Advancements in technology, how far is too far?
The question of whether or not machines and technology are becoming too intelligent is one that i am both slightly concerned about, but at the same time not at all.
I do believe that yes they are, and that one day it could be quite problematic. But I feel like it won’t happen for years and so I’m not concerned about it at all. As long as it doesn’t affect me which I really don’t think it will in my life time.
However, its happening today all around us, the way technology is taking over our lives. You can’t walk down the street for more than ten steps until you pass someone glued to their iphone whether listening to music or interacting with it even whilst walking.
This is actually really coincidental that after the Lectoiral today, a friend and I decided to go to the Ian Potter centre and have a look at Start Up, the gallery showcasing 2014 VCE student’s work. One of the pieces depicted a young boy in the ocean surrounded by beautiful blue water below a magnificently cloudy day, looking down concentrating on his iphone. The artist statement was as follows;
the work aims to emphasise the disjointed relationship between humans, technology and nature; how technology allows us to view rich and diverse natural environments without ever experiencing them firsthand. This work depicts a human immersed in nature while being consumed by technology.
The work titled ‘Un-natural habitats’ by James Buggs and my interpretation of it is very relevant to the point I’m making about the advancement of technology and our engagement with it.
For me, regardless of what the artist statement says, I see a representation of youth unable to engage and disinterested with the beautiful experiences life has to offer. The source of the problem being the addiction of a smart phone (representative of all technologies in the artwork).
I feel like this is an issue that won’t cease to exist. And in all honest its not that big of a deal. If someone gets more enjoyment out of an iPhone than they do from a magnificent view of the world around them, thats okay, as long as those who do enjoy ‘reality’ over the fake/false world that an iPhone provides, are not prevented from doing as such, than I don’t see a huge problem.
This reminds me of a reading we had a few weeks back about ‘faith’. It was basically about how human’s have faith that what they see in the media is true. For example, I’ve never been to china, I’ve never been on a vacation there, visited there or had any direct contact with the country. But I have faith that it’s real because people tell me about it. I see it on the news. I have friends that have come from China. So I have faith that China is real even though I haven’t experienced it for myself. What is sad and relevant about this reading to this weeks reflection is that people now rely on their technology to experience rather than physically and personally experiencing it themselves. Instead of hiking up a mountain to enjoy a view, we image search it. Instead of getting lost and finding our own way around we google map it. Instead of living, we’re relying. And it’s for those reasons that I am concerned about the advancement of technology, but also relieved and thankful that I live in a time where I can live in a balance between enjoying and utilising technology but not having my life depend on it.
