CHAPTER 7 When Technology and Humanity Cross

CHAPTER 7
WHEN
TECHNOLOGY &
HUMANITY CROSS
PHILIP G. JOSE RN,M,LPT
LEARNING OUTCOMES
AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER, THE STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
1. EVALUATE CONTEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE TO STRENGTHEN THE HUMAN

PERSON FUNCTIONING IN SOCIETY;
2. DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FACE OF CHANGING

SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT; AND
3. IDENTIFY LAWS OR POLICIES IN THE COUNTRY THAT PROTECT THE WELL-BEING

OF THE PERSON IN TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT AND ETHICAL DILEMMAS.
The good life entails living in a just and
progressive society whose citizens have
the freedom to flourish. The human
person has the autonomy to make
choices which may enable the
flourishing of his/her self and society.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR)
> proclaimed by the UNITED NATIONS GENERAL
ASSEMBLY on December 10, 1948 as the global
standard of fundamental human rights for universal As implied, everyone
recognition and protection
has absolute moral
> UDHR begins, “Whereas recognition of the inherent worth by virtue of being
dignity and of the equal & inalienable rights of all human.
members of the human family is the foundation of
freedom, justice, and peace in the world (UDRH
preamble)
HUMAN DIGNITY
> is an ultimate core value of our existence
> when we fully recognize & appreciate this truth in
ourselves and in all the persons around us, regardless
of their status in life, then we paved the way for a just
& progressive society
> it is in this kind of society that we are able to
become fully human (more free, more rational,
more loving)
It entails knowing one’s fundamental human
rights that must always be protected in the face of
changing conditions….
More free When we are empowered to make choices for our

flourishing
when we are able to value and apply the principles of

More rational logic and science in our lives
When we ensure that human dignity lies at the

More loving foundation of our endeavors, whether scientific or not.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
> it explicates the fundamental human rights in 30 articles
> it outlines inalienable human rights that are vital and necessary in the pursuit of the good life
> these are the freedoms everyone is entitled to & guaranteed by virtue of being human
> the first article states the essential principle of being human in a just, free, and rational society (everyone is born
free and equal in dignity and rights),
> the common experience however, does not always manifest such truth, more often than not, those who have
more to offer are given special treatment
>the good life, nevertheless, as a life of justice, demands not just equal treatment of human beings but also
preferential treatment to those who have less or are disadvantaged
The First 7 articles of the UDHR encapsulate the
spirit of this so-called “milestone document in the
history of human rights
ARTICLE 1 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity
and rights. They are endowed with reason and
conscience and should act towards one another in a
spirit of brotherhood
ARTICLE 2 Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set

forth in this declaration, without distinction of any kind,
such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or
other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or
other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of
the political, jurisdictional or international status of the
country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it
be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any
other limitation of sovereignty
ARTICLE 3 Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person
ARTICLE 4 No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave
trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
ARTICLE 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment
ARTICLE 6 Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before

the law
ARTICLE 7 All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal
protection against any discrimination in violation of this declaration
and against any incitement to such discrimination
HUMANS VS.
ROBOTS
> THERISE OF THE
MACHINES
ACCOMPANYING THE
PROGRESS IN SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY
MAY RENDER HUMANS
USELESS
Manual labor is gradually
being replaced by
machinery
Computers
Robots, usually
become more and
designed like human
more
beings are created to
sophisticated perform complex,
repetitive or
dangerous tasks
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
> DEVELOPMENT OF
THIS , ROBOTS MAY
ALSO EVENTUALLY
ACT AND DECIDE
LIKE HUMANS.
PHILIPPINES- not yet reached the point of
producing robots on a commercial scale for
household use, still behooves us to ponder the
ramifications of replacing persons with machinery
SOUTH KOREA >

EUROPE > roboticists
experts are crafting
are lobbying for
ethical guidelines to
government legislation
prevent humans from
exploiting robots and
vice versa
To Filipinos …
> artificial intelligence seems like the stuff of science fiction movies
> its use in the country is surely gaining ground especially in the
business process outsourcing (BPO) industry
> technology enables the growth of BPO industry but it seems that it is
also technology that will kill the industry as we know it.
> Investors and business people find as a sure return of investment
(ROI) the use of business analytics provided by artificial intelligence
(AI)
BUSINESS ANALYTICS
> is a means by which consumer and AUGUST 2017= estimated a
industry data are used to come up with better million of Filipino BPO workers
decision-making may be affected & lose their jobs
> with the help of AI, decisions now arise with the adoption of AI
from sophisticated statistical analyses made
from massive data
UNEMPLOYMENT is only one of
the many ethical considerations in
the widespread use of AI
How do we guard What does this means
against mistakes for human beings who
committed by can be replaced by
machines? machine?
These questions needs to be

