?

Protection of the data you have online is the biggest area of concern. With hacking and cyberattacks being so common, it is important for everyone to ensure they do not post sensitive data online and be cautious when sharing information with others.

Davos 2023: Eight ways technology will impact our lives in the future

The next generation will live a very different life to us, thanks to technology. Image:  Pexels/ThisIsEngineering

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• Technology will be a vital tool for creating a cleaner, safer and more inclusive world, but what changes can we expect to see?
• Panelists on the Technology for a More Resilient World session at Davos discussed future trends and developments in tech.
• Be it the metaverse, smart glasses or large language models, the world as we know it may never be quite as we first imagined it.

Technology can be an important tool in the transition to a cleaner, safer and more inclusive world. But what strategic opportunities are there for technology to be an accelerator of progress and how is it likely to affect the next generation?

Leaders gathered on day two of Davos to talk about how technology and platforms will change the world, what tech trends and developments we’re likely to see, and even provide a glimpse into what our grandchildren can expect in future.

The Technology for a More Resilient World session featured Nicholas Thompson, CEO, The Atlantic; Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises; Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO, IBM Corporation; Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO, Accenture; and Cristiano Amon, President and CEO, Qualcomm Incorporated.

Here’s a selection of what they had to say:

1. Technology is boosting productivity

Businesses are increasingly looking to digitally transform their operations amid an incredible demand for things to be more intelligent and connected, says Cristiano Amon , President and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. “I think technology right now, probably more than ever – especially when we talk about the current economic environment – we see that there is this desire of companies to digitally transform and use technology to become more efficient and more productive,” he said.

2. Glasses will overtake mobile phones

The future of computing will become virtual as computing platforms continue to evolve – just as it evolved from personal computers to mobile phones, says Amon . What we now know as the video call, particularly post-COVID, will soon become a holographic image in front of you seen through smart glasses.

“The technology trend is the merging of physical and digital spaces. I think that’s going to be the next computing platform and eventually, it’s going to be as big as phones. We should think about that happening within the decade,” he adds.

Have you read?

How to follow davos 2023, we are closing the gap between technology and policy, 3. the rise of quantum computing.

Quantum computing won’t replace classical computing but it will begin to solve problems in the physical world - materials, chemistry, encryption and optimization problems - within a few years, according to Arvind Krishna , Chairman and CEO, IBM Corporation. Indeed, quantum computing is already so good you may want to think about it now. “I would strongly urge everybody to invest in quantum-proof decryption now for any data, that you really, really care about,” he advises.

4. 5G will create lots more use cases

5G will create a lot of new use cases including drone management, robotic surgery and autonomous vehicles, says Sunil Bharti Mittal , Chairman, Bharti Enterprises. Industrial applications will particularly benefit due to their larger capacity. “In the meanwhile, people will get used to better connections, higher speeds, and lower latency for their regular devices as well,” he adds, before warning: “It’s going to cost a lot of money.”

5. ChatGPT-like tech will become the norm

Large language models will become a given because they lower the cost of artificial intelligence (AI) by allowing you to have multiple models over one base, giving you a speed advantage, says Krishna . “Beyond language is going to be a given, language because code can be a form of language and then you can go to, ‘what else can be a form of language?’ Legal documents, regulatory work etc,” he adds.

6. Great things will need good data

The recent excitement around ChatGPT has demonstrated the potential of having large amounts of data and the great things you do with it, but it has also highlighted the need for ‘good’ data, says Julie Sweet , Chair and CEO, Accenture. “We love what’s going on right now, with everyone talking about it. Because in many cases people have been doubters about why you need to have really clean data connecting to external data, use these then foundational models on specific use cases – a lot is going to be in digital manufacturing, in agriculture, industrial use cases – and it reminds everyone you have to get the data right.”

7. The metaverse is evolving very quickly

The metaverse is evolving faster than expected because it taps into human need while also creating something new, observes Sweet . “With human need, what we’ve discovered is that when you immerse yourself in an experience together, you learn better and you can also do things better,” she says. “We estimate there will be $1 trillion of revenue influenced by the metaverse by 2025.”

8. We will see a democratization of services

Our grandchildren will live in a very different world thanks to the democratization of products and services that are currently only available to the elite or wealthy, predicts Mittal . “Sitting like this, in the metaverse, you’ll probably have a few million people join from around the world, to experience what we’re experiencing today,” he says. “You’re going to see the benefit of technology really impacting people’s lives on a daily basis, and they will live a very different life to us.”

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Politics and privacy, private-sector influence and big tech, state competition and conflict, author biography, how is technology changing the world, and how should the world change technology.

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Josephine Wolff; How Is Technology Changing the World, and How Should the World Change Technology?. Global Perspectives 1 February 2021; 2 (1): 27353. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2021.27353

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Technologies are becoming increasingly complicated and increasingly interconnected. Cars, airplanes, medical devices, financial transactions, and electricity systems all rely on more computer software than they ever have before, making them seem both harder to understand and, in some cases, harder to control. Government and corporate surveillance of individuals and information processing relies largely on digital technologies and artificial intelligence, and therefore involves less human-to-human contact than ever before and more opportunities for biases to be embedded and codified in our technological systems in ways we may not even be able to identify or recognize. Bioengineering advances are opening up new terrain for challenging philosophical, political, and economic questions regarding human-natural relations. Additionally, the management of these large and small devices and systems is increasingly done through the cloud, so that control over them is both very remote and removed from direct human or social control. The study of how to make technologies like artificial intelligence or the Internet of Things “explainable” has become its own area of research because it is so difficult to understand how they work or what is at fault when something goes wrong (Gunning and Aha 2019) .

This growing complexity makes it more difficult than ever—and more imperative than ever—for scholars to probe how technological advancements are altering life around the world in both positive and negative ways and what social, political, and legal tools are needed to help shape the development and design of technology in beneficial directions. This can seem like an impossible task in light of the rapid pace of technological change and the sense that its continued advancement is inevitable, but many countries around the world are only just beginning to take significant steps toward regulating computer technologies and are still in the process of radically rethinking the rules governing global data flows and exchange of technology across borders.

These are exciting times not just for technological development but also for technology policy—our technologies may be more advanced and complicated than ever but so, too, are our understandings of how they can best be leveraged, protected, and even constrained. The structures of technological systems as determined largely by government and institutional policies and those structures have tremendous implications for social organization and agency, ranging from open source, open systems that are highly distributed and decentralized, to those that are tightly controlled and closed, structured according to stricter and more hierarchical models. And just as our understanding of the governance of technology is developing in new and interesting ways, so, too, is our understanding of the social, cultural, environmental, and political dimensions of emerging technologies. We are realizing both the challenges and the importance of mapping out the full range of ways that technology is changing our society, what we want those changes to look like, and what tools we have to try to influence and guide those shifts.

Technology can be a source of tremendous optimism. It can help overcome some of the greatest challenges our society faces, including climate change, famine, and disease. For those who believe in the power of innovation and the promise of creative destruction to advance economic development and lead to better quality of life, technology is a vital economic driver (Schumpeter 1942) . But it can also be a tool of tremendous fear and oppression, embedding biases in automated decision-making processes and information-processing algorithms, exacerbating economic and social inequalities within and between countries to a staggering degree, or creating new weapons and avenues for attack unlike any we have had to face in the past. Scholars have even contended that the emergence of the term technology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries marked a shift from viewing individual pieces of machinery as a means to achieving political and social progress to the more dangerous, or hazardous, view that larger-scale, more complex technological systems were a semiautonomous form of progress in and of themselves (Marx 2010) . More recently, technologists have sharply criticized what they view as a wave of new Luddites, people intent on slowing the development of technology and turning back the clock on innovation as a means of mitigating the societal impacts of technological change (Marlowe 1970) .

At the heart of fights over new technologies and their resulting global changes are often two conflicting visions of technology: a fundamentally optimistic one that believes humans use it as a tool to achieve greater goals, and a fundamentally pessimistic one that holds that technological systems have reached a point beyond our control. Technology philosophers have argued that neither of these views is wholly accurate and that a purely optimistic or pessimistic view of technology is insufficient to capture the nuances and complexity of our relationship to technology (Oberdiek and Tiles 1995) . Understanding technology and how we can make better decisions about designing, deploying, and refining it requires capturing that nuance and complexity through in-depth analysis of the impacts of different technological advancements and the ways they have played out in all their complicated and controversial messiness across the world.

These impacts are often unpredictable as technologies are adopted in new contexts and come to be used in ways that sometimes diverge significantly from the use cases envisioned by their designers. The internet, designed to help transmit information between computer networks, became a crucial vehicle for commerce, introducing unexpected avenues for crime and financial fraud. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, designed to connect friends and families through sharing photographs and life updates, became focal points of election controversies and political influence. Cryptocurrencies, originally intended as a means of decentralized digital cash, have become a significant environmental hazard as more and more computing resources are devoted to mining these forms of virtual money. One of the crucial challenges in this area is therefore recognizing, documenting, and even anticipating some of these unexpected consequences and providing mechanisms to technologists for how to think through the impacts of their work, as well as possible other paths to different outcomes (Verbeek 2006) . And just as technological innovations can cause unexpected harm, they can also bring about extraordinary benefits—new vaccines and medicines to address global pandemics and save thousands of lives, new sources of energy that can drastically reduce emissions and help combat climate change, new modes of education that can reach people who would otherwise have no access to schooling. Regulating technology therefore requires a careful balance of mitigating risks without overly restricting potentially beneficial innovations.

