Technology is making us less human

@Arseulaundress
The concerns you've raised about the increasing integration of technology into our lives and its potential impact on our humanity are indeed thought-provoking. It's a complex and multifaceted issue that involves social, cultural, psychological, and technological aspects. I'll delve into various dimensions of this topic to provide a comprehensive perspective.

Technology and Social Isolation:

The rise of technology, particularly social media, has transformed the way we communicate and interact. While it has connected people across the globe, it has also been associated with increased feelings of isolation. Individuals may find themselves immersed in virtual interactions while physical, face-to-face connections wane. The impersonal nature of online communication can sometimes lead to the degradation of manners and civility.

1. Dehumanization and Online Discourse:

1. AI and the Fear of Obsolescence:

1. Detaching from Technology:

Digital Detox: Scheduled periods of time without digital devices to promote real-world interactions.
Mindfulness Practices: Techniques such as meditation to foster self-awareness and presence in the moment.
Nature Engagement: Spending time in nature to reconnect with the physical world and appreciate its beauty.
Cultivating Real Relationships: Prioritizing face-to-face interactions with friends and family to strengthen personal connections.

1. Embracing Our Humanity:

1. The Race to Deny Humanity:

finding a harmonious balance between technology and our humanity is a pressing challenge of our time. It requires a collective effort to shape the evolution of technology in a way that enhances rather than diminishes our human experience. As individuals, adopting mindful approaches to technology use and nurturing our innate human qualities can contribute to a more positive future.

i think part of the issue is computers / web has a lot more information than your average person

OP reads as very AI

@heyitsthistle Interesting
My main reason for disliking tech is it had made working life so much harder

A close second is what I perceive as a loss of social skills affecting general human interaction

I basically wound up using MN a lot because no one seems to be around IRL and I gather it's pretty common for people to consider online only contact as "friendship".

A close third is that it has made the ordinary stuff of life harder, in many cases.

I am a software engineer working in financial systems, but I hate tech. I despise AI. I don't want apps. I have social media but look down on people who filter the shit out of their faces. I don't want a smart home. I have removed the smart thermostats from our radiators and bought a "dumb" TV. I leave my phone at home when I can (i.e. when I can find my wallet). When I go on holiday I like to where there is no phone signal nor wifi.

I have even been toying with the idea of getting a house phone!

Download the lyrics in the year 2525 they have stayed w me forever

There's not a day passes when DH isn't glued to his phone. I ask him stuff and he just doesn't always hear.

I use it too but try my best not to in front of the DC. It can turn into a nasty habit.

Agree that there's a lot of nasty people online posting to cause bother and you wonder is that how they behave IRL?? Where are their people skills.

Are any of you, like me, thinking about how to detach from technology?

I have thought about it. Technology is here to stay and as Im self-employed it's very useful for me in terms of marketing especially. But I won't let it consume me. I don't want to be a doom scroller, obsessed with life thru a screen. I still read, meet up with friends and family, go to concerts and other events Im interested in.

I like MN but conversely won't really bother with Facebook. I saw a thread earlier and several were saying it's a youth issue. It isn't. Im 60, most friends and acquaintances are in their 50s/60s and a good number are enmeshed in Facebook. Sitting alone between 4 walls being 'social'. Im happier with friends who can pick up the phone, meet up at times etc. So I stick to that.

I'm actually a fan of AI. It has it's uses. Although I've been amazed by seeing people believing AI images are real, when they're clearly AI. I don't get it. But human nature being what it is, some God-complex bod will eventually instigate the dark side of AI. Its inevitable.

I don't think manners are a measure of how human we are. Arguably both good and bad manners are very human indeed. What makes people behave badly is our experiences and emotions and inability to control ourselves. None of that is at all machine-like. I agree that excessive use of technology, and particularly social media, is changing us, but it's not making us machine-like.

Zager & Evans haunting lyrics, all coming true long before we get to the date. 2525

Well, from my perspective the human species will be lucky to get out of the century unscathed, even if nothing changes and AI remains limited to a copyright risk for artists and writers...and that's without thinking about the bacteriapocalypse, constant war, nuclear weapons etc.

When you start from that position, it's pretty easy to be sanguine about the risks of AI. Those are far more present dangers than Skynet/Roko's Basilisk/etc.

On the other hand...using AI, we've sequenced almost every possible protein, which has opened up the development of medicines we didn't think were possible just 10 years ago, as well as proving invaluable in the early diagnosis of various cancers and skin/eye conditions. It's already literally saving lives, even as basic as it is now.

It's also proving very useful in the development of fusion technology, which is basically limitless energy and has the potential to eradicate any need for fossil fuels on a global scale.

This is kinda my point - for all the doom-mongering, the possibility of AI saving us from ourselves isn't just some pie-in-the-sky idea, it's already starting to happen.

Better? :)

AGIs and ASIs aren't programmed - they're general, rather than the narrowly-focused AIs we currently have. We can try to instil them with values, but beyond that we'll have very little influence over them; it'll be a cooperative relationship at best.

As for the end of humanity...we're pretty close to that anyway, even without an AGI or ASI in the mix. In fact, it could be argued that our only real hope for surviving this era of rapid climate change is an ASI. And, lest we forget, there's the looming bacterial apocalypse as antibiotics begin to lose effectiveness (slated to happen at some point in the next 50 years, as I understand it).

We've got a coin flip...and there's very little you or I can do about it. Why worry about something you can't influence?

I think people have always worried about what technology will do to humanity, from the invention of the plough to the invention of TV. In the 19th century people were genuinely worried about what novel reading would do to women's brains.

I think there is usually a germ of truth in this: technology does impact the way we interact with one another. But social media has both negative and positive impacts on society.

The negative ones (lack of manners, polarising political perspectives, melodrama) are well documented and I think some of this is concerning. But we hear less about the positives. The internet enables a lot of people to remain connected who otherwise wouldn't have that connection. Mumsnet is a prime example of this. I'm friends with people who I've remained in touch with via Facebook who I would otherwise have completely lost touch with.

It's important to think about the potential downsides but I think there's a tendency to see it as automatically negative and I don't think it is.

Social media has opened my eyes to how differently some people live. I literally have never met anyone in my life that behaves the way some people claim to on MN. People acting like everyone is their enemy and scared to answer the phone. It’s very sad and it makes me fear for their kids. It’s no coincidence that MH issue are at an all time high especially amongst teens. I like technology but social media is not a substitute for real friends and community.
I am glad I was bought up in an age where we played out and had mates. Where we weren’t 13 trying to emulate some instagram image. Technology is a double edged sword for definite, we will have to adapt but I expect we will see more lonely and isolated people.

I don't agree, it's not technology making us less human. It's the human interaction that's problematic. Its the job of parents to bring up children with controlled or measured and helpful technology. After all, we made the technology. Rampant capitalism around technology is making us less happy and maybe less humane but not less human. That is our own responsibility.

No, it just describes something that's inevitable anyway - the extinction of a species (ours) - along with the fact that the only thing that could possibly bring us to a different end result (immortality) is an ASI.

Of course, the difference between AGI and ASI is more or less meaningless - it would likely be measure in days, maximum weeks.

The really scary prospect isn't an ASI, though. It's competing ASIs - no ASI would reasonably see humans as a threat to its existence any more than we see ants as a threat; another ASI, however, would be a significant risk.

There is one thing which is certain, though: at some point, all that will remain of the human race are the things we've built. I happen to think that it'd be awesome if that thing were able to continue into the universe while still remembering us. I don't think it really matters if that occurs next year or a thousand years from now.