Is the value of the person
resolved when faced with
inversely proportional to
technology that may
that of a machine exhibiting
become a threat to human
artificial intelligence?
dignity & security.
Machines and robots Things people need
approach having a human (conveniences to information)
like nature, humans also are available with just the touch
have tendency to become & swipe of the fingertips,
machine-like humans function like automatons
The internet has People accept what the search

engine (GOOGLE) spews out
become an instant go- in byte sizes & forget how to
to tool for answers to process, read, think further or
questions put things in context.
“IS GOOGLE MAKING US STUPID?”
> anarticle by NICOLAS CARR
(2008)
> he asserted that “as we come to
rely on computers to mediate our
understanding of the world, it is our
own intelligence that flattens into
artificial intelligence
> THE
DEVELOPMENT IN SOCIETY ALONG WITH SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY GIVES RISE TO MORE AND MORE COMPLEX ISSUES
> WHAT IS VITAL IS THAT, AT THE VERY LEAST, WE ARE ABLE TO
PROTECT AND EXERCISE HUMAN RIGHT FOR EVERYONE IN OUR
PURSUIT OF THE GOOD LIFE
> IT IS IMPORTANT THAT AMID THESE DEVELOPMENTS,HUMAN
BEINGS BECOME MORE FREE, MORE RATIONAL AND MORE LOVING
IN OUR PRACTICE OF S & T
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
> information
> genetically modified Building of a just  Exceptional
and progressive scientific
organisms
society entails methodologies
> nanotechnology constant practice  Personal virtue
of the good  Social
> climate change responsibility
 Global concern
WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US
BILL JOY > CHIEF SCIENTIST AND CORPORATE

OFFICER OF SUN MICROSYSTEMS
> WROTE IN 2000 A CONTROVERSIAL ESSAY
> HE CONTENDED THAT OUR MOST

POWERFUL 21ST CENTURY TECHNOLOGIES
(GENETICS, NANOTECH, ROBOTICS (GNR) ARE
THREATENING TO MAKE HUMANS AN
ENDANGERED SPECIES
> THIS POSSIBLE EXTINCTION MAY BE DUE

TO THE UNREFLECTIVE & UNQUESTIONING
ACCEPTANCE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES BY
HUMANS
BILLY JOY…
ACCUSTOMED TO LIVING WITH ALMOST ROUTINE SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS, WE

