Dr. Melvin Kranzberg is known for his laws of technology. Circa 1985, Dr. Kranzberg wrote his six laws:
- Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.
- Invention is the mother of necessity.
- Technology comes in packages, big and small.
- Although technology might be a prime element in many public issues, non-technical factors take precedence in technology-policy decisions.
- All history is relevant, but the history of technology is the most relevant.
- Technology is a very human activity — and so is the history of technology.
His most well-known law, Technology is neither good or bad; nor it is neutral, is at the center of it all. An extension to this first rule are the unintended consequences due to the ignorance or naive decisions, short mindedness, or just plain evil applications of technology. This is especially true today with the rise of technologies related to social networks, computer vision, artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and mobile everywhere, with consequences such as street-level surveillance, the spread of/planting misinformation in human minds, deep fakes (for which we are not prepared), and other applications of technology that are all affecting societies around the world.
In 1936, Robert K. Merton listed five possible causes of unanticipated consequences: (source Wikipedia)
- Ignorance, making it impossible to anticipate everything, thereby leading to incomplete analysis.
- Errors in analysis of the problem or following habits that worked in the past but may not apply to the current situation.
- Immediate interests overriding long-term interests.
- Basic values which may require or prohibit certain actions even if the long-term result might be unfavourable (these long-term consequences may eventually cause changes in basic values).
- Self-defeating prophecy, or, the fear of some consequence which drives people to find solutions before the problem occurs, thus the non-occurrence of the problem is not anticipated.
As a technologist, my greatest fear are the unintended consequences that are taken advantage of by the few for the purpose power and control of others. This is something that we see happening today.
…And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. — V for Vendetta (Alan Moore)