Nations around the world have taken very different approaches to governing emerging technologies and have adopted a range of different technologies themselves in pursuit of more modern governance structures and processes (Braman 2009) . In Europe, the precautionary principle has guided much more anticipatory regulation aimed at addressing the risks presented by technologies even before they are fully realized. For instance, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation focuses on the responsibilities of data controllers and processors to provide individuals with access to their data and information about how that data is being used not just as a means of addressing existing security and privacy threats, such as data breaches, but also to protect against future developments and uses of that data for artificial intelligence and automated decision-making purposes. In Germany, Technische Überwachungsvereine, or TÜVs, perform regular tests and inspections of technological systems to assess and minimize risks over time, as the tech landscape evolves. In the United States, by contrast, there is much greater reliance on litigation and liability regimes to address safety and security failings after-the-fact. These different approaches reflect not just the different legal and regulatory mechanisms and philosophies of different nations but also the different ways those nations prioritize rapid development of the technology industry versus safety, security, and individual control. Typically, governance innovations move much more slowly than technological innovations, and regulations can lag years, or even decades, behind the technologies they aim to govern.

In addition to this varied set of national regulatory approaches, a variety of international and nongovernmental organizations also contribute to the process of developing standards, rules, and norms for new technologies, including the International Organization for Standardization­ and the International Telecommunication Union. These multilateral and NGO actors play an especially important role in trying to define appropriate boundaries for the use of new technologies by governments as instruments of control for the state.

At the same time that policymakers are under scrutiny both for their decisions about how to regulate technology as well as their decisions about how and when to adopt technologies like facial recognition themselves, technology firms and designers have also come under increasing criticism. Growing recognition that the design of technologies can have far-reaching social and political implications means that there is more pressure on technologists to take into consideration the consequences of their decisions early on in the design process (Vincenti 1993; Winner 1980) . The question of how technologists should incorporate these social dimensions into their design and development processes is an old one, and debate on these issues dates back to the 1970s, but it remains an urgent and often overlooked part of the puzzle because so many of the supposedly systematic mechanisms for assessing the impacts of new technologies in both the private and public sectors are primarily bureaucratic, symbolic processes rather than carrying any real weight or influence.

Technologists are often ill-equipped or unwilling to respond to the sorts of social problems that their creations have—often unwittingly—exacerbated, and instead point to governments and lawmakers to address those problems (Zuckerberg 2019) . But governments often have few incentives to engage in this area. This is because setting clear standards and rules for an ever-evolving technological landscape can be extremely challenging, because enforcement of those rules can be a significant undertaking requiring considerable expertise, and because the tech sector is a major source of jobs and revenue for many countries that may fear losing those benefits if they constrain companies too much. This indicates not just a need for clearer incentives and better policies for both private- and public-sector entities but also a need for new mechanisms whereby the technology development and design process can be influenced and assessed by people with a wider range of experiences and expertise. If we want technologies to be designed with an eye to their impacts, who is responsible for predicting, measuring, and mitigating those impacts throughout the design process? Involving policymakers in that process in a more meaningful way will also require training them to have the analytic and technical capacity to more fully engage with technologists and understand more fully the implications of their decisions.

At the same time that tech companies seem unwilling or unable to rein in their creations, many also fear they wield too much power, in some cases all but replacing governments and international organizations in their ability to make decisions that affect millions of people worldwide and control access to information, platforms, and audiences (Kilovaty 2020) . Regulators around the world have begun considering whether some of these companies have become so powerful that they violate the tenets of antitrust laws, but it can be difficult for governments to identify exactly what those violations are, especially in the context of an industry where the largest players often provide their customers with free services. And the platforms and services developed by tech companies are often wielded most powerfully and dangerously not directly by their private-sector creators and operators but instead by states themselves for widespread misinformation campaigns that serve political purposes (Nye 2018) .

Since the largest private entities in the tech sector operate in many countries, they are often better poised to implement global changes to the technological ecosystem than individual states or regulatory bodies, creating new challenges to existing governance structures and hierarchies. Just as it can be challenging to provide oversight for government use of technologies, so, too, oversight of the biggest tech companies, which have more resources, reach, and power than many nations, can prove to be a daunting task. The rise of network forms of organization and the growing gig economy have added to these challenges, making it even harder for regulators to fully address the breadth of these companies’ operations (Powell 1990) . The private-public partnerships that have emerged around energy, transportation, medical, and cyber technologies further complicate this picture, blurring the line between the public and private sectors and raising critical questions about the role of each in providing critical infrastructure, health care, and security. How can and should private tech companies operating in these different sectors be governed, and what types of influence do they exert over regulators? How feasible are different policy proposals aimed at technological innovation, and what potential unintended consequences might they have?

Conflict between countries has also spilled over significantly into the private sector in recent years, most notably in the case of tensions between the United States and China over which technologies developed in each country will be permitted by the other and which will be purchased by other customers, outside those two countries. Countries competing to develop the best technology is not a new phenomenon, but the current conflicts have major international ramifications and will influence the infrastructure that is installed and used around the world for years to come. Untangling the different factors that feed into these tussles as well as whom they benefit and whom they leave at a disadvantage is crucial for understanding how governments can most effectively foster technological innovation and invention domestically as well as the global consequences of those efforts. As much of the world is forced to choose between buying technology from the United States or from China, how should we understand the long-term impacts of those choices and the options available to people in countries without robust domestic tech industries? Does the global spread of technologies help fuel further innovation in countries with smaller tech markets, or does it reinforce the dominance of the states that are already most prominent in this sector? How can research universities maintain global collaborations and research communities in light of these national competitions, and what role does government research and development spending play in fostering innovation within its own borders and worldwide? How should intellectual property protections evolve to meet the demands of the technology industry, and how can those protections be enforced globally?

These conflicts between countries sometimes appear to challenge the feasibility of truly global technologies and networks that operate across all countries through standardized protocols and design features. Organizations like the International Organization for Standardization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and many others have tried to harmonize these policies and protocols across different countries for years, but have met with limited success when it comes to resolving the issues of greatest tension and disagreement among nations. For technology to operate in a global environment, there is a need for a much greater degree of coordination among countries and the development of common standards and norms, but governments continue to struggle to agree not just on those norms themselves but even the appropriate venue and processes for developing them. Without greater global cooperation, is it possible to maintain a global network like the internet or to promote the spread of new technologies around the world to address challenges of sustainability? What might help incentivize that cooperation moving forward, and what could new structures and process for governance of global technologies look like? Why has the tech industry’s self-regulation culture persisted? Do the same traditional drivers for public policy, such as politics of harmonization and path dependency in policy-making, still sufficiently explain policy outcomes in this space? As new technologies and their applications spread across the globe in uneven ways, how and when do they create forces of change from unexpected places?

These are some of the questions that we hope to address in the Technology and Global Change section through articles that tackle new dimensions of the global landscape of designing, developing, deploying, and assessing new technologies to address major challenges the world faces. Understanding these processes requires synthesizing knowledge from a range of different fields, including sociology, political science, economics, and history, as well as technical fields such as engineering, climate science, and computer science. A crucial part of understanding how technology has created global change and, in turn, how global changes have influenced the development of new technologies is understanding the technologies themselves in all their richness and complexity—how they work, the limits of what they can do, what they were designed to do, how they are actually used. Just as technologies themselves are becoming more complicated, so are their embeddings and relationships to the larger social, political, and legal contexts in which they exist. Scholars across all disciplines are encouraged to join us in untangling those complexities.

Josephine Wolff is an associate professor of cybersecurity policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Her book You’ll See This Message When It Is Too Late: The Legal and Economic Aftermath of Cybersecurity Breaches was published by MIT Press in 2018.

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Karunaratne, Indika & Atukorale, Ajantha & Perera, Hemamali. (2011). Surveillance of human- computer interactions: A way forward to detection of users' Psychological Distress. 2011 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering, CHUSER 2011. 10.1109/CHUSER.2011.6163779.

June 9, 2023 / 0 comments / Reading Time: ~ 12 minutes

The Digital Revolution: How Technology is Changing the Way We Communicate and Interact

This article examines the impact of technology on human interaction and explores the ever-evolving landscape of communication. With the rapid advancement of technology, the methods and modes of communication have undergone a significant transformation. This article investigates both the positive and negative implications of this digitalization. Technological innovations, such as smartphones, social media, and instant messaging apps, have provided unprecedented accessibility and convenience, allowing people to connect effortlessly across distances. However, concerns have arisen regarding the quality and authenticity of these interactions. The article explores the benefits of technology, including improved connectivity, enhanced information sharing, and expanded opportunities for collaboration. It also discusses potential negative effects including a decline in in-person interactions, a loss of empathy, and an increase in online anxiety. This article tries to expand our comprehension of the changing nature of communication in the digital age by exposing the many ways that technology has an impact on interpersonal interactions. It emphasizes the necessity of intentional and thoughtful communication techniques to preserve meaningful connections in a society that is becoming more and more reliant on technology.

Introduction:

Technology has significantly transformed our modes of communication and interaction, revolutionizing the way we connect with one another over the past few decades. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst, expediting this transformative process, and necessitating our exclusive reliance on digital tools for socializing, working, and learning. Platforms like social media and video conferencing have emerged in recent years, expanding our options for virtual communication. The impact of these changes on our lives cannot be ignored. In this article, we will delve into the ways in which technology has altered our communication and interaction patterns and explore the consequences of these changes for our relationships, mental well-being, and society.

To gain a deeper understanding of this topic, I have conducted interviews and surveys, allowing us to gather firsthand insights from individuals of various backgrounds. Additionally, we will compare this firsthand information with the perspectives shared by experts in the field. By drawing on both personal experiences and expert opinions, we seek to provide a comprehensive analysis of how technology influences our interpersonal connections. Through this research, we hope to get a deeper comprehension of the complex interactions between technology and people, enabling us to move mindfully and purposefully through the rapidly changing digital environment.

