Dangers of Technology
Reforming an Industry
Today, children have access to technology at quite young an age, something that was largely impossible for generations past. Given that research shows that digital technology affects our brains and that our brains are most malleable when we are children, the potential dangers of tech when used by young people is a hot topic.
Now, a number of tech experts are joining forces in an attempt to protect today’s youth from these dangers. The group is called the Center for Humane Technology, and amongst its ranks are tech experts who worked for Google and Facebook when the companies were just starting out.
“We were on the inside. We know what the companies measure. We know how they talk, and we know how the engineering works,” former Google in-house ethicist Tristan Harris, who heads the new group, told CNBC.
The Center for Humane Technology is working in close collaboration with a number of other groups, including nonprofit media watchdog Common Sense Media, to launch an educational ad campaign called The Truth About Tech.
The campaign will take a similar approach to antismoking programs aimed at children. The goal is to raise awareness amongst children, parents, and educators about the dangers of tech, particularly the depression and depressive behavior that could result from excessive exposure to social media.
“The largest supercomputers in the world are inside of two companies — Google and Facebook — and where are we pointing them?” Harris told CNBC. “We’re pointing them at people’s brains, at children.”
Common Sense Media and the Center for Humane Technology will invest $7 million to fund the campaign to spread awareness about the dangers of tech, while media partners including Comcast and DirecTV will donate $50 million in the form of airtime.
A Degree of Hypocrisy
While the intentions of the Center for Humane Technology’s members are quite noble, there’s something ironic about the whole movement — without the efforts of these early innovators, the state of technology and social media would likely be far different.
Roger McNamee, a Center for Humane Technology member and early investor at Facebook, acknowledges the role guilt plays in the formation of the group, noting that he’s horrified at what he helped create.
The post Irony Alert? Tech Insiders Form Organization to Combat the Dangers of Technology appeared first on Statii News.
source http://news.statii.co.uk/irony-alert-tech-insiders-form-organization-to-combat-the-dangers-of-technology/
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