The Dark Truth of Advanced Technology: Benefits & Cons

When technology becomes more modern, it will worsen the condition of the world, but that may not always be the case.

By: Nathan Jo

When thinking of advanced technology, many things should come to mind; phones, computers, fuel-efficient transportation, etc. The main purpose of these is to make life easier and to save the environment… right? The truth is that most of these do the opposite of what it was intended to do. Illegal scandals, child labor, and hurting the environment are just the tip of the iceberg of what happens behind the scenes. Although these do happen often, some advanced technologies do what they’re supposed to do. To all modern technology, there will always be benefits and cons.

Some people may state that electric transportation would save the environment, but that would be far from what actually happens. A recent study in 2023 showed that over 60% of the global electricity generated comes from fossil fuels. This means that the electricity powering the latest transportation would be powered by fossil fuels, causing pollution. That happens when running the vehicle, while some public transportation produces a lot of pollution from its construction alone. Professor Arpad from UC Berkeley stated that the construction of a high-speed train would produce 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Another example of this would be that some people would compare electric cars to gas cars. Electric cars are mainly known for “zero-emissions,” but this is not always the case. The electricity and the particulate particles from tires are also outcomes that people rarely consider. As mentioned before, almost 40,000 children have been found working in a single cobalt mine. There have been reports of more than 2,000 deaths each year due to these mines. With these facts in mind, it begs the question of if electric cars are worth it.

The phones that billions of people use each day have been made by the hands of a child. Phone companies such as Apple are known to use child labor to produce their batteries. A report by UNICEF explains that over 40,000 children have been found working in one mine alone to extract the cobalt that phones and other electronic devices use to power. They are known to be working 10-12 hours a day with no payment at all. Going back to pollution, researchers found that over 580 million tons of carbon dioxide has been produced by e-waste in just 2020. Scientists are saying that humanity may be going in the wrong direction, as having this much pollution in the past could not have happened. 

Cruises are no exception either. According to a recent study, cruise ships were the cause of almost a quarter of all of the ocean’s waste. Although a quarter may sound small, around 171 trillion pieces of plastic waste are floating around in the ocean. This is almost 30 times what it used to be in 2015. This is not the only way that they harm the environment. The noises that cruise ships produce may be harmful to the animals that live around them, displacing them from where they would normally be.  

Technology is advancing faster than anybody has ever imagined. New technologies are being invented at a faster pace than before. AI, for example, is growing about 40% each year. Many people are concerned about the future of artificial intelligence. A recent incident that involved a Tesla robot attacking a worker further supports the reasons to question artificial intelligence’s reliability.

If we lose control of AI, the world may be at stake and lives could be lost. Training an AI system would also cause lots of carbon dioxide to be emitted. AI is affecting people’s lives economically as well. Some businesses have made artificial intelligence do most of the work for them, causing jobs to be lost. According to the World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs Report 2020,” almost 85 million jobs are expected to be taken away by the year 2025. Artificial intelligence may be cheaper for companies, but having AI would be increasing the already high poverty rate. Losing control of AI would cause cybercrimes to happen on a worldwide scale and may even cause extinction.

Going back to the topic of transportation, some people would compare electric cars to gas cars. Electric cars are mainly known for “zero-emissions,” but this is not always the case. The electricity and the particulate particles from tires are also outcomes that people rarely consider. As mentioned before, almost 40,000 children have been found working in a single cobalt mine. There have been reports of more than 2,000 deaths each year due to these mines. With these facts in mind, it begs the question of if electric cars are worth it.

Although advanced technology can be very bad right now, it may be the best choice for us in the long run. The world is at a point where humans are unable to stop oil consumption without the probability of extinction. Humans are too reliant on oil and would be impossible to stop. Some good technologies are solar panels and wind turbines. When people turn towards solar energy, fossil fuel consumption decreases. The cost of generating electricity from the sun and wind is falling. In some areas, electricity is now much cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Renewable energy generates about 20% of all U.S. electricity, and the percentage continues to grow.” It may take some time, but renewable energy will eventually be more popular than fossil fuels. The price of electricity would keep getting lower while gas prices continue to rise. Low-income citizens would be better off getting an electric car to save money as it is a good solution for not having the money to pay for gas.

The ticket price for a high-speed train would also be lowered which would make public transportation more accessible to the public, after some time of course. Swapping to electricity would make the prices for running an HSR lower. Some advantages of having a high-speed train would be for medical purposes. Being able to get from one place to another without traffic is necessary during an emergency.

High-speed trains are also a better alternative than air travel as traveling by plane would cost too much. High-speed trains are overall good as they are fast, affordable, and accessible. Communication is also a key to life. Phones make communicating with family members, friends, and others from far away much easier than before. Without this technology, people wouldn’t have been able to contact family if far away. Another invention worth mentioning would be the internet. It is what you are using right now to read this article. The internet is very useful as information would be able to spread much faster, though this could be good or bad.

Using artificial intelligence, robots may be very important assets to humans as they would be able to work for them. Hard work such as construction building, or surgery may be better in the hands of an AI. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 150,000 injuries are caused every year just from construction work. If we have robots do the construction work instead of humans, the number of injuries would drastically reduce and overall be safer. As for surgery, having artificial intelligence do the work would be safer for the patient because if a robot does the work, then it would be more precise than a human arm and have fewer complications. Robots can also reduce the cost of running a hospital.

Educational access is another benefit of having advanced technology. Children all over the world don’t have access to education because of where they live. Nowadays, people can take online classes and learn like normal students. Examples include e-books and virtual classrooms. This is good as education is linked to better health outcomes. Educated individuals are more likely to make healthier lifestyle choices, access healthcare, and have improved overall well-being.

Overall, advanced technology is always growing, and new ones keep coming out. Some technologies are good while some are bad. Though new advanced technology is decently slow, it has a bright future. If gone wrong, advanced technology may be the cause of humanity’s extinction but it could also save the world. With countless possibilities and humanity at stake, maybe technology isn’t so bad.