The Evolution of Communication: From Face-to-Face to Digital Connections:

In the realm of communication, we have various mediums at our disposal, such as face-to-face interactions, telephone conversations, and internet-based communication. According to Nancy Baym, an expert in the field of technology and human connections, face-to-face communication is often regarded as the most personal and intimate, while the phone provides a more personal touch than the internet. She explains this in her book Personal Connections in the Digital Age by stating, “Face-to-face is much more personal; phone is personal as well, but not as intimate as face-to-face… Internet would definitely be the least personal, followed by the phone (which at least has the vocal satisfaction) and the most personal would be face-to-face” (Baym 2015).  These distinctions suggest that different communication mediums are perceived to have varying levels of effectiveness in conveying emotion and building relationships. This distinction raises thought-provoking questions about the impact of technology on our ability to forge meaningful connections. While the internet offers unparalleled convenience and connectivity, it is essential to recognize its limitations in reproducing the depth of personal interaction found in face-to-face encounters. These limitations may be attributed to the absence of nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice, which are vital elements in understanding and interpreting emotions accurately.

Traditionally, face-to-face interactions held a prominent role as the primary means of communication, facilitating personal and intimate connections. However, the rise of technology has brought about significant changes, making communication more convenient but potentially less personal. The rise of phones, instant messaging, and social media platforms has revolutionized how we connect with others. While these digital tools offer instant connectivity and enable us to bridge geographical distances, they introduce a layer of blockage that may impact the depth and quality of our interactions. It is worth noting that different communication mediums have their strengths and limitations. Phone conversations, for instance, retain a certain level of personal connection through vocal interactions, allowing for the conveyance of emotions and tones that text-based communication may lack. However, even with this advantage, phone conversations still fall short of the depth and richness found in face-to-face interactions, as they lack visual cues and physical presence.

Internet-based communication, on the other hand, is considered the least personal medium. Online interactions often rely on text-based exchanges, which may not fully capture the nuances of expression, tone, and body language. While the internet offers the ability to connect with a vast network of individuals and share information on a global scale, it may not facilitate the same depth and authenticity that in-person or phone conversations can provide. As a result, establishing meaningful connections and building genuine relationships in an online setting can be challenging. Research and observations support these ideas. Figure 1. titled “Social Interaction after Electronic Media Use,” shows the potential impact of electronic media on social interaction (source: ResearchGate). This research highlights the need to carefully consider the effects of technology on our interpersonal connections. While technology offers convenience and connectivity, it is essential to strike a balance, ensuring that we do not sacrifice the benefits of face-to-face interactions for the sake of digital convenience.

Figure 1:  Increased reliance on electronic media has led to a noticeable decrease in social interaction.

The Limitations and Effects of Digital Communication

In today’s digital age, the limitations and effects of digital communication are becoming increasingly evident. While the phone and internet offer undeniable benefits such as convenience and the ability to connect with people regardless of geographical distance, they fall short in capturing the depth and richness of a face-to-face conversation. The ability to be in the same physical space as the person we’re communicating with, observing their facial expressions, body language, and truly feeling their presence, is something unique and irreplaceable.

Ulrike Schultze, in her thought-provoking TED Talk titled “How Social Media Shapes Identity,” delves further into the impact of digital communication on our lives by stating, “we construct the technology, but the technology also constructs us. We become what technology allows us to become” (Schultze 2015). This concept highlights how our reliance on digital media for interaction has led to a transformation in how we express ourselves and relate to others.

The influence of social media has been profound in shaping our communication patterns and interpersonal dynamics. Research conducted by Kalpathy Subramanian (2017) examined the influence of social media on interpersonal communication, highlighting the changes it brings to the way we interact and express ourselves (Subramanian 2017). The study found that online communication often involves the use of abbreviations, emoticons, and hashtags, which have become embedded in our online discourse. These digital communication shortcuts prioritize speed and efficiency, but they also contribute to a shift away from the physical action of face-to-face conversation, where nonverbal cues and deeper emotional connections can be fostered.

Additionally, the study emphasizes the impact of social media on self-presentation and identity construction. With the rise of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, individuals have a platform to curate and present themselves to the world. This online self-presentation can influence how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us, potentially shaping our identities in the process. The study further suggests that the emphasis on self-presentation and the pressure to maintain a certain image on social media can lead to increased stress and anxiety among users.

Interviews:

I conducted interviews with individuals from different age groups to gain diverse perspectives on how technology and social media have transformed the way we connect with others. By exploring the experiences of a 21-year-old student and an individual in their 40s, we can better understand the evolving dynamics of interpersonal communication in the digital age. These interviews shed light on the prevalence of digital communication among younger generations, their preference for convenience, and the concerns raised by individuals from older age groups regarding the potential loss of deeper emotional connections.

When I asked the 21-year-old classmate about how technology has changed the way they interact with people in person, they expressed, “To be honest, I spend more time texting, messaging, or posting on social media than actually talking face-to-face with others. It’s just so much more convenient.” This response highlights the prevalence of digital communication among younger generations and their preference for convenience over traditional face-to-face interactions. It suggests that technology has significantly transformed the way young people engage with others, with a greater reliance on virtual interactions rather than in-person conversations. Additionally, the mention of convenience as a driving factor raises questions about the potential trade-offs in terms of depth and quality of interpersonal connections.

To gain insight from an individual in their 40s, I conducted another interview. When asked about their experiences with technology and social media, they shared valuable perspectives. They mentioned that while they appreciate the convenience and accessibility offered by technology, they also expressed concerns about its impact on interpersonal connections. They emphasized the importance of face-to-face interactions in building genuine relationships and expressed reservations about the potential loss of deeper emotional connections in digital communication. Additionally, they discussed the challenges of adapting to rapid technological advancements and the potential generational divide in communication preferences.

Comparing the responses from both interviews, it is evident that there are generational differences in the perception and use of technology for communication. While the 21-year-old classmate emphasized convenience as a primary factor in favor of digital communication, the individual in their 40s highlighted the importance of face-to-face interactions and expressed concerns about the potential loss of meaningful connections in the digital realm. This comparison raises questions about the potential impact of technology on the depth and quality of interpersonal relationships across different age groups. It also invites further exploration into how societal norms and technological advancements shape individuals’ preferences and experiences.

Overall, the interviews revealed a shift towards digital communication among both younger and older individuals, with varying perspectives. While convenience and connectivity are valued, concerns were raised regarding the potential drawbacks, including the pressure to maintain an idealized online presence and the potential loss of genuine connections. It is evident that technology and social media have transformed the way we communicate and interact with others, but the interviews also highlighted the importance of maintaining a balance and recognizing the value of face-to-face interactions in fostering meaningful relationships.

I have recently conducted a survey with my classmates to gather insights on how technology and social media have influenced communication and interaction among students in their daily lives. Although the number of responses is relatively small, the collected data allows us to gain a glimpse into individual experiences and perspectives on this matter.

One of the questions asked in the survey was how often students rely on digital communication methods, such as texting, messaging, or social media, in comparison to engaging in face-to-face conversations. The responses indicated a clear trend towards increased reliance on digital communication, with 85% of participants stating that they frequently use digital platforms as their primary means of communication. This suggests a significant shift away from traditional face-to-face interactions, highlighting the pervasive influence of technology in shaping our communication habits.

Furthermore, the survey explored changes in the quality of interactions and relationships due to the increased use of technology and social media. Interestingly, 63% of respondents reported that they had noticed a decrease in the depth and intimacy of their connections since incorporating more digital communication into their lives. Many participants expressed concerns about the difficulty of conveying emotions effectively through digital channels and the lack of non-verbal cues that are present in face-to-face interactions. It is important to note that while the survey results provide valuable insights into individual experiences, they are not representative of the entire student population. The small sample size limits the generalizability of the findings. However, the data collected does shed light on the potential impact of technology and social media on communication and interaction patterns among students.

Expanding on the topic, I found an insightful figure from Business Insider that sheds light on how people utilize their smartphones (Business Insider). Figure 2. illustrates the average smartphone owner’s daily time spent on various activities. Notably, communication activities such as texting, talking, and social networking account for a significant portion, comprising 59% of phone usage. This data reinforces the impact of digital communication on our daily lives, indicating the substantial role it plays in shaping our interactions with others.  Upon comparing this research with the data, I have gathered, a clear trend emerges, highlighting that an increasing number of individuals primarily utilize their smartphones for communication and interaction purposes.

Figure 2: The breakdown of daily smartphone usage among average users clearly demonstrates that the phone is primarily used for interactions.

The Digital Make Over:

In today’s digital age, the impact of technology on communication and interaction is evident, particularly in educational settings. As a college student, I have witnessed the transformation firsthand, especially with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The convenience of online submissions for assignments has led to a growing trend of students opting to skip physical classes, relying on the ability to submit their work remotely. Unfortunately, this shift has resulted in a decline in face-to-face interactions and communication among classmates and instructors.

The decrease in physical attendance raises concerns about the potential consequences for both learning and social connections within the academic community. Classroom discussions, collaborative projects, and networking opportunities are often fostered through in-person interactions. By limiting these experiences, students may miss out on valuable learning moments, diverse perspectives, and the chance to establish meaningful connections with their peers and instructors.

