Is dependence on technology a bad thing?

A thought we had while travelling and walking on a beach, are we too dependent on technology, becoming dumber and lazier, working lesser and is this slowing down our progress? Let's explore.

So, about a month ago I, Sushant and one more of my friends were travelling in the morning across Mumbai to the Juhu beach. I had minimal charge in my phone and kept looking for directions to the beach.

And guess what, google maps suggested a route that would take us longer than usual. The other friend, let's call him H, complained that I am "too dependent on google maps". Well, maybe I am. Perhaps we all are.

We ended up taking an auto rickshaw and I had no cash on me. I had money in my online wallet, but the rickshaw driver wouldn't accept that. So we were searching for people we could pay in cash. Once again, H complained that I was too dependent on technology.

Now that AI is booming, and we are supplementing much of our thoughts with a second brain (computer), here's a daunting thought: Is dependence on tech a bad thing for humanity and progress in general? Let's explore all perspectives.

We are getting weaker.

Tech has a lot of unintended consequences. We all know that. Nervousness, anxiety, loss of sleep, increased screen time, health issues, etc etc.

But also, where would we be, if suddenly all the tech would be stripped out? Would we be able to even survive?

Probably not, right? If my phone had switched off that day after I took a leap of faith by even deciding to go for the trip, I would literally be stuck.

SO, I'm too dependant on technology? When do we know that tech is not even reliable yet?

Why it might be a good thing

Here's the other side of the coin-

Every single innovation, be it technological or not, has made humans lazier in a way, have you ever thought about that?! It might not even be a bad thing! Let's take agriculture - humans needed to go out in the wild, hunt, and share the food with others. That was a lot of work. But then someone was like - what if we grow some plants and eat them? I guess it worked out, pretty well.

Transportation made us lazier but enabled us to connect the entire world together. We don't see people painting all the time now but it's easier than ever to capture memories or people and share them with the world through the internet.

Earlier, we used to use our bodies to their full potential. Then, we started using our minds. Now, there will be a point where our minds will reach their full potential (or maybe we are already there) and we will start relying on computing and artificial intelligence.

But these are just steps to a better future. Us doing less work ourselves or being able to remember fewer things shouldn't really matter if the entire knowledge of the world is one tap away. At the same time, we should always remember that our technology isn't perfect, and be able to use our own brains, paired with tech.

I keep saying this. Tech, or AI, won't replace you. But someone using AI will. That day, while we were walking, H just confessed that he is hesitant to try out this new technology, AI, he is still stuck on the old methods and is fine with growing slowly. He uses "growing my brain" as an excuse.

My point is, every single step towards a better future has made us dumber, lazier, and weaker.

But at the same time, smarter, faster, bigger, and better. as long as we know how to use it effectively. Growing knowledge isn't a bad thing. But know how to delegate some of the work to the smarter ones.

If that day I didn't use google maps, we might not have ended up at Juhu in the first place. At least we got there before the sunrise. If I wasn't dependent on online money, we wouldn't leave home for Juhu at all because we didn't have the cash.

And we wouldn’t have been able to click this fantastic photo either. [more below]

What do you think? Reply to this email or leave a comment.

PS: While I was typing this essay/post, Sushant was drawing this amazing doodle on the whiteboard. Just raw-dogging it, with no direct inspiration, nothing. Not AI-generated art, yet so amazingly beautiful.

And this post was written with the help of Grammarly, a technology, that makes the reader’s life easier. Both realms can intertwine peacefully yet beautifully. This is a perfect example of technology used for the right things, but with us also working on our own abilities.

Thanks for reading. Stay curious!

Dhravya Shah and Sushant Pulipati, your friends at Smort.in