Is Tech About To Face A Rebellion ? Yes, But Its Only A Temporary Trend.

History can actually teach us something. The idea that technology’s impact on lives, jobs, children and careers is a bad thing is nothing new. Remember the Luddites ? They were bands of English workers who destroyed machinery, especially in cotton and woolen mills, they believed threatened their jobs from 1811–16. Ultimately many more people were employed and their standards of living improved as a result of factories but when change is afoot people generally fear what they do not understand. 

History is wrought with examples of how technology and related cultural changes were considered downright evil. Reverend Carl Elgena for example declared “Elvis Presley is morally insane” and “by his actions he’s leading other young people to the same end.” This because the man sang while thrusting his hips. Rock and Roll artists of the 50’s and 60’ road a wave of an emerging youth culture and the advent of radio and ultimately television to impact culture. A lot of people didn’t like it. Similarly the idea of using fire to cook resulted in people getting burned and the invention of the automobile contributed to surging air pollution. Telephones were even feared because it was thought the sounds they emitted caused deafness or insanity. Even telegraph companies encouraged false rumors that the telephone had bad effects because they were afraid of the competition. After all technology is evil. Sound familiar ?

People don’t like change despite its sometimes apparent benefits and technology always has unintended adverse consequences and costs; but is it different this time ? Many people think technology is facing a rebellion and while I understand why some folks feel that way in my view it is a temporary trend. I am skeptical that it will change the course of what is to come whether some of us like it or not.

Recently, according to books by two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, the automation of up to 60 per cent of current jobs maybe inevitable. Now, as Martin Ford argues in Rise of The Robots, education and upscaling people may not help. There may simply be fewer jobs to go around, as everything may be done faster, cheaper and more efficiently by machines. The result, as Jerry Kaplan agrees in Humans Need Not Apply, is that we must rethink the idea of jobs and how people work in general.

It's not just jobs that maybe adversely impacted according to Jonathan Haidt, professor of at the NYU-Stern School of Business. Here is Dr. Haidt’s comment on Jean Twenge’s recent book about the impact of super connectivity on young people, titled iGen;

“We’ve all been desperate to learn what heavy use of social media does to adolescents. Now, thanks to Twenge’s careful analysis, we know: It is making them lonely, anxious, and fragile—especially our girls. If you are a parent, teacher, or employer, you must read this fascinating book to understand how different iGen is from the millennials you were just beginning to figure out.”

Some in the technology industry echo Twenge’s findings. They are growing disillusioned, concerned and worried. Shawn Parker, Facebook’s first CEO criticized the social networking giant at an Axios event in Philadelphia recently. Parker was there to speak about advances in cancer therapies but took time to provide some insight into the early thinking at Facebook at a time when social media companies face intense scrutiny from lawmakers over their power and influence. Here’s what Parker said about the use of technologies like Facebook at Axios:

“It literally changes your relationship with society, with each other. It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.”

A little ironic given the guy made over a billion dollars from Facebook but Parker isn't the only tech figure to express disillusionment and worry by what he helped create. Tristan Harris, a former Google employee, has been outspoken in his criticism of how tech companies' products hijack users' minds. "If you're an app, how do you keep people hooked? Turn yourself into a slot machine," he wrote in a widely shared Medium post in 2016.

The adverse impact of tech is all around us. The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year. Nearly 330,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving. 1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving. At the same time using smartphones in general ruins sleep quality according to more and more research. I could go on and on.

We are reaching a zenith, a crescendo if you will, where the advent of massive change, again being driven by expansive and powerful tech, is impacting us in ways we sometimes do not like or understand. All of this while governments begin to wrestle with the unintended consequences of technology as it undermines norms and institutional controls. As some will argue the human mind is stuck looking at the world linearly while it is changing exponentially. But what are we forgetting and will we just reject technology at some point because of all of its negative consequences ?

There really is a movement out there of people who are increasingly rejecting technologies and it is widely believed that this idea is gaining traction.

Here's the reality: all of the problems created by technology’s unintended adverse consequences will be corrected by a new era of technologies that counter them. This is already underway. Have you heard about Butterfly Network ? It's a cheap ultrasound tool that will democratize medical imaging, driving down costs significantly and improving diagnosis in 13 clinical applications. What about these 6 technologies that offer solutions to clean water (getting clean drinking water is a big deal for 10% of the global population) ? Despite all of the downsides the upside is so much greater. 

As Kevin Kelly says in connection with his book The Inevitable "What we get from technologies is increasing choices." And with choice comes responsibility.

So for those rejecting technology, take some responsibility. If you are spending too much time on your smartphone, dial it down. If you are texting while driving, stop. If you are worried your job will be eliminated why not starting learning to code ? Perhaps don't give your kids a cellphone until they are older. Be responsible but don't let a preoccupation with a fear of technology get in the way of all of the great opportunities its creating and do not think for a moment the "backlash" regarding technology is going to stop its advancement because it will not.

Here are just a few examples of what is to come and why the concerns about technologies are going to be overcome all over again like they have throughout history :

1. Staring at Smartphone screens will be replaced by embedded technologies that listen to our voices and watch our gestures to share information and interact with us. Accidents from texting will become a thing of the past;
2. Digital agents will begin to cut down on “digital noise” by acting as an intermediary which filters interruptions and information to serve up what you need and want in a more human way;
3. Governments will begin to unravel the monopoly like control of a few dominating companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon similar to what happened with telecommunication firms leading to another era of innovation that will find its ways to a wider group of organizations and institutions. This will also happen with other technologies and companies. Watch Scott Galloway touch on this concept in the video below;

4. The applications for Robotics will be significant in the next decade leading to a host of issues and opportunities including caring for the explosion in the aging population in the world;

5. Innovations will continue in education, medicine, energy and the food system, improving the quality of life on the planet despite global warming and other significant challenges including surging global population;

6. Pollution and other damaging human activities harming our planet will begin to be countered by a wide range of technologies; 

I could go on and on but for more optimism regarding the subject check out Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think, a book by Dr. Peter Diamandis (Founder and Executive Chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation) and Steven Kotler (bestselling author and science journalist). 

Bryan O’Rourke is a board member, executive, advisor, speaker and author who has successfully developed global brands for over 30 years in a variety of capacities. He guides and works with many fitness and health club brands and serves on the IHRSA board of directors. He serves as the CSO for Gold's Gym of Houston with founders Bryan and Kristi Murphy. He launched Vedere Ventures, a boutique private equity firm in 2016 and is President of the Fitness Industry Technology Council which supports the Fitness + Technology Podcast . Check it out today. Get his recent book the 9 Partnership Principles written with his partner Robert Dyer and other top fitness industry leaders. Follow him on all the major social platforms @bryankorourke and visit bryankorourke.com .