Simon Lindgren, in his thought-provoking Ted Talk , “Media Are Not Social, but People Are,” delves deeper into the effects of technology and social media on our interactions. Lindgren highlights a significant point by suggesting that while technology may have the potential to make us better individuals, we must also recognize its potential pitfalls. Social media, for instance, can create filter bubbles that limit our exposure to diverse viewpoints, making us less in touch with reality and more narrow-minded. This cautionary reminder emphasizes the need to approach social media thoughtfully, seeking out diverse perspectives and avoiding the pitfalls of echo chambers. Furthermore, it is crucial to strike a balance between utilizing technology for educational purposes and embracing the benefits of in-person interactions. While technology undoubtedly facilitates certain aspects of education, such as online learning platforms and digital resources, we must not overlook the importance of face-to-face communication. In-person interactions allow for nuanced non-verbal cues, deeper emotional connections, and real-time engagement that contribute to a more comprehensive learning experience.

A study conducted by Times Higher Education delved into this topic, providing valuable insights. Figure 3. from the study illustrates a significant drop in attendance levels after the pandemic’s onset. Undeniably, technology played a crucial role in facilitating the transition to online learning. However, it is important to acknowledge that this shift has also led to a decline in face-to-face interactions, which have long been regarded as essential for effective communication and relationship-building. While technology continues to evolve and reshape the educational landscape, it is imperative that we remain mindful of its impact on communication and interaction. Striking a balance between digital tools and in-person engagement can help ensure that we leverage the benefits of technology while preserving the richness of face-to-face interactions. By doing so, we can foster a holistic educational experience that encompasses the best of both worlds and cultivates meaningful connections among students, instructors, and the academic community.

Figure 3:  This graph offers convincing proof that the COVID-19 pandemic and the extensive use of online submission techniques are to blame for the sharp reduction in in-person student attendance.

When asked about the impact of online submissions for assignments on physical attendance in classes, the survey revealed mixed responses. While 73% of participants admitted that the convenience of online submissions has led them to skip classes occasionally, 27% emphasized the importance of in-person attendance for better learning outcomes and social interactions. This finding suggests that while technology offers convenience, it also poses challenges in maintaining regular face-to-face interactions, potentially hindering educational and social development, and especially damaging the way we communicate and interact with one another. Students are doing this from a young age, and it comes into huge effect once they are trying to enter the work force and interact with others. When examining the survey data alongside the findings from Times Higher Education, striking similarities become apparent regarding how students approach attending classes in person with the overall conclusion being a massive decrease in students attending class which hinders the chance for real life interaction and communication. the convenience and instant gratification provided by technology can create a sense of detachment and impatience in interpersonal interactions. Online platforms allow for quick and immediate responses, and individuals can easily disconnect or switch between conversations. This can result in a lack of attentiveness and reduced focus on the person with whom one is communicating, leading to a superficial engagement that may hinder the establishment of genuine connections.

Conclusion:

Ultimately, the digital revolution has profoundly transformed the way we communicate and interact with one another. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this transformation, leading to increased reliance on digital tools for socializing, working, and learning. While technology offers convenience and connectivity, it also introduces limitations and potential drawbacks. The shift towards digital communication raises concerns about the depth and quality of our connections, as well as the potential loss of face-to-face interactions. However, it is essential to strike a balance between digital and in-person engagement, recognizing the unique value of physical presence, non-verbal cues, and deeper emotional connections that face-to-face interactions provide. By navigating the digital landscape with mindfulness and intentionality, we can harness the transformative power of technology while preserving and nurturing the essential elements of human connection.

Moving forward, it is crucial to consider the impact of technology on our relationships, mental well-being, and society. As technology continues to evolve, we must be cautious of its potential pitfalls, such as the emphasis on self-presentation, the potential for increased stress and anxiety, and the risk of forgetting how to interact in person. Striking a balance between digital and face-to-face interactions can help ensure that technology enhances, rather than replaces, genuine human connections. By prioritizing meaningful engagement, valuing personal interactions, and leveraging the benefits of technology without compromising the depth and quality of our relationships, we can navigate the digital revolution in a way that enriches our lives and fosters authentic connections.

References:

Ballve, M. (2013, June 5). How much time do we really spend on our smartphones every day? Business Insider. Retrieved April 27, 2023. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-time-do-we-spend-on-smartphones-2013-6

Baym, N. (2015). Personal Connections in the Digital Age (2nd ed.). Polity.

Karunaratne, Indika & Atukorale, Ajantha & Perera, Hemamali. (2011). Surveillance of human-       computer interactions: A way forward to detection of users’ Psychological Distress. 2011 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering, CHUSER 2011.             10.1109/CHUSER.2011.6163779.  https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Social-interaction-vs-electronic-media-use-Hours-per-day-of-face-to-face-social_fig1_254056654

Lindgren, S. (2015, May 20). Media are not social, but people are | Simon Lindgren | TEDxUmeå . YouTube. Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ5S7VIWE6k

Ross, J., McKie, A., Havergal, C., Lem, P., & Basken, P. (2022, October 24). Class attendance plummets post-Covid . Times Higher Education (THE). Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/class-attendance-plummets-post-covid

Schultze, U. (2015, April 23). How social media shapes identity | Ulrike Schultze | TEDxSMU . YouTube. Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSpyZor-Byk

Subramanian, Dr. K .R. “Influence of Social Media in Interpersonal Communication – Researchgate.” ResearchGate.Net , www.researchgate.net/profile/Kalpathy-Subramanian/publication/319422885_Influence_of_Social_Media_in_Interpersonal_Communication/links/59a96d950f7e9b2790120fea/Influence-of-Social-Media-in-Interpersonal-Communication.pdf. Accessed 12 May 2023 .

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The Impact of Digital Technologies

Technologies can help make our world fairer, more peaceful, and more just. Digital advances can support and accelerate achievement of each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals – from ending extreme poverty to reducing maternal and infant mortality, promoting sustainable farming and decent work, and achieving universal literacy. But technologies can also threaten privacy, erode security and fuel inequality. They have implications for human rights and human agency. Like generations before, we – governments, businesses and individuals – have a choice to make in how we harness and manage new technologies.

A DIGITAL FUTURE FOR ALL?

Digital technologies have advanced more rapidly than any innovation in our history – reaching around 50 per cent of the developing world’s population in only two decades and transforming societies. By enhancing connectivity, financial inclusion, access to trade and public services, technology can be a great equaliser.

In the health sector, for instance, AI-enabled frontier technologies are helping to save lives, diagnose diseases and extend life expectancy. In education, virtual learning environments and distance learning have opened up programmes to students who would otherwise be excluded. Public services are also becoming more accessible and accountable through blockchain-powered systems, and less bureaucratically burdensome as a result of AI assistance.Big data can also support more responsive and accurate policies and programmes.

However, those yet to be connected remain cut off from the benefits of this new era and remain further behind. Many of the people left behind are women, the elderly, persons with disabilities or from ethnic or linguistic minorities, indigenous groups and residents of poor or remote areas. The pace of connectivity is slowing, even reversing, among some constituencies. For example, globally, the proportion of women using the internet is 12 per cent lower than that of men. While this gap narrowed in most regions between 2013 and 2017, it widened in the least developed countries from 30 per cent to 33 per cent.

The use of algorithms can replicate and even amplify human and systemic bias where they function on the basis of data which is not adequately diverse. Lack of diversity in the technology sector can mean that this challenge is not adequately addressed.

THE FUTURE OF WORK

Throughout history, technological revolutions have changed the labour force: creating new forms and patterns of work, making others obsolete, and leading to wider societal changes. This current wave of change is likely to have profound impacts. For example, the International Labour Organization estimates that the shift to a greener economy could create 24 million new jobs globally by 2030 through the adoption of sustainable practices in the energy sector, the use of electric vehicles and increasing energy efficiency in existing and future buildings.

Meanwhile, reports by groups such as McKinsey suggest that 800 million people could lose their jobs to automation by 2030 , while polls reveal that the majority of all employees worry that they do not have the necessary training or skills to get a well-paid job.

There is broad agreement that managing these trends will require changes in our approach to education, for instance, by placing more emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and maths; by teaching soft skills, and resilience; and by ensuring that people can re-skill and up-skill throughout their lifetimes. Unpaid work, for example childcare and elderly care in the home, will need to be better supported, especially as with the shifting age profile of global populations, the demands on these tasks are likely to increase.

THE FUTURE OF DATA

Today, digital technologies such as data pooling and AI are used to track and diagnose issues in agriculture, health, and the environment, or to perform daily tasks such as navigating traffic or paying a bill. They can be used to defend and exercise human rights – but they can also be used to violate them, for example, by monitoring our movements, purchases, conversations and behaviours. Governments and businesses increasingly have the tools to mine and exploit data for financial and other purposes.

However, personal data would become an asset to a person, if there were a formula for better regulation of personal data ownership. Data-powered technology has the potential to empower individuals, improve human welfare, and promote universal rights, depending on the type of protections put in place.

THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media connects almost half of the entire global population . It enables people to make their voices heard and to talk to people across the world in real time. However, it can also reinforce prejudices and sow discord, by giving hate speech and misinformation a platform, or by amplifying echo chambers.

In this way, social media algorithms can fuel the fragmentation of societies around the world. And yet they also have the potential to do the opposite.

THE FUTURE OF CYBERSPACE

How to manage these developments is the subject of much discussion – nationally and internationally – at a time when geopolitical tensions are on the rise. The UN Secretary-General has warned of a ‘great fracture’ between world powers, each with their own internet and AI strategy, as well as dominant currency, trade and financial rules and contradictory geopolitical and military views. Such a divide could establish a digital Berlin Wall. Increasingly, digital cooperation between states – and a universal cyberspace that reflects global standards for peace and security, human rights and sustainable development – is seen as crucial to ensuring a united world. A ‘global commitment for digital cooperation’ is a key recommendation by the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation .

