Technology vs. Human: Enemies to Lovers?

Written by: Maria Anastasya Vernanda (@discoverwithsya)

A New Era for Everyone

Welcome to the contemporary age, young people! The era where digital technologies dominate how humans perform as a society, where digital lives among us. The fact that you’re reading this article through your electronic devices proves how dependent we are on technology nowadays. Since COVID-19 started, socialization has adapted its routines and methods to functionally survive. Business-driven individuals are constantly encouraged to comply with growing digital transformation. However, adapting is not enough; we, the youthful generation, must collaborate with technologies to live contentedly through the digitalized era.

"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future," a wise quote from John F. Kennedy; earlier in 2022, COVID-19 has transformed into its repetitive waves of new variants and has shown signs of possible endemicity. Digital transformation has cultivated into an adaptive technology facing the virus. As we all know, there are always two sides to a story; and you're going to read both the bright and dark sides of digitalized civilization.

Humans vs. Technology

It's no longer a secret that technology is emerging into humanity; what we rarely acknowledge is how those two elements are slowly competing. The natural skills and knowledge humanity has developed over the years can be achieved in a short amount of time. It might come off as comforting on the label, but years from now, the digitalized society we recognize could transform into a restrained, technology-dominated association.

Nature laws have decided that the human brain remains superior as it's known for the roots of rationalization and analytical solutions. Therefore, we encourage you to view digitalization as a solution and technology as a friend instead of a competition. This era of digitalization makes it possible to generate technological and environmentally friendly solutions by combining both instrumental and value rationality.

Digitalized Best Friends

Technology has become eminently advanced to the point it managed to reform the entire process of socialization. When you encounter the term "globalization," what pops up in your head may relate to the harmful effects digital resources have on the earth. However, the current technology makes it achievable to perform a next-level solution while enhancing the environment quality at the same time. As creatures with natural power, we are expected to dominate the system to create a mutualistic relationship between humanity and technology. Automated technology utilized by implementing ethics and rationality grants significant advantages to modernized society.

Looking at how progressive contemporary technology is convinces us on how nothing is impossible. "One moment, the world is as it is. The next is something entirely different. Something it has never been before," a wise quote by Anne Rice summarized how digitalization is; it's all about perspectives. 62.5% of the world’s population uses the internet daily, providing real-time and accessible data. In this digitalized era of society, each individual (yes, it includes you!) participates in the success of sustainable digital transformation; alongside leading technology, more efficient and ambitious sustainability is achievable for business corporations and resource management.

The world has shown outstanding shreds of evidence toward a sustainable, environmentally friendly digital transformation. GISWatch (2020), where a deliberation between 46 countries worldwide provides design on how technology-dominated solutions successfully approach the harmful digitalization impacts on the environment. ENEL, a technology company from Italy, maximizes the usage of AI in inventing a next-gen predictive system to gain a 360-degree perspective of risk and enhance decision-making. To view technology as a human's best friend and maximize its potential is one of the most simple things we can accomplish to achieve positive digitalization.

Collaborate, Cooperate, Coliving

We believe that each one of you who's currently reading this article has a youthful spirit that drives you to participate in the success of sustainable digitalization constantly. Various environmentally friendly technologies have been developed for massive industries to utilize, such as 3D printing, blockchain, AI, and more. The big question here is: how we can participate as an individual with less power and access? Success is a term that is achievable when all sides of the parties are included and you're part of the mentioned parties. The fact that you're consuming this media right now is proof that you actively use the internet as a part of your life; that's your start; continually learning about sustainable digital transformation is your first step to incarnating the merge of humans and technology.

The term "digitalization" may sound complex, but all we have to do to understand digital transformation is by living. The youth generation can participate in digitalization by changing the perception of the internet from a mere fulfiller of your routines to a tool capable of changing the future. The most simple action you can proceed with is to replace unnecessary waste with technological-based materials; the main objective is to reduce waste that is potentially harmful to the environment. Surround yourself with individuals that maximize the usage of social media to generate a community that supports your objectives of building an endurable and environmentally friendly digital world.

We encourage each youthful individual who reads this piece to start viewing technology differently; maximize the power of social media you own, and see the limitless opportunities digitalization offers. The combination of advanced technology and developed humanity makes a sustainable digital transformation possible. As a student, the most you can do is to constantly utilize the internet to maximize your understanding of digitalization and to replace harmful materials with technology-developed platforms.