Guido 1

Charlie Guido

Mr. Smith

Honors Literature

16 October 2023

The impact of technology on society is profound and multilayered, with its ability to

improve economic opportunity and redefine the American dream on one hand, while

simultaneously destroying social skills, attention spans and creating addiction on the other.

Technology is the future. Over the past couple decades society has started to grasp the

true power of technology. Technologies like, “AI can provide for more efficient decision making

by prioritizing and acting on data, especially across larger networks with many users and

variables” (Chuck Brooks). Other technologies like robotics have, “been used for decades in

automating manufacturing, farming, warehouse functions, hospitals, security, etc. for mostly

routine programmable functions” (Chuck Brooks). These two technological advancements have

changed society and the future drastically by improving the business and economy in the

country. When engineers combined AI and robotics, technology changed forever. From

self-checkout to self-driving tractors enhanced with artificial intelligence, hundreds of new

inventions are coming out every year thanks to the help of AI infused technology.

Technology is advancing especially fast in the last couple decades and its impact has been

life changing. Since the early 1900’s, with the inventions of cars, radios and telephones, the

perception of what is possible and what can be achieved has completely changed. These

revolutionary advancements allowed Americans to travel almost anywhere and communicate

with almost anyone all across the country.

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Technology has helped society to advance further into the future than some ever

imagined.

Yes, people think of AI as stripping society of millions of jobs, but in the same timespan,

“it will also create 97 million new jobs” (Mathew Urwin). This allows for many new job

opportunities within the United states and brings balance to the careers lost to AI. So many jobs

can be created due to this because “The development of AI itself requires many humans to train

and refine AI algorithms. This leads to the creation of roles that haven’t existed until now”

(Mathew Urwin). Although AI is arguably the most impactful technological advancement in the

past years, it is only one of the many impacts technology has on society. Over the years, new

technology advancements like improved internet and telemedicine “have made rural living more

attractive and feasible” (Paige Holloway). This ability of working from almost anywhere in the

world has become more popular and opens up new career paths for American citizens no matter

where they are located. As jobs are able to reach all over the United states, this has helped the

country become more united as a whole.

The positive impacts technology has on society directly affects the American Dream by

altering humans' perception on what is possible. Through new innovations comes new human

capability. As technology improves so does the quality of life, thus connecting this innovation to

the American Dream. From remote work to far travel technology has been making

communications and travel a lot more accessible and easier all together. When you think about

the American dream there is no solid definition, everyone has their own perspective on the

American dream, although it all revolves around the same things. A happy life with a successful

career. Technology makes life easier and creates more opportunities, further impacting the

American Dream by creating more jobs and making remote work possible from almost anywhere
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in the country. Remote jobs alone make finding a successful career more accessible to those with

limited transportation. As technology forever evolves, the economic restrictions placed on

society lessen, therefore making the American Dream far more attainable for many more people,

in contrast to before technology broke through in the late 1900’s.

On the contrary, society has suffered greatly from technology as well. Inventions such as

social media take away crucial skills needed to be successful in today's society. One

psychological aspect social media takes away is social skills. As humans rely more and more on

technology in their daily lives, it decreases the opportunity for face to face communication.

Texting has taken over this aspect of society, humans rely on expressing their emotions through

message inputs making it more difficult to express their emotions in real life interactions.

Technology has already become the most popular way to communicate with others and “this can

lead to more children being socially awkward, withdrawn, shy, or intimidated by social

situations” (CNA 1).

Along with social skills, the basic ability to focus is becoming increasingly difficult for

the younger generations due to social media and technology. According to recent studies “our

attention spans from twelve minutes to five minutes” (The Economic Times) due to constant

stimulation that is received in five minutes or less. From scrolling through Ten second videos on

TikTok to checking Instagram and text messages, the amount of dopamine you receive from your

phone is enough to completely rewire your brain and reduce your ability to focus by more than

two times. All these different skills that were once far more present within society are quickly

being taken away by technology. Social skills and the ability to focus are the most basic skills

needed to obtain a successful career and with these skills fading away, peoples chances of

achieving their “American Dream” drastically lessens.

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Technology addiction, especially in younger generations, is yet another, very common,

negative impact on society. The constant dopamine rushes provided by social media sites like

TikTok and Instagram make living in our naturally slow paced world increasingly difficult.