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The Sustainable Development Goals

The Age of Digital Interdependence: Report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation

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Secretary General’s Address to the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly

Secretary General’s Strategy on New Technology

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How Tech Has Changed Our Lives In The Last 10 Years

Several tech experts weigh in on the technologies of the past decade that had the greatest impact on society.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Ari Shapiro. And...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

MICHELE NORRIS: I'm Michele Norris.

MELISSA BLOCK: I'm Melissa Block, and it's time now for All Tech Considered.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SHAPIRO: That is how the first All Tech Considered of the decade began on January 4, 2010. Sad to say, Michele and Melissa are not here in the studio with me this Christmas Day. A lot has changed since then - hosts of this program and technology.

In a minute, we'll look ahead to the next decade in tech. Before we do, let's revisit this one. We asked three experts to pick what they see as the most significant ways tech has changed our lives since 2009. The most obvious advancement was the smartphone. They were around in 2009, but now 81% of Americans own one. And technology reporter Omar Gallaga says they've almost become an appendage.

OMAR GALLAGA: I was in a restaurant over the weekend, and, you know, just across from me, a woman's phone was going off every five seconds. You know, I heard a chime or an alert - you know, different alerts out of her phone every - and I'm, like, how is she functioning as a human in this world? You know, she didn't even notice that those alerts were going off. I mean, that's how much a part of her life they must be, so...

SHAPIRO: And it's not just the phones. Gallaga's daughters, who are 10 and 12, have tablets. He says kids these days just go through life differently from a decade ago.

GALLAGA: When you see kids at the doctor's office looking at magazines, and they're trying to, like, you know, scroll the page (laughter), the print page - like, yeah. Yep, that's an iPad kid right there.

SHAPIRO: Next, we turn to Erin Hatton. She is an associate professor of sociology at the University at Buffalo. And for her, the most significant change of the decade is something that would not have been possible without the smartphone - it's the gig economy, enabled by apps like Uber, TaskRabbit and Airbnb. Hatton says they've redefined what it is to be a worker.

ERIN HATTON: I think that this work has started new conversations between workers and across sectors in rethinking what it means to be a worker and potentially rethinking what kinds of benefits and protections we attach to work.

SHAPIRO: Beyond our daily lives or our work, tech in the last decade has also shaped what we believe to be true. Sometimes we know we're being faked, like in Martin Scorsese's movie "The Irishman." Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, who are both in their 70s, look much younger thanks to technology. In some scenes, they're in their 40s.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE IRISHMAN")

JOE PESCI: (As Russell Bufalino) What's the problem, kid?

ROBERT DE NIRO: (As Frank Sheeran) I don't know. It sounds funny - stops and starts and loses power.

PESCI: (As Russell Bufalino) I can give you a hand.

SHAPIRO: It's believable. Of course, there is a darker side of this technology, too. Michael Fink is a professor of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, and he says it's easier than ever before to manipulate videos and make it seem like something happened when it never did.

MICHAEL FINK: The software has become so powerful that things can be altered, changed, modified so quickly that people would think, oh, my god. That has to be real. It just happened. And that's not true. The reality is fungible. It can be used by dark forces - let's put it that way - people with absolutely nothing but malevolence at the core of their being. And it's scary.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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• Speech Writing /

Speech on Impact of Technology on Our Health

• Updated on  
• Dec 6, 2023

Technology has covered all our aspects of life. Technology has completely changed our lives from our alarm clocks in the morning to evening TV shows or internet surfacing. We all have access to electronic devices and gadgets, which we use for our day-to-day needs. Do you want to talk to someone? You have a cell phone or a social media account. Although technology has improved our lives in several ways, there are certain health issues related to it. One of the classic examples is the emission of blue light from our smartphones or laptops, which causes eyestrain and headaches. Below, we have highlighted a speech on impact of technology on our health for students.

Also Read: 160+ Best and Easy English Speech Topics for Students

Also Read: Speech on Beauty Is In The Eye of The Beholder

2-Minute Speech on Impact of Technology on Our Health

‘Hello and welcome to everyone present here. I would like to thank you all for giving me this wonderful opportunity to present myself in a speech on Impact of Technology on Our Health.’

‘Health is something we all care about. Remember that quote; Health is wealth. Excessive use of technological devices results in negative impacts on our mental, psychological, social, and physical health.’

‘Some of the common impacts of technology on our physical health are obesity and related conditions. We youngsters spend long hours in front of our computer screens or smartphones, which results in pain in our eyes, known as eyestrain. Technology has given us easy access to any and every information of the world, be it past, present, or sometimes future. Because of this, we remain seated for long hours on a single chair, bed, or sofa, which affects our physical health.’

‘Another impact of technology on our health is its influence on our mental well-being. With benefits like unprecedented connectivity and access to information, new challenges have also emerged. How many times in a day your your cell phone buzz due to notifications? How many times do you check the time on your phone? Constantly checking your cell phone desktop will increase mental stress, and anxiety and it may even lead to depression.’

‘How can we neglect the threat of AI on employment and job security? No doubt AI  and automation has led to some outstanding developments in various fields, but the fear of job displacement can a devastating consequence. Fear of losing your job may lead to mental disorders, and might contribute to societal well-being.’

‘We must use technology to gain information and socialize with people. Staying long hours online, playing video games, unnecessary internet surfing, and various other activities will lead to unhealthy habits. We need to recognize the potential risks associated with the use of technology and adopt a balanced lifestyle.

Thank you.’

Also Read: How to Tackle Bad Habits Speech

Also Read: Speech on Social Media Bane or Boon

10 Lines on the Impact of Technology

Here are 10 lines on the impact of technology. Feel free to add them to your speech or any writing topics related to technology.

• ‘Excessive use of electronic devices causes physical, psychological and social problems.’
• ‘Technology is the use of scientific knowledge for our well-being.’
• ‘Technology is a good servant but a bad master.’
• ‘Technology has allowed us to accomplish what was once impossible.’
• ‘Portable gadgets like mobile phones and laptops have made information accessible to everyone.’
•  ‘Developments in medical technology have improved diagnosis and treatment options.’
• ‘Our nature of work has changed because of artificial intelligence and automation.’
• ‘E-commerce platforms have revolutionized our ways of shopping and buying items’
• ‘Some of the health issues related to excessive use of technological devices are obesity, insomnia and weak eyesight.
• ‘Cybersecurity has become an important concern as it deals with sensitive information.’

Ans: Technology has greatly improved our lives in several ways. It has allowed us to access any and every piece of information around the world in real-time, we can build and create big skyscrapers, travel to faraway places within hours, and even travel to outer space. Technology has transformed our traditional way of living into today’s modern world. Our education and health systems, law and order, and even governance heavily rely on technology for smooth functioning.

Ans: Technology has covered all aspects of our lives. Today, almost every industry and sector relies on technology for its smooth functioning. What we once considered impossible is now achievable because of technology. However, relying too much on something makes us vulnerable, and so is the case with technology. There are impacts of technology on our health, such as physical, mental, psychological, and social. Staring for long on a computer or mobile screen causes eyestrain and body pain, keeping ourselves busy on social media isolates us from the real world and what we see on the internet is what we expect, which is not the case in real life. When our expectations are not met, it leads to psychological problems like mental stress and depression.

Ans: ‘Excessive use of electronic devices causes physical, psychological, and social problems.’ ‘Technology is the use of scientific knowledge for our well-being.’ ‘Technology is a good servant but a bad master.’ ‘Technology has allowed us to accomplish what was once impossible.’ ‘Portable gadgets like mobile phones and laptops have made information accessible to everyone.’

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For more information on such interesting speech topics for your school, visit our speech writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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Speech on Technology for Students and Children

3 minutes speech on technology.

We live in the 21st century, where we do all over work with the help of technology. We know technology as the name “technological know-how”. Read Speech on Technology.

Also, it implies the modern practical knowledge that we require to do things in an effective and efficient manner. Moreover, technological advancements have made life easier and convenient.

We use this technology on a daily basis to fulfill our interests and particular duties. From morning till evening we use this technology as it helps us numerous ways.

Also, it benefits all age groups, people, until and unless they know how to access the same. However, one must never forget that anything that comes to us has its share of pros and cons.

Benefits of Technology

In our day-to-day life technology is very useful and important. Furthermore, it has made communication much easier than ever before. The introduction of modified and advanced innovations of phones and its application has made connecting to people much easier.

Moreover, technology-not only transformed our professional world but also has changed the household life to a great extent. In addition, most of the technology that we today use is generally automatic in comparison to that our parents and grandparents had in their days.

Due to technology in the entertainment industry, they have more techniques to provide us with a more realistic real-time experience.

Get the Huge list of 100+ Speech Topics here

Drawbacks of Technology

On the one hand, technology provides users with benefits or advantages, while on the other hand, it has some drawbacks too. These drawbacks or disadvantages negatively affect the importance of technology. One of the biggest problems, which everyone can easily observe, is unemployment.

In so many sectors, due to the over practice and much involvement of technology the machines have replaced human labor leading to unemployment.

Moreover, certain physiological researches teams have also proved their disadvantages. Because of the presence of social media applications like Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, etc. the actual isolation has increased manifold. And ultimately it leads to increased loneliness and depression cases amongst the youngsters.

Due to the dependence of humans on technology, it has deteriorated the intelligence and creativity of children. Moreover, in today’s world technology is very important but if the people use it negatively, then there arises the negativity of the technology.

However, one thing that we need to keep in mind is that innovations are made to help us not to make us a victim of this technology.

How to use Technology?

Today we have technology that can transform lives. We have quick and vast access to the reservoir of knowledge through the Internet. So, we should make good use of it to solve the problems that we have around the world.

In the past, people use to write a letter to people that take many days to reach the destination, like the money order, personal letter, or a greeting card, but now we can send them much easily within few minutes.

