Technological progress – where it leads us?

Technological progress is an inevitable element of the development of society. Based on the infuture.institute research from 2020, 54% of Poles believed that technology improves the quality of life, and 31% thought that it depends on the area. Technology is not easy to firmly evaluate but you should always ask yourself “why and what for”?

It is also worth being aware of the risks associated to the use of new technologies. Internet has given us the feeling of being informed here and now about everything. Are we not currently dealing with the phenomenon of disinformation due to algorithms that match content to our previous online behaviors or fake news created for the needs of a specific group?
Over the years, we have been delighted with the development of technology and the unlimited possibilities it offers us. We gladly accepted information about the increasing access to Internet, the creation of robots or genetic engineering. We still see technology as a potential and a source of benefits - as in the case of remote work during a pandemic, medicine using augmented reality (AR) in complex surgical operations or agriculture when calculating the NDVI index (normalized differential vegetation index), which helps farmers understand what is happening with the plants in their fields.
And what happens to the phenomenon of increasing feelings of loneliness? Even in the UK, a position of Minister of Loneliness has recently been created die to existing society problems. Thanks to communication applications and social media we are theoretically connected with the whole world, nevertheless the quality of our relations is changing - short messages become enough for us. All these technical revolutions, e.g. process automation, virtual consultation, helped to organize better and save time. As users, can we use this time in a valuable way?
The effects of technological progress cannot be assessed unequivocally, they should be viewed from many perspectives and through the perspective of one's values. Positive and negative examples can be listed for a long time, but how to find the golden rule? Natalia Hatalska writes that "we live in a time of paradoxes". Maybe it's worth considering...?
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