Pagaran, John Harvey A.

TTh // 4:10P – 5:40P

We should condemn machines and technology for their impersonality.

GHOST IN A SHELL
Technology is defined as the use of science in engineering to invent useful machines or to
solve problems. In short, technology makes our lives easy and secured. This is the 21 st century
and technology is advancing at an alarming rate. But are we advancing too fast that we already
got to the point where we use technologies to satisfy our need of love, need of comfort, and need
for satisfaction? Should we condemn these machines and technology for their impersonality?
I personally think it would be absurd for us to condemn these machines and technologies
for their impersonality. We are the ones that created them and obviously, the product highly
reflects its creator. They are nothing but a solid evidence of our advancement. The more human
it is the better. That is our standard in advance technology these days. It had also come to the
point where it is no longer a surprise when there are news about humans marrying or making
love with Artificial Intelligence (A.I) because as mentioned before, the more human the better,
which could also mean that these people that are satisfying their need of love to A.I’s see them as
humans, not as machines. Why should we condemn these machines? Why not condemn the
humans? I really think we should just let them be because maybe, they have grown tired of
human love that is too unpredictable and difficult to come by. Maybe they feel safe in loving an
A.I because they know their hearts won’t break if they do so. A.I’s imitate human behavior. So,
in a way, these machines can also be considered as neighbors. They may not be real humans but
does it really need to be human to be considered a neighbor? I don’t think so. A dog can be a
neighbor in a way that they help us when we are in need unconditionally. A cat can be a neighbor
in a way that they comfort us in ways we don’t expect. Machines can’t be categorized as a socius
because the actions they do are not biased and self-centered. Machines only do as they are
programmed to do. They are made to make us feel secured and make our lives easy. They are
made to make us feel happy and to satisfy our needs. It is unwise to condemn them because
condemning them, also means condemning ourselves for making such “monstrosities”. There is
no logic to this for we are trying to condemn the very thing that revolutionized human existence.
It is really absurd.
The impersonality of these machines had led me to a conclusion that they can be
considered as neighbors and not as socius. Machines were made to be like us, imitate us, quack
like us, and made by us. Their impersonality is only done because they need to satisfy our
judgement. When such machines do otherwise, we consider it a failure. They maybe just
machines but they have become a part of our existence now. Let us not condemn one another.
But instead, let us rejoice for those who find love in unexpected encounters in their lives.