Nowadays, we can easily transfer money online through our mobile phone and can send greetings through e-mail within a matter of minutes.

Besides, we cannot simply sum up the advantages and usefulness of technology at our fingertips.

In conclusion, I would say that it depends on a person that to what degree she/he wants to be dependent on technology. Moreover, there is nothing in the world that comes easy and it’s up to our conscience to decide what we want to learn from the things that we are provided to us.

Technology is not just a boom but a curse too. On one hand, it can save lives, on the other hand, it can destroy them too.

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• General English

Technology and our daily lives

What role does technology play in your life? Watch the video to hear people discussing this question.

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Preparation

Video zone: Technology and our daily lives – preparation

I think technology, in general, has been worked in to everyone's day-to-day life.

It is the first thing I do when I wake up, and when I go to bed.

It's easy to just pick up your phone, turn it on.

Call a ride, and just go wherever you want.

New places to eat, new places to explore.

It's great to stay in touch.

I met my girlfriend on an online dating app, so I'd say that's a positive right there.

Do you feel like you're in control of technology or is technology in control of you? 

Oh, it's definitely more in control of me.

My biggest issue with it is knowing when to stop.

Five and ten minutes here and there, and I feel like it takes up, you know, takes up a bunch of my day.

I feel like it's in control of me, like, if my phone's dead for, like, half the day or something, and I'm going crazy.

I think my math grade is the way it is because of my phone.

Now I notice my eyes are, like, a little, like, I blink a little bit more, they get tired.

He should just throw his phone away.

Usually, I feel in control of technology. Usually.

Usually, I can catch myself and be like, 'You need to chill out.'

I think you have to set a limit, and say that you control the phone, it doesn't control you.

I'd say most people hate on technology, but if you're using it for good things, I think it's really helpful.

Well, we think it's important that they do have access to it and learn it.

Technology is not so much as a necessary evil, it's a necessary good that could go either way. You know, the jury's out. It's up to us as to what we do with the technology.

Video zone: Technology and our daily lives – 1

Video zone: Technology and our daily lives – 2

What about you? Do you feel as if you're in control of technology, or is technology in control of you?

Language level

 I am not sure for this,but mostly,I 'm in control of the phnoe

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What about you? Do you feel as if you're in control of technology, or is technology in control of you? I feel sometimes that I'm in both of this conditions. When there was nothing to do, I'm in control of technology. When I had something to do, I must do that and try not to focus on technology. I should have priority on technology.

I think the old man is right; I mean, the jury's out. I use technology for learning languages, looking for e-books, articles, etc. I also use technology on my phone: Instagram, WhatsApp, etc. Sometimes, I spend too much time on social media. I am getting used to spending less time.

Sometimes I control the technology, but when I use it for many times, it looks the technology starts to control me. I always need to take care about it.

It's a difficult question because sometimes technology controls me and others I control technology, for example, If I'm bored in a meeting at work or in a place waiting for someone, I chill out with my phone. In the morning, I need the phone to wake up no matter what, but if I'm with friends or family I don't care if my phone's dead.

I can keep in control of the technology during the day but at night it’s really difficult to put the phone down and try to sleep.

Yes, definitely , the technology is in control of me, because I´m surrounded by iIt, I worked with It and I can´t being with out my smartphone even when I have to go to the bathroom or having lunch, sometimes I totally forgot my phone and these moments are precisely diferents in terms of how I can enjoy myself.

I think we need to have more control over the technology that we use every day, but for that, we need to understand how it works.

I think most of the time I control technology because I decide when or in what moment I will use my phone or my laptop, for example. But in some situations I feel technology controls me, for instance, when I spend much time watching videos in social networks like Instagram.

I think technology is great, whereas it definitely has its down points, if you allow them to take control over you. I liked this lesson pretty much! A proof that a well designed one can improve your knowledge a lot in a short amount of time.

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Technology over the long run: zoom out to see how dramatically the world can change within a lifetime

It is easy to underestimate how much the world can change within a lifetime. considering how dramatically the world has changed can help us see how different the world could be in a few years or decades..

Technology can change the world in ways that are unimaginable until they happen. Switching on an electric light would have been unimaginable for our medieval ancestors. In their childhood, our grandparents would have struggled to imagine a world connected by smartphones and the Internet.

Similarly, it is hard for us to imagine the arrival of all those technologies that will fundamentally change the world we are used to.

We can remind ourselves that our own future might look very different from the world today by looking back at how rapidly technology has changed our world in the past. That’s what this article is about.

One insight I take away from this long-term perspective is how unusual our time is. Technological change was extremely slow in the past – the technologies that our ancestors got used to in their childhood were still central to their lives in their old age. In stark contrast to those days, we live in a time of extraordinarily fast technological change. For recent generations, it was common for technologies that were unimaginable in their youth to become common later in life.

The long-run perspective on technological change

The big visualization offers a long-term perspective on the history of technology. 1

The timeline begins at the center of the spiral. The first use of stone tools, 3.4 million years ago, marks the beginning of this history of technology. 2 Each turn of the spiral represents 200,000 years of history. It took 2.4 million years – 12 turns of the spiral – for our ancestors to control fire and use it for cooking. 3

To be able to visualize the inventions in the more recent past – the last 12,000 years – I had to unroll the spiral. I needed more space to be able to show when agriculture, writing, and the wheel were invented. During this period, technological change was faster, but it was still relatively slow: several thousand years passed between each of these three inventions.

From 1800 onwards, I stretched out the timeline even further to show the many major inventions that rapidly followed one after the other.

The long-term perspective that this chart provides makes it clear just how unusually fast technological change is in our time.

You can use this visualization to see how technology developed in particular domains. Follow, for example, the history of communication: from writing to paper, to the printing press, to the telegraph, the telephone, the radio, all the way to the Internet and smartphones.

Or follow the rapid development of human flight. In 1903, the Wright brothers took the first flight in human history (they were in the air for less than a minute), and just 66 years later, we landed on the moon. Many people saw both within their lifetimes: the first plane and the moon landing.

This large visualization also highlights the wide range of technology’s impact on our lives. It includes extraordinarily beneficial innovations, such as the vaccine that allowed humanity to eradicate smallpox , and it includes terrible innovations, like the nuclear bombs that endanger the lives of all of us .

What will the next decades bring?

The red timeline reaches up to the present and then continues in green into the future. Many children born today, even without further increases in life expectancy, will live well into the 22nd century.

New vaccines, progress in clean, low-carbon energy, better cancer treatments – a range of future innovations could very much improve our living conditions and the environment around us. But, as I argue in a series of articles , there is one technology that could even more profoundly change our world: artificial intelligence (AI).

One reason why artificial intelligence is such an important innovation is that intelligence is the main driver of innovation itself. This fast-paced technological change could speed up even more if it’s driven not only by humanity’s intelligence but also by artificial intelligence. If this happens, the change currently stretched out over decades might happen within a very brief time span of just a year. Possibly even faster. 4

I think AI technology could have a fundamentally transformative impact on our world. In many ways, it is already changing our world, as I documented in this companion article . As this technology becomes more capable in the years and decades to come, it can give immense power to those who control it (and it poses the risk that it could escape our control entirely).

Such systems might seem hard to imagine today, but AI technology is advancing quickly. Many AI experts believe there is a real chance that human-level artificial intelligence will be developed within the next decades, as I documented in this article .

Technology will continue to change the world – we should all make sure that it changes it for the better

What is familiar to us today – photography, the radio, antibiotics, the Internet, or the International Space Station circling our planet – was unimaginable to our ancestors just a few generations ago. If your great-great-great grandparents could spend a week with you, they would be blown away by your everyday life.

What I take away from this history is that I will likely see technologies in my lifetime that appear unimaginable to me today.

In addition to this trend towards increasingly rapid innovation, there is a second long-run trend. Technology has become increasingly powerful. While our ancestors wielded stone tools, we are building globe-spanning AI systems and technologies that can edit our genes.

Because of the immense power that technology gives those who control it, there is little that is as important as the question of which technologies get developed during our lifetimes. Therefore, I think it is a mistake to leave the question about the future of technology to the technologists. Which technologies are controlled by whom is one of the most important political questions of our time because of the enormous power these technologies convey to those who control them.

We all should strive to gain the knowledge we need to contribute to an intelligent debate about the world we want to live in. To a large part, this means gaining knowledge and wisdom on the question of which technologies we want.

Acknowledgments: I would like to thank my colleagues Hannah Ritchie, Bastian Herre, Natasha Ahuja, Edouard Mathieu, Daniel Bachler, Charlie Giattino, and Pablo Rosado for their helpful comments on drafts of this essay and the visualization. Thanks also to Lizka Vaintrob and Ben Clifford for the conversation that initiated this visualization.

Appendix: About the choice of visualization in this article

The recent speed of technological change makes it difficult to picture the history of technology in one visualization. When you visualize this development on a linear timeline, then most of the timeline is almost empty, while all the action is crammed into the right corner:

In my large visualization here, I tried to avoid this problem and instead show the long history of technology in a way that lets you see when each technological breakthrough happened and how, within the last millennia, there was a continuous acceleration of technological change.

The recent speed of technological change makes it difficult to picture the history of technology in one visualization. In the appendix, I show how this would look if it were linear.

It is, of course, difficult to assess when exactly the first stone tools were used.

The research by McPherron et al. (2010) suggested that it was at least 3.39 million years ago. This is based on two fossilized bones found in Dikika in Ethiopia, which showed “stone-tool cut marks for flesh removal and percussion marks for marrow access”. These marks were interpreted as being caused by meat consumption and provide the first evidence that one of our ancestors, Australopithecus afarensis, used stone tools.