Multiple studies have shown that “People who overuse technology develop similar brain

chemistry and neural patterning to those who are addicted to substances” (The Economic Times).

This problem directly relates the decreasing skill of focus in society because of the constant

chase for dopamine. Compared to what we get from social media, humans' everyday duties like

work and school don't provide even close to the amount of dopamine technology does, making

focusing extremely difficult. This overlooked addiction will get in the way of the pursuit of the

American dream because focusing on obtaining a specific career is becoming harder each day.

In conclusion the impact of technology on society is widespread and undeniable. On one

hand, technology brings about treme­ndous possibilities by revolutionizing industries through

innovations like­AI and robotics. This leads to new job opportunities and make­s the American

Dream more­accessible to a broader range­of people. However we must note that these same

technological advancements have also brought great challenges upon society. As social media's

popularity increases and further connects us in the virtual world, at the same time it has

disconnected our social skills and hindered our ability to focus. These impacts pose a hurdle in

achieving the American dream by diminishing the skills essential for career success.

Charlie,

Nice job consistently connecting back to your thesis, and making specific claims about the

various challenges that modern technology presents in America. An area to improve on

would be flow of ideas. In this essay, it probably would have been best to present the
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specific claim at the start of each body paragraph, and tie back to the thesis (American

Dream), towards the end of the paragraphs. You did this at times, but other times the

notion of the American Dream was thrown in a bit early.

Works Cited

“Here’s How Technology Affects Our Life - Technology Addiction.” The Economic Times,

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/heres-how-technology-affects-our-li

fe/shortened-attention-span/slideshow/62497182.cms. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

Brooks, Chuck. “4 Mind-Boggling Technology Advances In Store For 2023.” Forbes,

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckbrooks/2022/12/13/4-mind-boggling-technology-ad

vances-in-store-for-2023/. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

Will AI Replace Jobs? | Built In.

https://builtin.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-replacing-jobs-creating-jobs. Accessed 18

Oct. 2023.

University, Carnegie Mellon. Automation, the Future of Work and the New American Dream

- News - Carnegie Mellon University. $dateFormat,

http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2018/january/future-of-work.html.

“The American Dream Is Quickly Dying.” Blake Johnson, 20 Aug. 2018,

https://blakebjohnson.com/blog/2018/8/20/the-american-dream-is-quickly-dying.

Polli, Frida. “Technology: Killer or Savior Of The American Dream?” Forbes,

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/fridapolli/2017/10/12/technology-killer-or-savior-of-the-a

merican-dream/. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

Rubric

Skill Not Foundational Proficient Advanced

Yet
Identifies a topic Appears in first Thesis establishes a
paragraph complex claim

Thesis establishes a
topic and a claim

Thesis Comments:

Includes three or Includes multiple Includes specific,

fewer sources pieces of evidence meaningful, and
(from 8-10 sources) well-chosen evidence
Some evidence that clearly relate to that relates to the
relates to the thesis the thesis thesis

Includes multiple Includes a wide variety

Evidence pieces of evidence in of evidence
each body paragraph (primary/secondary
sources, political
Includes multiple types cartoons, opinion
of evidence pieces, studies, poetry,
fiction/narrative, etc.)

Comments:
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Summarizes Explains how evidence Explains well-selected

sources supports topic points of comparison
sentence of individual among sources and
paragraphs evidence and their
connection to the
Explains how evidence thesis
Analysis supports the thesis of
the essay Demonstrates use of
advanced vocabulary
and varies sentence
patterns; evidence of
distinct voice and style
in the writing

Comments:

Little connection Explains how the Clearly explains

between texts; texts/sources are relationships among
difficult for the related, though points texts (how they
reader to see how could be more selective confirm or challenge
the texts are related or better developed each other, build on
each other, provide
Synthesis Includes multiple differing perspectives,
sources in each body etc.)
paragraph
Utilizes a variety of
Utilizes transition transition words and
words and phrases phrases

Comments:

Some elements Heading is correctly No errors in MLA format

missing or some formatted
errors in MLA format
Pages are numbered

Most in-text citations

are correctly formatted
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Works Cited: each

source entry is in correct
MLA format
MLA
Format Comments:

Shows evidence of Most quotes are All quotes are correctly

basic proofreading correctly integrated integrated

Follows essay Shows evidence of

Conventions
organization careful proofreading

Shows evidence of
proofreading

Comments: