Today's Tech - Help or Hindrance?

There are those that love technology, and those that hate it. In either case, technology runs nearly every aspect of our lives whether we like it or not. But, is technology helping us or hindering us? While tech constantly strives forward to bring bigger and "better" things, it seems to bring more worry and trouble to the table with each step along the way.

This has become an interesting topic for me as of late. Chatting with customers or throwing the topic around with family, has brought some interesting insight into some popular viewpoints but, for the most part, the negatives always reach the light of day from the get-go.

When the topic comes up with customers, it is always because I am there solving a technical issue or configuring an installation that seems complicated and their frustration of technology is always vented. And, for the most part, I fully agree with them. Technology can be an absolute headache to the average user. Even to an experienced IT professional like myself, tech can really throw a curve ball of frustration. But, why is it that so many of us see technology as a hindrance?

Well, why wouldn't we? We have become so dependent on technology that when it fails, it causes chaos for us. Almost daily in the news we hear about digital data thefts, hackers holding stolen private records for ransom, data outages that send people into a fury, the stress of getting your payment info stolen and identity theft become far too common. Not even the big corporations or even governments can keep data fully safe. Opening an email could suddenly be holding you for ransom or a seemingly legit tech support person can be stealing your sensitive information. The amount of scammers and their scams have become so overwhelming that people have become so afraid of doing anything in the digital world these days. And really, who can blame them?

A great example of this lies very close to home. Moving to a small community, which is classified as a village (not even a town yet), has really shown me the paranoia that exists. In starting my business up in my community, nobody thought I was legit. I was a newcomer, was advertising on social media (communication out here relies heavily on Facebook unfortunately, but I won't get into that right now), and none would give a second look. Not even a first look. And why? They immediately thought I was not legit and was out to scam them with my "fake business" (though their reliance on Facebook explains a lot as to why they thought this way).

Most of my community is of an older age, in or near retirement, and most use Facebook as the main source of communication for receiving notifications about what's happening in the village, posting items for sale, notifying of lost pets and posting local events and business happenings. Just for our community and 2 others a stone's throw apart, there are more than 10 Facebook groups or pages that exist. And it is evident that these were created by individuals that didn't have all the know-how on how to do so nor, on how to properly manage them, and therefore, scammers and spammers overrun the groups. Several individuals have been scammed and, as you might have guessed, caused fear and hesitation of any trust given out anymore - especially to someone new and unheard of.

So, it has taken a lot of effort on my part to get the word out there that my business is legitimate and that I am here to help them - not scam them. And, I am still struggling on that front for those who have not heard by word of mouth that they have a local IT business that can assist them with their issues and needs.

Who can blame them. I completely understand it - I just wish it was different. But this attitude and reaction is not just local - it's worldwide. And it's becoming a bigger and bigger problem.

Recently, my eldest daughter had a school assignment for her business management class. They had to each pick a topic and get the class involved in debating all sides, for, against and neutral. She picked Technology as her topic to present and came to me asking what direction she should go with it. I jumped right on this bandwagon and gave her the following things to consider:

1. Technology is destroying humanity by our need to constantly work towards making it do everything for us without understanding the consequences. In the event that it massively fails, for one reason or another, We will be at a loss to perform the most basic tasks.
2. AI has brought about many amazing advancements to how we do daily tasks to how we run our businesses to how we cut our carbon footprint. And yet, the massive computing power needed to run and support AI is destroying our environment faster, increasing our carbon footprint by the amount of cooling power needed to cool the machines, the increase of metals and silicone mined for making the machines, and the massive amounts of money needed to be invested to obtain all of this.
3. Tech, the internet and AI is not managed or governed properly. We are still learning how to govern it yet, it is being implemented none-the-less. Examples of this would be a) tech devices being banned for their misuse in illegal streaming when their purpose is to help individuals simplify and organize their media. b) Still struggling to govern the laws of the Internet by what is free or offered as paid services or violates rights. For instance, here in Canada we cannot stream live TV channels offered in most other countries as the corporate giants say they will loose business and money and, if so, must contain 70% Canadian content. c) AI must be governed very carefully. One major concern is privacy - with so much personal data being collected by AI systems, there is a risk of that data being misused or mishandled which has, unfortunately, already become so commonplace in today's world of being connected online. Additionally, there is the potential for AI systems to perpetuate biases, whether intentionally or unintentionally. For example, if an AI system is trained on biased data, it may produce biased results. Furthermore, there is no room for morality and ethics in it's equation as it's decision making is based on logic, past events, and limited parameters that it's programmers have set.

My daughter's topic had a presentation time of 20 minutes. The class was so involved, her teacher let it continue for the whole class time. She was thoroughly impressed as to how well the class had engaged and in all these years, never had such engagement and interest before.

With that being said, we must also recognize the amazing things technology has brought us. We can instantly communicate virtually, face-to-face, with individuals or groups anywhere around the world, we can do our banking and manage our funds and investments from the comfort of our home, we can look up facts and information in seconds in the palm of our hand, we can save lives with imaging technology and new ways of performing delicate and intricate surgery, and we can gaze deep into our solar system and beyond... just to name a small fraction of technology benefits.

One example of the amazing and good things that has come out of technology occurred recently in our own family. My niece suffers badly with type 1 diabetes. Now in her early 30's it has gotten worse but maintains it well and swiftly due to the persistent digital monitoring of her glucose levels. With her family moving out east, she did not want to go and wanted to have her own life where she was. Her mum, my sister, struggled with this but soon came to terms that she needed to live her own life but would be with such worry not knowing how her daughter was managing her health. Through the power of technology, mum can have an app on her phone that is constantly connected to her daughters monitoring system to alert her if there are any changes in her health and quickly contact her to talk her through it or get her help if need be. Not only is this a help to my niece's health but to my sisters mental health as well. How truly amazing that she can be constantly informed, thousands of kilometers away, no matter where she is in the day.

There are so many incredible ways that technology helps us in our daily lives. Whether turning on our lights or security system with a magic word to feel safe, or video chatting with long lost cousins on the other side of the world, or managing or businesses efficiently and effectively, or saving lives by seeing inside our body and brains, technology has every right to stand in the "Awesome" line. But at what cost do we accept this fantastic gift?

Fear is taking over the feeling of amazement. Panic is replacing trust. And how is this overcome? Well, quite simply, we need to be a little smarter and a little more well informed. It seems people have gotten a little too used to technology doing everything for them... including thinking.

Sure, we all need to be careful and no, you don't need to be a tech genius to be able to feel safe when paying your bills online. We need to be more informed about the proper ways to do things, safeguarding ourselves and following best practices with online safety. The attitude of " I just need it working - I don't need to know how it works" needs to change. You need to know how it works and aware of the safety guidelines if you are going to operate tech machinery. It's no different for those that don't follow their health and safety guidelines before climbing up 300 ft to change a light bulb on a radio tower or for professional athletes in a contact sport - they protect themselves. Otherwise, someone is going to get badly hurt.

The vision of my business is to get people informed and rid their fears of tech. In all reality, I think people should obtain a license or complete a course to operate tech these days. I know it's a bit far fetched but, too many people jump right in without a clue of what they are actually doing and then complain and fear it when something goes wrong. Being well informed will lead to following best practices, knowing what to watch for and bring confidence. Though, the lack of instruction is not always their fault.

Many don't have individuals in their lives to help them or if they do, they are not taught properly and they are forced to pick up things on their own and pick up bad habits from others. For older generations, this can be their kids or grand kids teaching them how to check their email, log into their bank account or send information to someone. Trust me, I'm not going to teach you about how to do quantum mechanics when I only basically know what it is about.

This is why I formed my tech consulting companies years ago. So that there is someone that you can trust and go to, to get informed, be instructed properly and easily manage the tech you need to use. It pains me to see how many online accounts get hacked or compromised from poor passwords or not following proper security methods. Please, don't just jump in and "wing it" as you go. You are putting trust into something you know nothing about. And, unfortunately in these days of being a part of the digital world, they bring many who are malicious and want to take you for everything you have got.

So, in answer to my question, Is today's tech a help or hindrance, the answer is not so cut and dry. It can most certainly be a hindrance, in many ways. But armed with the proper knowledge and protection practices, the risk in quite minimal. Technology is an incredible help in so many wonderful ways but, we must wear our armour when stepping up to the plate to use it. We must be aware of the risks and stay one step ahead. Venturing out without protection and the proper smarts, is going to land you in a world of unpleasant risk. There is no need for fear, worry and panic when you are armed with the proper tools to navigate the digital world.

Causing quite the controversy, Facebook had made some changes in recent years to "censor" what was being posted through their app by users. Now, I am not a huge Facebook fan, and yes, they definitely invade your privacy (but keep in mind - you agree to this in using the service so, don't complain after the fact), but the changes they implemented were quite smart and actually helped make their product safer. Implementing fact checkers, helped cut down the spread of fake news and malicious links and made it's customers more accurately informed.

And the recent change, which many lost their minds over quite recently for violating individuals rights (for some stupid reason), was no fault of Facebook. This was an implemented change by the government of Canada's Online News Act. This legislation enforces all tech companies to pay news organizations for hosting their content. Facebook refused this and as their platform was not at all tailored as a place to come to for news, blocked it all together. This stopped the spread of fake news and also strengthened their product for what it was designed for, which was not a come to source for news media. Needless to say, if you had been relying on Facebook as your main news source, you were sadly misinformed and put yourself at great risk.

So please, be properly informed. Get assistance with what you are not understanding, implement industry best practices, utilize security tools on your devices, verify facts, businesses, and others before dismissing everyone a threat. There are many safeguards available to you such as privacy walls, identify theft protection, antivirus, malware, ransomware and phishing protection, safe sandboxing for online shopping and banking - just to name a few. These tools, and far more, all help you stay protected but, nothing is full proof. There is always a risk but only you can keep that risk to an absolute minimum. If you need assistance with this and would like to help safeguard your information to make your online experience a safe, productive and fun one, contact me. I am here for you and eagerly want you to be confident and stay Tech-Smart! Let me know in the comments how technology holds you back, excels you forward, what anxiety develops when using it, and how you think you are safeguarding yourself.