The research by Harmand et al. (2015) provided evidence for stone tool use in today’s Kenya 3.3 million years ago.

References:

McPherron et al. (2010) – Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia . Published in Nature.

Harmand et al. (2015) – 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya . Published in Nature.

Evidence for controlled fire use approximately 1 million years ago is provided by Berna et al. (2012) Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa , published in PNAS.

The authors write: “The ability to control fire was a crucial turning point in human evolution, but the question of when hominins first developed this ability still remains. Here we show that micromorphological and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (mFTIR) analyses of intact sediments at the site of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa, provide unambiguous evidence—in the form of burned bone and ashed plant remains—that burning took place in the cave during the early Acheulean occupation, approximately 1.0 Ma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest secure evidence for burning in an archaeological context.”

This is what authors like Holden Karnofsky called ‘Process for Automating Scientific and Technological Advancement’ or PASTA. Some recent developments go in this direction: DeepMind’s AlphaFold helped to make progress on one of the large problems in biology, and they have also developed an AI system that finds new algorithms that are relevant to building a more powerful AI.

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The Positive and Negative Effects of Technology on Your Life

As a society, we've come a long way with the help of technology. But is it all rainbows and sunshine? Or does technology have its downsides?

Technology is around us everywhere, from simple devices like our smartphones, laptop, and TV to background tech that we don't even notice. It isn't going anywhere anytime soon, meaning we have to get accustomed to it. Once we get the hang of using tech the right way, it can improve our lives.

On the other hand, tech can also make our lives harder. Whether tech has a positive or negative effect on our lives, it all depends on how we use it. So, let's look at some of the positive and negative aspects of technology in our lives, shall we?

Positives of Technology in Our Lives

Technology has, without a doubt, made all our lives easier over the past two decades. From connecting with people across the globe from the comfort of your home to running a full-fledged business without a physical space, technology has impacted our lives positively in several ways. So, read on below:

1. Technology Boosts Business

Many new tech advancements and innovations are made by and for businesses. Why? Because companies are always looking to upgrade their products and services for profit.

New technology continues to come out faster than we can keep up with. The purpose is to boost business and make the daily management of enterprises more systematic, structured, and successful.

Tech has boosted businesses by improving the hiring process, error-free collection and analysis of business data, and better communication with clients and partners.

Additionally, tech has also changed the way we work remotely for the better. It is now commonplace for people to work from home. However, certain tech, like the cloud, has made it easier than ever to work whether you're at the office or not.

What's more, tech has made it effortless to communicate remotely too. Businesses now typically use tools like Slack and Zoom on a regular basis.

2. Technology Makes Shopping Online Possible

Advancements in tech have made it easier for more people to access the internet, resulting in online shopping being more popular now than ever.

Currently, most people prefer to shop online without leaving the house because of its sheer convenience. Instead of wasting hours in the shopping mall, tech makes shopping simple.

A few of the benefits of online shopping include cheaper products, saved time, fuel, and energy, easier-to-find items, a wider variety online, and no added pressure.

Amazon is a great website to do basically all of your online shopping. It's one of the most popular online shopping platforms because you can practically find everything you're looking for, from groceries to clothing.

Generous discounts, cheap shipping, and a massive selection of products are just some of the other excellent benefits of shopping online using Amazon. What's more, there is an Amazon Shopping mobile app that you can download and use for free. If Amazon isn't available to you there are plenty of alternatives to Amazon for your online shopping .

Download: Amazon Shopping for iOS | Android

3. Technology Has Advanced Education

One of the most downplayed areas of technology that has dramatically improved over the past few years is education. Technology has definitely been beneficial for those in the business world, but it has impacted education in a big way.

A few examples include the availability of online courses, accessibility of web seminars, and unlimited online resources for research. Before tech, you'd have to physically go to class, attend a meeting or go to the library to do research.

Now, education is easier for everyone, no matter where you live. Online classes have made it possible for all students to enroll without leaving their homes.

Today, you can find several great sites for free college courses online , such as Udemy—a fantastic website that offers thousands of free and paid-for courses to choose from. Whether you want to create virtual reality games or become a yoga instructor, Udemy has a course that's perfect for you.

In terms of technology, Udemy also offers a wide variety of great tech-related online courses. The categories available range from IT hardware and software to operating systems and network and security. So tech can help you master your chosen path and possibly broaden your career opportunities.

4. Technology Makes Everyday Life Better

Most technology these days is created to improve businesses and generate profit. However, tech can also make our daily lives so much better.

Tech has made an immensely positive impact on the daily lives of everyday people. Some positive examples include improvements in the transportation system.

The Bullet Train is an amazing piece of tech that can travel six times faster than a regular train. Think about the introduction of self-driving cars, too: they were unheard of a few years ago, and now they're a reality.

A fair amount of people drive Teslas, and they are well-known for having state-of-the-art self-driving capabilities. Some other companies that support autonomous driving capabilities besides Tesla are Mercedes-Benz and Volvo.

Besides transportation, technology has also had a positive influence on household items. For example, smart homes are now commonplace. Smart hubs allow households to connect their devices and appliances, making life a lot easier.

Negatives of Technology in Our Lives

As much as we appreciate technology for the convenience it brought to our lives, several aspects of it have impacted our society negatively in more ways than one.

1. Technology Causes Health Problems

As technology advances, we are connected now more than ever, and it has become a huge part of our lives. That's why it's possible for technology to impact our physical health negatively.

These physical health problems can be severe. Nevertheless, you can avoid most of them by creating healthy tech habits instead of bad ones.

Apart from creating unhealthy sleeping patterns, electronic devices can cause digital eye strain, poor posture, and increased inactivity, leading to health problems like obesity.

Taking regular breaks from these devices can help you avoid these health problems. You can find a range of apps that remind you to take frequent breaks.

One popular app to use is called Focus Keeper. This app will help you reduce your digital eye strain, take regular breaks, and prevent tech burnout.

Using the Focus Keeper app is easy. All you have to do is pick the time you want to focus on something and hit the play button to start the session. When the session is over there is a quick break and then the next session begins.

In addition, you can customize the settings under Options to change the sessions per round, daily focus goal, and timer sounds.

Download: Focus Keeper for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

2. Technology Creates Job Insecurity

Job loss and downsizing are two significant adverse effects of technology. Because of advances in the tech field such as AI integration, automating and accomplishing tasks have become easy.

In this day and age, most companies need to stay up to date with the latest technology, but in the process, low-skilled employees, like factory workers and cashiers, will be replaced.

Machines can now carry out tasks that only humans could do so far, which creates a massive shortage of jobs. The bottom line is that people aren't necessarily needed for work tasks anymore because of how efficient tech has become.

3. Tech Products Lack Longevity

Technology grows incredibly quickly, so the digital devices and gadgets that we use have a short lifespan and become outdated in a matter of months.

Since these devices are so important in our daily lives, we need to maintain and upgrade them regularly. Besides maintenance and upgrades, these pieces of tech may just become outdated and pushed aside by newer, more advanced versions.

Tech products lack longevity, so they can be costly and lead to unnecessary e-waste. Instead of throwing your older devices away or tossing them in the cupboard, use a website like Decluttr . This site makes it easy to buy and sell your used tech online.

You can sell your old tech on the Decluttr website, whether you want to get rid of your outdated phone, wearable, or console.

When you've found the correct category and product, tap Sell Now and the website gives you an instant price based on its carrier and condition. Moreover, Decluttr is also available as a free iOS or Android app to help you declutter your life .

4. Technology Spawns Misinformation and Fake News

The spread of misinformation and fake news online is nothing new. In fact, it has been going on for many years. However, with all the developments that happen so frequently in technology, it has become harder to define what's true and what's not.

Since so many people cannot tell what information is factual and what isn't, it creates a lot of skepticism and misunderstanding about important topics. This can be especially harmful when it comes to political issues and trusting the media.

One example of how tech advancements are negatively affecting us is the use of deepfakes. Several negative deepfake incidents have surfaced, and it's getting harder and harder to spot them.

These incidents can warn us about the possible risk of tech in the future. If you're finding it difficult to spot fake news and misinformation , an online platform like Credder is a great tool to use.

Credder will help you avoid fake news and misinformation because it only follows news and information provided by trustworthy sources.

Technology Is a Boon and Bane to Society

Overall, tech is amazing, and it has changed the world for the better, from improving our daily lives to building better businesses. The majority of the adverse effects of technology stem from its misuse.

The way we choose to utilize tech can help or harm ourselves and others. Instead of blaming the tool, we need to use technology in a healthy, more disciplined way. By doing this, technology can continue to benefit our lives.

Navigating the Digital Age The Impact of Technology on Modern Society

I n the rapidly evolving landscape of the 21st century, technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, transforming the way we communicate, work, and interact with the world around us. From the advent of the internet to the rise of smartphones and artificial intelligence, the digital age has brought about unprecedented changes, reshaping virtually every aspect of modern society. In this article, we will explore the multifaceted impact of technology on various facets of human existence, examining both its benefits and challenges.

The Digital Revolution: The digital revolution, characterized by the proliferation of digital technologies and the internet, has fundamentally altered the way information is created, disseminated, and consumed. The internet has democratized access to knowledge, enabling individuals to access vast repositories of information with a few clicks. Social media platforms have connected people across the globe, facilitating communication and collaboration on an unprecedented scale. However, the digital revolution has also brought about concerns regarding privacy, data security, and the spread of misinformation.

Transforming Communication: Technology has revolutionized communication, breaking down geographical barriers and enabling instant communication across vast distances. Email, instant messaging, and social media platforms have made it easier than ever to stay connected with friends, family, and colleagues. Video conferencing tools have transformed the way businesses conduct meetings, allowing for seamless collaboration among remote teams. However, the prevalence of digital communication has also led to concerns about the erosion of face-to-face interactions and the rise of digital addiction.