HAVE YET TO COME TO TERMS WITH THE FACT THAT THE MOST COMPELLING 21 ST-CENTURY
TECHNOLOGIES----ROBOTICS, GENETIC ENGINEERING AND NANOTECHNOLOGY, POSE A
DIFFERENT THREAT THAN THE RECHNOLOGIES THAT HAVE COME BEFORE, SPECIFICALLY,
ROBOTS, ENGINEERED ORGANISMS AND NANOBOTS SHARE A DANGEROUS AMPLIFYING
FACTOR: THEY CAN SELF- REPLICATE. A BOMB IS BLOWN UP ONLY ONE------BUT ONE BOT CAN
BECOME MANY, AND QUICKLY GET OUT OF CONTROL.
EACH OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES ALSO OFFERS UNTOLD PROMISE. THE VISION OF NEAR
IMMORTALITY DRIVES US FORWARD; GENETIC ENGINEERING MAY SOON PROVIDE
TREATMENTS, IF NOT OUTRIGHT CURES, FOR MOST DISEASES AND NANOTECHNOLOGY AND
NANOMEDICINE CAN ADDRESS YET MORE ILLS. TOGETHER THEY COULD SIGNIFICANTLY
EXTEND OUR AVERAGE LIFE SPAN AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES. YET, WITH
EACH OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES, A SEQUENCE OF SMALL. INDIVIDUALLY SENSIBLE ADVANCES
LEADS TO AN ACCUMULATION OF GREAT POWER AND CONCOMITANTLY, GREAT DANGER.
ROBERT OPPENHEIMER
 BRILLIANT PHYSICIST BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE A
DEADLY NUCLEAR WEAPON
 A DEFINITE TESTAMENT TO THE SUCCESS OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY, THE ATOMIC BOMB WAS ALSO A
FATAL REMINDER OF ITS DESTRUCTIVE POWER.
 ATOMIC BOMBINGS OF THE JAPANESE CITIES OF
HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI IN 1945 THAT KILLED OVER
A HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE
GENETICS,
NANOTECH,ROBOTICS
WE ARE CALLED TO CIRCUMSPECT AND QUESTIONING OF TECHNOLOGY
 HEIDEGGER – IT IS IN QUESTIONING THA WE BUILD A WAY
GNR TODAY IS ACCESSIBLE TO SMALL GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS AND
DOES NOT REQUIRE FUNDING AND FACILITIES AS HUGE AS THOSE
NEEDED BY THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
THIS MAKES GNR MORE PRONE TO ACCIDENTS AND ABUSES
IT IS SCARY TO IMAGINE THAT SUCH ACCIDENTS AND ABUSES MAY
SELF-REPLICATE & SPIN OUT OF CONTROL, ESPECIALLY WHEN PLACED
IN THE HANDS OF EXTREMIST GROUPS & INDIVIDUALS
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY MAY BE THE HIGHEST
EXPRESSION OF HUMAN RATIONALITY. PEOPLE ARE ABLE
TO SHAPE OR DESTROY THE WORLD WITH IT.
HUMAN NATURE MAY BE CORRUPTED WHEN THE POWERS
OF OUR MIND, OUR RATIONALITY AND OUR SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY BECOME MANIFEST.IF WE ARE NOT ABLE
TO REIN IN THE VANITY AND ARROGANCE THAT SUCH
POWERS UNLEASH, THEN WE ARE ON THE WAY TO
DESTROYING THE WORLD
FREEMAN DYSON
 THEORETICAL PHYSICIST AND MATHEMATICIAN
 IN THE DOCUMENTARY “THE DAY AFTER
TRINITY(1981)”
 SHARED HIS THOUGHTS AND SENTIMENTS AS A
SCIENTIST TAKING PART IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
NUCLEAR POWER
“I HAVE FELT IT MYSELF.THE GLITTER OF NUCLEAR
WEAPONS. IT IS IRRESISTIBLE IF YOU COME TO THEM AS A
SCIENTIST. TO FEEL IT’S THERE IN YOUR HANDS, TO RELEASE THIS
ENERGY THAT FUEL THE STARS, TO LET IT DO YOUR BIDDING. TO
PERFORM THOSE MIRACLES, TO LIFT A MILLION TONS OF ROCK
INTO THE SKY. IT IS SOMETHING THAT GIVES PEOPLE AN ILLUSION
OF ILLIMITABLE POWER, AND IT IS, IN SOME WAYS, REPSONSIBLE
FOR ALL OUR TROUBLES– THIS, WHAT YOU MIGHT CALL TECHNICAL
ARROGANCE, THAT OVERCOMES PEOPLE WHEN THEY SEE WHAT
THEY CAN DO WITH THEIR MINDS.”
READING EXERCISE
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS BRIEFLY AND CONCISELY..
1. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT GOOGLE MAKES PEOPLE STUPID? YES OR NO? CITE AN
EXAMPLE
2. DOES’NT THE FUTURE NEED US? REFER TO BILLY JOY’ S ARTICLE…

THANK YOU

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CHAPTER 7

1. EVALUATE CONTEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE TO STRENGTHEN THE HUMAN

2. DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FACE OF CHANGING

3. IDENTIFY LAWS OR POLICIES IN THE COUNTRY THAT PROTECT THE WELL-BEING

More free When we are empowered to make choices for our

when we are able to value and apply the principles of

When we ensure that human dignity lies at the

ARTICLE 2 Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set

ARTICLE 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading

ARTICLE 6 Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before

SOUTH KOREA >

These questions needs to be

The internet has People accept what the search

BILL JOY > CHIEF SCIENTIST AND CORPORATE

> WROTE IN 2000 A CONTROVERSIAL ESSAY

> HE CONTENDED THAT OUR MOST

> THIS POSSIBLE EXTINCTION MAY BE DUE

ACCUSTOMED TO LIVING WITH ALMOST ROUTINE SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS, WE

2. DOES’NT THE FUTURE NEED US? REFER TO BILLY JOY’ S ARTICLE…

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