From the book: The Real World – Introduction to Sociology by Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein
Social Change
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ave you ever wanted your own personal robot that could order groceries,
do your laun- dry, or drive you safely home from a party? Well, you’re about to get your wish.
This future is coming thanks to a few related developments in technology that are already taking place. It starts, of course, with the Internet
and all of us having the ability
to be online all the time. We use the Internet
to do a dizzying array of things,
from networking on social media, to shopping,
to doing business and schoolwork, to streaming movies, TV, and music. Cloud computing
is increasingly how we access, store, and manage our digital lives. You no longer need a computer
or a hard drive when everything is hosted on a remote server like
Apple iCloud or Google Drive. Now your term paper is safe on the cloud, no excuses.
Along with the Internet,
we now have the Internet
of Things (IoT). It’s a system in which
technological devices, such as smartphones and household gadgets, are able to “talk” to each
other and exchange information. There’s a huge market for “smart” consumer goods, such as thermostats that auto-adjust to the user’s preferred temperature,
lights that go on and off at preprogrammed times, and washer and dryer machines
that communicate to coordinate their cycles. There are already way more “things”
connected to the Internet than there are people in the world. Approximately 18 bil- lion devices were connected
to the Internet in 2017, and an estimated 30 billion
will be connected by 2022 (Ericsson 2017). Developers have found more and more ways to utilize smart technology, which relies on inter-device communication, creating endless possibilities for the IoT. For example, there’s been an explosion of interest and investment in developing the first self-driving cars that communicate with GPS systems for navigation and are equipped with
external sensors to assess driving hazards and weather conditions. Tesla
was an early leader in the race to bring
the driverless car to market.
Tech firms such as Google and Intel and ride-sharing company Uber have also jumped
into the race (Davies 2017). Of course, when you interact with your smart home or driverless car, you won’t need an actual life-size robot anymore; instead, you’ll be talking with a chatbot, your digital
personal assistant. A chatbot is software that you chat with to help
get
complex tasks done. It will replace a lot of your current technology, like web
browsers and apps, and will work across all platforms
and devices, including the IoT. You might be utilizing an early version of
this technology already, but Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa are just the beginning. Eventually, chatbots will become master-bots able to connect and coordinate many aspects of your life and revolu-
tionize your relationship to smart devices. If you’re like a lot of people, you welcome this onslaught of innovation. But it’s important to stop to consider where
all this technology is leading us. Our con- nectedness, what people appreciate so much about the Internet and their smart devices, is also creating
new forms of risk. We are already
confronting some of the problems of living online—viruses, ransom ware, invasions of privacy, cyber-
bullying, and credit card and identity
theft. But a new class of problems linked to technology
may be even more dangerous. Large-scale cyberattacks in the form of data breaches,
leaks, or malware
pose a serious threat to our social
institutions and infrastructure. Hackers have already infiltrated major corporations (Sony and Verizon),
universities (UCLA and New York University), social networks (LinkedIn
and Yahoo), and federal agencies
(the CIA, FBI, and NSA). So what
does all this mean? We’re still finding out. As new technologies are being developed
and adopted at an increasingly rapid pace, we can see both the promise
and risk of social change.
Your automated home and driverless car have the potential to revolutionize your world—or bring it to a screeching halt. It all depends on whose orders the bots are following.