Technology will not save our tomorrow, people will

You will read it in: 3 mins
You will learn about: introduction to UX, data sets, biased data, responsibility

Before specialising in UX Design, I used to think that technology will save the world. After many years of hands-on experience in designing products and services, I see that technology on its own is not a saviour of our future. Neither it is a clean slate as many are advertised to believe. It merely re-creates humans' input.

In other words, imagine technology to be like a fridge. If we don't put anything in, it will remain empty. Similarly, if we place unhealthy food, it won't magically transform it into the nutritious meals. Therefore, it would be silly to blame the fridge for our unhealthy eating habits. The same is with technology. Technology by itself will not transform the future if the people who built it and use it won't do their part.

Garbage in, garbage out

Humans create technological advances. With every new, break-through idea, there is a set of people who need to decide how they're going to train their creation. Technology is taught to make decisions based on the data sets it was raised on. Some people are willing to argue that because technology is using data to approve or reject our requests, it can't be biased. However, the 'facts' or 'raw data' do not equal to unbiasedness. Besides, any type of information was at some point collected by people or from people. And people make mistakes.

Facts are not unbiased

Researchers have been doing a phenomenal job of collecting the information. Nevertheless, their research might have conscious or unconscious biases. Some crucial groups of people might be missed out from the research altogether. Some questions might be asked in a leading way. For example, would you answer differently if I asked you: "What do you think about the app?" versus "What don't you like about this app?" Hence, even if the new technology is trained on more and more data sets, it won't make it 'better' unless the data is flawless. As you might correctly point out, no data is flawless. 

It's not my problem

Another reason why I disagree with the assumption that technology is the ultimate saviour is that such belief removes the responsibility from people, from us. It makes our wrongdoings or laziness justified. Why would we need to do anything, if the technology is the answer and not our direct actions? For example, in order to save the Amazonian forest, the language used to evoke an action needs to be the most straightforward. By using words that alienate us from the problem like for example creating slogans: "Save the planet!" will elicit different feelings and response than if we say: "Save the people!" The planet will survive with or without humans. Humans won't survive without the planet. However, persuading individuals about their powerlessness will assist many conglomerates in a very lucrative way. But in the long run, will be detrimental for humans. 

So what can we do? 

In the UX world, I put people at the forefront of everything. It is the user that uses the technology. It is also them that can benefit or damage the world with it. As a designer, my biggest responsibility is to think of all the different ways that my product or service can be used maliciously. 

Consequently, because we have the power to change the future, we need to be accountable for our actions. Moral compass and ethics shouldn't be an after-thought. Metrics used by enormous businesses, which determine the success or failure of a venture, need to be challenged. If we keep prioritising the click-through rate as a metric, how can we not build designs that are sneakily persuasive?

At the end of the day, it is not the technology that builds egoistic apps or services. It is the people that need to be counted against their values. It is us that have the ultimate power to be the challengers and the change-makers of the future. Technology is just a tool while we have a choice. So, which side do you choose?