Lesson 7-8: When Technology and Humanity
Cross TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS
Technology
 replacing the need to think, move, and
have social inter-actions
 for every technological develop-ment
considered a step forward has
repercussions that may be known or
evolve over time
 as long as there is money, new
technologies will be developed while
current systems are aban-doned
ex) space trash left in the
atmosphere or on the moon, plastic
and garbage dumped at sea
 creates a society of perceived
anonymity (people hide behind their
technology)
ex) behave in ways they
wouldn’t do in public, bully, participate
in mass cyber bashing, false sense of
superiority
Advancements in Robotics have replaced the
need for humans to work in some industries:
1. Automotive, skilled trades, service
industry and family farming
2. Development of artificial intel-ligent
3. Development of genetically alte-red
foods, plants and animals
4. Sustaining life past natural causes
because they can
5. Evolving diseases - repetitive strain
disorders & the emerging ‘sitting
disease’
ROLES PLAYED BY THESE
by laypersons)
1. Television - mainly used as plat-form
for advertisements and infor-mation
dissemination
o good stress reliever to families
o used for different propa-gandas
and advocacies
2. Mobile phones - for communica-tion
with interesting features (all-in-one
device)
3. PC - surf internet & communicate
ETHICAL DILEMMAS FACED BY THESE
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS
1. Make children lazy and unhealthy
2. Moral dilemma
ROBOTICS AND HUMANITY
Robot: an actuated mechanism progra-mmable
in two or more axes with a degree of autonomy,
moving within its environment, to perform
intended tasks
Autonomy: ability to perform intended tasks
based on current state and sensing without
human intervention
Service Robot
 a robot that performs useful tasks for
humans or equipment exclu-ding
industrial application
 a robot may be classified accor-ding to
its intended application as an industrial
robot or a service robot
Personal Service Robot
 service robot for personal use
 used for a noncommercial task (usually
ex) domestic servant robot, automated
wheelchair, personal mobility assist
robot, pet exercising robot
Professional Service Robot
 service robot for professional use
 used for a commercial task (usually
operated by a properly trained
operator)
ex) cleaning robot for public places,
delivery robot, firefighting robot,
rehabilitation robot, surgery robot
ROLES PLAYED BY ROBOTICS
 ease the workload of mankind
 make life more efficient and less
stressful
 perform complicated activities
 pleasure, entertainment in parks or
exhibits
 toys, child-friendly
 used in movies
ETHICAL DILEMMA/S FACED BY
ROBOTICS
1. Safety
o Who should be held accountable if
someone’s safety is compro-mised by a
robot?
o Who should be blamed, the robot, the
agent using the robot, or the
maker/inventor of the robot?
2. Emotional Component
o It is not completely impossible for
robots to develop emotions
 o What if robots become sentient?
o Should they be granted robot rights?
Technology
 starting to evolve into Green Tech-
nology
 has a “green” purpose - the long and
short term impact an invention has on
the environment
 Green inventions: environmentally
friendly inventions that often involve
energy efficiency, recycling, safety and
health concerns, renewable resources,
and more
Without going green the Earth will continually
be damaged:
 oceans and bodies of water plus their
inhabitants will continue to die
 polar ice caps will disappear
 species will continue to die off
 climate will continue to change
 Earth will become one big barren
landfill
 looking for sustainable ways to inhabit
and expand to other parts of the universe
Another destructive path running parallel to
global warming (scientific advance-ments)
 nuclear technology left over from the
Cold War, Nuclear Energy is now
available globally
 nuclear Science became a point of
potential global destruction
 no longer it is limited to the Super
Powers, now in use within developing
countries and politically unstable
countries
 end of the World through nuclear
annihilation
NOTE: Human rights in the face of scientific
and technological advance-ment are critical
factors in one’s journey toward eudaimonia
(human flourishing)
Protecting the well-being and upholding the
dignity of the human person must be the core of
continued scientific and technological progress
and develop-ment.
USEFUL DOCUMENTS FOR A HUMAN
RIGHTS BASED APPROACH TO
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND
DEVELOPMENT
1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 27
 everyone’s right to participate in and
benefit from scientific advances, and be
protected from scientific misuse
 the rights to the benefits of science come
under the domain of culture, so it is
usually examined from a cultural rights
perspective
2. UNESCO Recommendation on the Status
of Scientifiic Researchers - 1974 Article 4
 all advance in scientific and
technological knowledge should be
solely geared towards the welfare of the
global citizens, and calls upon member
states to develop necessary protocol and
policies to monitor and secure this
objective
 countries are asked to show that science
and technology are integrated into
policies that aim to ensure a more
humane and just society
3. UNESCO Declaration on the Use of
Scientific Knowledge - 1999 Article 33
 “Today, more than ever, science and its
applications are indispen-sible for
development. All levels of government
and the private sec-tor should provide
enhanced sup-port for building up an
adequate and evenly distributed
scientific and technological capacity
through appropriate education and
research programmes as an
indispensable foundation for eco-nomic,
social, cultural and envi-ronmentally
sound development. This is particularly
urgent for deve-loping countries.”
ADITIONAL NOTES:
 human rights should be integral to the
journey toward the ultimate good
 they should guide humans not only to
flourish as individual mem-bers of the
society, but also to assist each other in
flourishing collectively as a society
 human rights are rights to sustain-
ability (as Mukher-jee put it)
 they may function as the ‘golden
mean’, particularly by protecting the
weak, poor, and vulnerable from the
 deficiencies and excess of science and
technology
 there can be a more effective and
sustainable approach to bridging the gap
between poor and rich countries (on
both tan-gible and intangible aspects) by
imposing upon science and tech-nology
the moral and ethical duty to protect
and uphold human rights
 all these will lead humans to flou-rish
together through science and technology