Impact on Education: The integration of technology into education has transformed the way students learn and teachers instruct. Online learning platforms and educational apps have made learning more accessible and personalized, allowing students to learn at their own pace and access resources tailored to their individual needs. Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies have enhanced the learning experience, enabling students to engage with immersive educational content. However, the digital divide remains a significant challenge, with disparities in access to technology exacerbating inequalities in education.

Revolutionizing Healthcare: Advances in technology have revolutionized healthcare, transforming the diagnosis, treatment, and management of diseases. Telemedicine has emerged as a valuable tool for delivering healthcare remotely, particularly in underserved areas with limited access to medical facilities. Wearable devices and health tracking apps have empowered individuals to take control of their health and monitor vital signs in real-time. Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms hold the potential to revolutionize medical diagnostics and personalized medicine. However, concerns about data privacy, security, and the ethical implications of AI in healthcare remain.

Impact on Work and Employment: The rise of automation and artificial intelligence is reshaping the labor market, with profound implications for employment and the nature of work. Automation has led to the displacement of jobs in traditional industries, while creating new opportunities in emerging fields such as data science, cybersecurity, and digital marketing. Remote work has become increasingly prevalent, facilitated by advances in communication technology and collaboration tools. However, the shift towards remote work has raised concerns about job security, work-life balance, and the erosion of traditional employment models.

Ethical and Social Implications: As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, ethical and social implications have become increasingly prominent. Issues such as data privacy, surveillance, algorithmic bias, and the impact of social media on mental health have sparked intense debates. Questions surrounding the ethical use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and autonomous vehicles remain unresolved. As society grapples with these complex challenges, there is a growing recognition of the need for ethical frameworks and regulations to govern the development and deployment of technology.

The impact of technology on modern society is vast and multifaceted, reshaping the way we live, work, and interact with the world around us. While technology has brought about unprecedented advancements and opportunities, it has also posed significant challenges and ethical dilemmas. As we navigate the complexities of the digital age, it is essential to strike a balance between harnessing the benefits of technology and mitigating its potential risks. By fostering innovation, promoting digital literacy, and upholding ethical principles, we can harness the transformative power of technology to create a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future for all.

Speech on Technology In Education

Technology is transforming how you learn at school. It’s like a new friend that makes studying interesting and fun. In the second paragraph, imagine how cool it is when your homework comes alive on your computer screen. That’s the magic of technology in education!

1-minute Speech on Technology In Education

Good day everyone, I’m here to talk about technology in education.

First off, we know technology has changed many aspects of our lives, and it’s doing the same for education. You see, students no longer rely only on books. Now, they use laptops, tablets, and even their phones to learn. This helps them to access knowledge from all around the world.

Secondly, technology makes learning more engaging and fun. Imagine learning about the solar system by watching a 3D video instead of reading from a book. You get to see the planets moving around the sun, right? That’s more exciting!

Also, with technology, learning is becoming more personalized. Apps and online platforms can adjust to your speed and style of learning. If you find math tricky, the app can provide extra practice in that area. It’s like having a personal tutor right in your pocket!

Let’s not forget teachers. Technology also helps them. They can use digital tools to prepare classes, track student progress, and even communicate with parents. So, it makes their job easier and more effective.

Lastly, technology teaches us important skills for the future. By using technology, students learn how to solve problems, think critically, and work in teams. These are valuable skills in the digital age.

In conclusion, technology is shaping the future of education. It makes learning more engaging, personalized, and effective. It also prepares students for the world ahead. So, let’s embrace technology in education and make the most of it. Let’s prepare for a future where learning is fun, effective, and in tune with the digital age. Thank you.

2-minute Speech on Technology In Education

Good day, everyone!

Today, we are going to talk about the role of technology in education. Technology, in simple terms, is everything that helps us do things faster and better. It’s like a magic tool that’s quickly changing the way we learn and teach.

First, let’s look at how technology makes learning more exciting and interactive. Think about the computer or tablet you use at school or home. Now, imagine learning about the solar system by exploring it in a 3D model on your device. It’s like taking a trip to outer space without leaving your room! Cool, right? That’s what technology does. It makes learning fun and brings our textbooks to life.

Next, technology also helps us learn at our own pace. Have you ever felt stuck on a math problem while doing your homework? With technology, you can now use learning apps to practice and understand these problems better. You can learn whenever you want, wherever you want, and at your own speed. That’s the beauty of tech in education.

Then, there’s the fantastic world of online learning. Many of you might have experienced it, especially during the recent times. Lessons and classes are now available on the internet. Students from all around the world can learn from the best teachers without even stepping out of their homes. It’s like having a global classroom at your fingertips.

Let’s not forget how technology helps teachers. With tech tools, teachers can design interesting lessons and track our progress better. They can quickly identify where we need help and provide us with more support. It’s like having a personal assistant that helps teachers guide us better.

Finally, technology helps us stay connected. We can collaborate on projects with classmates, even when we can’t meet them. We can share ideas, give feedback, and learn from each other. This way, technology makes learning a team sport.

But, remember, while technology is fantastic, it’s just a tool. The real magic happens when we, the students, use it to explore, learn, and grow. So, let’s embrace technology in education and make the most of it.

In conclusion, technology in education is like a friend who makes learning fun, easy, and accessible. It’s a tool that opens up new worlds and helps us become better learners. So, next time you pick up your tablet or log into your online class, remember, you’re not just using a device – you’re stepping into a world of endless possibilities.

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David Brooks

Why Is Technology Mean to Me?

By David Brooks

Opinion Columnist

It is never easy to re-examine one’s fundamental convictions, but now I am forced to question my previous disbelief in the existence of Satan. I am compelled to confront this ugly possibility by the fact that from time to time my electronic devices seem to fall under demonic possession.

Now, I should start by saying that I am not someone with a natural animosity toward personal technology. I have been known to be completely reasonable when the supermarket self-checkout machines refuse to let me proceed until I place my last purchased item into the bagging area. I patiently explain, sometimes with dramatic physical re-enactments, that, in fact, I have placed the product directly in the center of the bagging area, and even into a bag itself.

Despite these kinds of sympathetic efforts, technology finds me wanting; I am disfavored within the silicon-based community, and the situation has become so bad that it’s brought to mind this possibility of a malevolent presence — Beelzebub, Lucifer, the Dark Lord, whatever you want to call him.

Let me describe the events of last Friday, when technology was especially mean to me. I woke up in Chicago to find that my phone, which normally charges through the port on the bottom, was no longer accepting charges from that entry point. I didn’t think much of it, assuming I could clean out some dust or something.

Then I tried to pair it with my earbuds, which it usually automatically pairs with. Nothing doing. This sometimes happens, so I tried connecting it with my backup earbuds, the ones that sound like they’re beaming music from the bottom of the Pacific. These devices also refused to be on speaking terms. I went to the Bluetooth page on the phone, and it was just a bunch of “not connected” readings.

I did what any master technologist would do. I rubbed the earbuds against my phone in a seductive circular manner that I thought might foster a rapprochement. I put them in my ears and grazed the phone against my cheeks with a pressure that was amorous and gentle, but also firm. Still, the phone and earbuds refused to sync. People talk a lot about artificial intelligence but not enough about artificial obstinacy.

As I rushed to the airport my Find My app rubbed salt in the wounds by telling me I had left behind the earbuds that my phone refused to recognize in the first place. At the airport it occurred to me that I might clean the charging port by using a suction technique. So if you were at Midway International Airport last Friday and a small child asked you, “Why is that man sucking on his phone?” that man was me.

I got on the plane, secure in the knowledge that Southwest has very reliable Wi-Fi service. But the flight attendant informed us that this time it wasn’t working, because, you know, Satan. I got home and found my home Wi-Fi wasn’t working, either. I fixed it by turning it off and on, a maneuver that shows, as the Silicon Valley types would say, that I am “tech savvy.”

While at home I had to print six documents. I used to have a printer that served me well until one day it decided my ink cartridges were “corrupt” and refused to do any further printing. I bought more cartridges from the printer’s manufacturer, but my printer still saw shadiness in all new cartridges — like QAnon members looking at national politics.

We bought a new printer, but it’s snooty. Asking it to print something is like applying to Harvard. It was willing to print out an essay from the journal Daedalus and an academic paper on aging, but it was unwilling to print four other documents from mere newspapers and websites. Like Bartleby the Scrivener, it would prefer not to.

You might be reading this account thinking that I’m the problem here. I’m just a technology idiot who doesn’t know how to fix things. I am open to this possibility. When I last went shopping for a car and the salesman started explaining the amazing electronic features on the new models, I was unable to follow him after 0.7 second. But I remind you of the central reality. Gizmos that were working for me one minute stopped working the next. I want my technology to have many capacities, but free will is not among them.

As I’m writing this sad tale my computer is alerting me that I have to shut it down for a vital security update, as it does frequently when I’m on deadline. For a decade, if I deleted an email on my phone it was also deleted on my laptop, but one day that stopped working, too. Every time I log onto my bank’s website, using the same computer each time, I get an email telling me a new device has been detected. And don’t even get me started on subjective security questions. How am I supposed to remember what my favorite pizza topping was 15 years ago when I opened that account? People grow and change.

I am thinking of finding a priest who can do a full-scale technological exorcism — like in that old Linda Blair movie. Before I do, let me just send this off to my editor before my computer crashe$^%#&*((@”+!%#.

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David Brooks has been a columnist with The Times since 2003. He is the author, most recently,  of “How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen.” @ nytdavidbrooks