The technology explosion of the last 60 years has been phenomenal. But could we become too clever for our own good and are governors needed for pursuing ‘progress’ in certain areas? Powerful computers, AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics are just some areas under scrutiny.
Murray Smith
Parallels exist with the invention of cars in the late 1800’s, when many viewed them as dangerous and even devilish. The term ‘horseless carriage’ reflected early fears and the sheer disbelief in the idea of a vehicle moving without the power of a horse. Concerns of job losses crippling the carriage manufacturing and horse breeding industry abounded.
In 1960 when official television transmission began in New Zealand, our family were ‘slow adaptors’. Televisions started becoming a common item in New Zealand households by the 1970’s. My parent’s initial reticence and cautious ideology succumbed in the wake of occasional visits to ‘early adaptor’ neighbours to view, The Andy Griffiths Show or The Beverley Hillbillies and the like.
Sending an email recently got me thinking about how far we’ve come with technology and information at our fingertips simply taken for granted.
The development of fibre optic cables has utterly eclipsed limited rates of information being transmitted by old phone lines. New technology facilitates billions of bits of information being communicated and received every minute.
Internet servers and providers have opened up ‘cyberspace’ enabling electronic ‘chat rooms’ where perfect strangers can connect from around the world to join conversations for business or any other purpose. Electronic devices, cell phones, tablets and computers are considered almost indispensable. Your wristwatch, formerly a simple time-piece, can now integrate multiple applications – cell phone, computer, multimedia, database, scheduler, health and fitness monitor…and more.
Having accepted and trusted technology, we can’t imagine coping without it. Once viewed warily, robotics now feature in daily-life, performing delicate surgical procedures to vacuuming the lounge. Concerns over entrusting ourselves to being conveyed by self-driving (driverless) cars, to destinations using combinations of sensors, cameras, radar and artificial intelligence (AI), will doubtless fade over time.
Around 60 years ago, the Concise Oxford Dictionary published its ‘known’ collection of 80,000 words. Its increase to over 170,000 words is mostly due to language from new information and technology. The word ‘selfie,’ non-existent 20 years ago, was officially defined and proclaimed ‘Word of the Year’ (November 2013).
Is there a sinister side to all this? I asked at the beginning, “Could we become too clever for our own good?” Since many human hearts and minds are darkened by arrogance and depravity stemming from fundamental rejection of God, anything’s likely. Of course technology legitimately benefits lives, but evil imaginations and motives relentlessly advance evil purposes.
The Bible’s impeccable record of already fulfilled prophecies assure us that its predictions of an unprecedented ‘increase of knowledge’ with dark, tempestuous ‘end times’ ramping up on earth, are right on track. Daily, headline news confirms this.
In spite of a growing storm, unshakeable peace and blessed security holds people with hearts and minds submitted to God’s moral governance.
Holy Bible on Stand. Photo: Pixabay
