Ruminations on our relationship with technology
Why AI may increase economic inequality over the years Anyone keeping up with economic news may sometimes find it difficult to be an optimist about artificial intelligence (AI). For instance, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reported that AI may increase economic inequality over the years. In fact, AI will likely affect nearly 40% of … Read more
AI and the problem of induction: insight from David Hume I recently traveled through Scotland, home to one of my favorite Enlightenment philosophers, David Hume. In fact, right in the capital city of Edinburgh, where Hume once lived, there’s a statue of him. Hume wrote back in the 18th century, but his philosophical thought remains … Read more
Why are governments banning TikTok? It looks like the U.S. government is set to give an ultimatum to TikTok. Its parent company, ByteDance, must divest itself of (that is, sell off) this social media platform. If it fails to do so, the American version of TikTok will face a nationwide ban on app stores. But … Read more
How can smartphones and social media affect mental health? Since the 2010s, the U.S. and several other countries have seen troubling trends in psychological well-being. For instance, rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide have risen significantly, especially among adolescents and young adults. Why are we seeing this overall decline in mental health? Well, one … Read more
Another way to think about UX design and content Another article of mine was published in Vanguard UX, which houses some of the latest thinking on user experience. For anyone not familiar with this profession, I thought I’d take the opportunity to briefly define what we mean by the term “user experience” (abbreviated UX), including … Read more
What does it mean to say blockchains are trustless? The recent rise of cryptocurrency funds just might add to the fantasy of creating a new financial system based entirely on cryptocurrency. So, I thought it would be a good time to revisit some questions about the underlying technology that makes these so-called financial products possible: … Read more
Knowledge, communication, and technology in collectivist and individualist cultures Communicating tacit and explicit knowledge through technology Previously, I’ve written about the distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge, as well as its application to information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as email or video calls. To briefly recap: Explicit knowledge refers to information that’s easy to … Read more
Why ask ethical questions about technology design? “Our conventional response to all media, namely that it is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot.” – Marshall McLuhan (2003, p 31) Throughout his writings, Marshall McLuhan pointed out a cliché that we commonly hear about technology. Typically, it goes … Read more
How MS Word illustrates technology’s effect on writing Over the past few decades, Microsoft Word became one of the most prominent—if not the most prominent—word processors in the world. Recently, the BBC ran an insightful story about how this dominant word-processing software has affected the way we write. It’s a telling example of technology’s effect … Read more