Technology: Opportunities and Challenges

Current technological developments challenge our understanding of the human being and the relations between humans and technologies. While traditional technologies were typically ‘used’ by human beings, leaving humans a form of autonomy in relation to technology, contemporary technologies do not fit this configuration of use anymore. Instead, Smart Environments and the Internet of Things ask for a relation of ‘immersion’, while biotechnologies result in a ‘fusion’ of humans and technologies, and robots create ‘inter-action’. How do these new technologies affect human autonomy? Rather than opposing humans and technologies to each other as autonomous ‘subjects’ and powerful ‘objects’, I propose to approach technologies as mediators. (Read more)

Je voudrai aborder ici les grandes lignes d’un thème sur lequel, je travaille depuis des années, à savoir les liens et les interactions entre l’innovation technologique, les sciences, les sociétés, et l’environnement/la nature, et en particulier la transformation des valeurs qui s’y manifeste.

Mon propos sera divisé en deux brèves parties. Tout d’abord, je vais rappeler quelques caractéristiques de la technique ancienne. Ensuite, je vais caractériser la technique moderne en l’illustrant par quelques exemples concrets. Pour enfin montrer comment la technique moderne véhicule certaines valeurs qu’il convient d’interroger puisqu’elle transforme nos vies et notre environnement. (Read more)

The digital world is eating peoples’ lives. Either they understand little and use without any second thoughts, or they know a bit and start to fear, or even they don’t and stay away, but get disconnected. Knowledge and sharing is key to make sure the future can be good.

 

IoT, Robots and AI, in a consumer world, mean user data, automatisation, sales, manipulations, politics, planification, and as it becomes easier to use, hidden, very simple, we just don’t pay attention. This is precisely what we need to check and make sure people can be able to understand : simple must be understandable. RFID must be human. AI must be “reverse engineer ready”. People need to learn how to code, as it becomes as important as knowing how to vote, and both are linked. (Read more)

There are lots of discussions about the 4th industrial revolution. Yet the digitization of the industry has begun more than 30 years ago!
Successful industrialists are those who create a world that does not yet exist. It is not about optimizing the present, but about conceiving new territories. The true nature of technologies, specifically digital technologies is generally misunderstood. Their most visible virtue is to increase productivity and competitiveness, but their real power is to unleash the imagination. People have their place at the heart of the industrial model, based on the complementarity among people, machines, objects and data. Technologies are an opportunity to invent new products, new business and social models. With digitization, we are able to understand better the present, yet inventing a sustainable future is up to people.



We must move towards an ever more increased participation of the inhabitants and increased information sharing, putting humans at the core of our concerns. We must build smart cities, cities with a strong participatory dimension, cities with a major environmental dimension, and new technologies are at the heart of these efforts.



I will first try to clarify  the various dimensions of the nebulous fakenews panic. I will then propose ways to decode online complex information patterns. I will finish by considering how Media and Information Literacy (MIL) can be a form of creative resistance in favour of the integrity of information and, consequently, democracy.