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Survey portends tech addicts and anti-tech terrorists by 2020
Stan Beer
Tuesday, 26 September 2006 15:02
A new online survey conducted by not for profit internet think tank Pew Internet & American Life Project and North Carolina's Elon University, sought the views of 742 active internet participants from key technology groups, including the Internet Society, the World Wide Web Consortium, the Working Group on Internet Governance, ICANN, Internet2 and the Association of Internet Researchers.
Among the findings, a surprisingly high proportion of respondents believe that a"autonomous technology" will be a problem, with humans being cut out of the picture in a Terminator type of scenario.
The report states that 42% of respondents believe that: "By 2020, intelligent agents and distributed control will cut direct human input so completely out of some key activities such as surveillance, security and tracking systems that technology beyond our control will generate dangers and dependencies that will not be recognized until it is impossible to reverse them. We will be on a "J-curve" of continued acceleration of change."
Another disturbing prediction by a clear majority of respondents is one in which a subculture of anti-tech luddites is created leading to acts of terrorism against the technology infrastructure.
A surprising 58% of respondents believe: "By 2020, the people left behind (many by their own choice) by accelerating information and communications technologies will form a new cultural group of technology refuseniks who self-segregate from "modern" society. Some will live mostly "off the grid" simply to seek peace and a cure for information overload while others will commit acts of terror or violence in protest against technology."
The world is not necessarily painted as totally rosy for those who do embrace technology, however.
According to the survey, 56% of respondents believe that the attractive nature of virtual-reality worlds will lead to serious addiction problems for many, as we lose people to alternate realities.
On the positive side, 46% respondents believe that transparency of information will build a better world but at the expense of privacy. According to the report: "As sensing, storage and communication technologies get cheaper and better, individuals' public and private lives will become increasingly transparent globally. The benefits will outweigh the costs." However, 49% disagreed with that view.
Finally, a slim majority subscribed to view that the internet will enable worldwide access to success, with 52% believing that: "By 2020, the free flow of information will completely blur current national boundaries as they are replaced by city-states, corporation-based cultural groupings and/or other geographically diverse and reconfigured human organizations tied together by global networks."
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