“Waiter, I’ll have my meal automated with a side of artificial intelligence.”
It may sound like a scenario that will never happen, but when it comes to technology and progress, I’m not holding my breath.
After all, less than 20 years ago the smartphone was introduced.
The iPad joined in 2010, and only three years ago ChatGPT made its way to our computers (those same computers that became mainstay at home and school less than 30 years ago).
The invention of the printing press did away with copying by hand. Once the car came along, it wasn’t long before we stopped using horses for transportation.
Most people go with the washing machine instead of the washboard these days. More often than not, our lives have changed for the better with new technology. Yet, we would be wise to hold on to the not-so-mechanized skills that got us here.
Can we still write? Have we become too reliant on a keyboard or touchpad? Researchers are releasing more and more information from studies such as the one that National Geographic in an October 2024 article that noted, “many students report more focus, steadier concentration, and better memory when producing a text by holding a writing instrument rather than pressing keys on a keyboard, suggesting that our sense of touch plays a vital role in the way we absorb information.” Why? Because more of the brain is exercised when using what God gave us: our hands and our eyes and at times, our ears when listening and taking notes.
Can we still count? Measure? Are our children learning to do these things before we put the graphic calculators in their hands?
Finally, the question becomes can we survive without technology? It is not a far-fetched concern (ever since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962) to consider how perilous life is on earth with the presence of nuclear weapons and cyberattacks that could easily and quickly send us back to the basics. With the click of a button, our energy infrastructure and satellite systems could be compromised, shutting down our automated lives in drastic ways: gas pumps, banking systems, communication lines, water filter systems, and medical care.
We have made so many steps forward. But isn’t it ironic that mankind seems to be cutting off the hands that have fed us by neglecting the fundamentals of what brought about the progress: hard work, ingenuity, trial and error, critical thinking? Some technology allows us to bypass those crucial components of learning. Thirty years from now, will people be thinkers or automated minders?
Technological progress has made life better. Medical breakthroughs, housework, banking, and transportation improvements all have technology to thank. But let’s remember to exercise our minds in some tried and true ways. If not, the precipice may be nearer than we think.