RADIUS

Exploring the Social Effects

of 21st Century Tech Development

R A D I U S

Among the major challenges that we face in the 21st century is the risk of societal disruption due to dramatic technological development.

How to tackle this challenge?

Figuring out how to succeed ahead of time is not an easy task. In all likelihood a multiplicity of solutions, many of them made up as we go along, will be needed. For our part, we at Radius follow a vision focused on possible courses of action for potentially magnanimous societies based around solidarity. These societies (they are ours) may be different in their cultures. But they are each assumed to have their fair share of strong and generous individuals who compete and work together, with little regard for political borders. Striking the right balance between what our humanity is and what it might become, such societies may collectively overcome the major crises of our century – including the crisis induced by new tech.

_{Artwork by Simon Stålenhag, from his book Tales from the Loop (2014).}

Critical to this vision is an understanding of the social impact of 21st century tech development. Artificial intelligence, the steadily growing internet, biotech, nanotech, and a host of related technologies are on the verge of drastically altering our societies. But to a large extent, the final consequences of these changes are up to us to decide.

21st century tech development may be tentatively expected to produce changes in …

… Work: New technology increases the social divide between those who are capable of contributing to the economy and those who are not. It also transforms the character of work tasks.

… Leisure: New technology changes our perception of time and space and thus alters our cultures, i.e., our desires and our patterns of behavior. Also, it provides new tools for monitoring and controlling human behavior.

… Knowledge: New technology changes our sense of reality and gauge of possibilities.

… Education: New technology alters skill demand on the labor market and presents challenges to critical thinking and personal growth through experience.

… Romance: New technology brings changes to how we date and how children are conceived.

… Family Life: New technology brings changes to how children are raised and how families hold together or fragment over the course of time.

… Politics: New technology is simultaneously accelerating global integration and opportunity for global compartmentalization. Also, the political handling of the risk of societal disruption due to technological advances has a major impact on the two other major crises of our century, the risk of nuclear war and the risk of environmental disaster.

What should we aim for? At Radius, we consider the following elements key:

Expression of Will
Increase of Knowledge
Nurturing of Relationships
Macro-Scale Maintenance

Providing individuals with the opportunity for these activities will likely play a decisive role in overcoming the pitfalls associated with the new technology. With a bit of luck, it might allow us instead to make decent use of it. Nevertheless, the vision and the aims listed above are ad hoc and not fit for dogmatism. We therefore need to remain willing to adjust them as we go along.

_{“Rime of the Last Fisherman”, artwork by Simon Stålenhag (2016).}

Even if you do not share Radius’ aims, the areas of social life concerned – Work & Leisure, Knowledge & Education, Romance & Family Life, and Politics & Crises – are such that they will likely be of some interest to you, regardless of your exact aims.

Four points of contact result between the technological development and the aims presented above: The conflict between human and AI capabilities in and outside of work, issues around teaching critical thinking, the conflict between freedom and security in family life, and the conflict between attempts at global integration and compartmentalization.

Radius aims to give a descriptive account of the social impact of 21st century tech development. Granted that the vision and the aims presented above guide our perception, Radius does not aim to be either prescriptive or predictive. Radius is non-profit and run independently. We have no political or religious affiliations. In terms of political temperament – along traditional political lines, anyway – Radius is situated close to center but leaning somewhat to the left, with pockets of conservative values. Furthermore, Radius is to a large extent EU-centered. Carefully optimistic of the EU project, Radius considers it paramount that national identities are respected and developed and that there is no attempt made at rigid ideology on the EU level.

Radius takes a carefully optimistic view of the problems that the new technology presents us with. Lacking faith in a philosophy of progress, Radius nonetheless believes that human consciousness may continue to advance through the ages. Our condition is absurd, as Camus put it. Yet we have come to know it better. We are free to attempt to reduce the contradiction that we inhabit. If we apply ourselves to the utmost, we may complete even superhuman tasks – especially since superhuman tasks need be nothing more than tasks which people take a long time to complete.

Hanging here with Radius, or following us on the usual platforms, you will vastly increase your understanding of the massive social impact of current technological developments. This will get you better equipped to combat the risk of societal disruption due to rapid technological change. Radius allows you to reflect on what is the case, what necessary implications that has for you and the people around you – and what you can do about it.

Sources for the above:

Official documents

EU Commission. Communications COM(2016) 381, COM(2018) 237, COM(2018) 795, COM(2019) 168, COM(2020) 64, COM(2020) 65 White Paper, COM(2021) 118, COM(2021) 205; Expert reports “The Future of Work? Work of the Future!” (2019), AIHLEG “Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI” (2019)
EU Parliament. Draft report 2015/2103 (INL), Res 2015/2103 (INL), Res 2020/20 -12, -14 and -15 (INL)

Literature

Beck, Ulrich. Risk Society (Sage 1992)
Beck, Ulrich. “The Reinvention of Politics: Towards a Theory of Reflexive Modernization”, in Reflexive Modernization (Polity 1994)
Camus, Albert. Le mythe de Sisyphe (Gallimard 1942)
Camus, Albert. “Les Amandiers”, in L’Éte (Gallimard 1950)
Castells, Manuel. The Information Age Trilogy I: The Rise of the Network Society (2nd ed, Wiley-Blackwell 2010)
Giddens, Anthony. “Living in a Post-Traditional Society”, in Reflexive Modernization (Polity 1994)
Harari, Yuval Noah. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (Spiegel and Grau 2018)
Tegmark, Max. Life 3.0 (Knopf 2017)

Online resources (visited April 2021)

Artificial Intelligence News. https://artificialintelligence-news.com/
MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/
State of AI Conference. https://www.stateof.ai/
The Social Dilemma. https://www.thesocialdilemma.com
Wait But Why. The AI Revolution (Part 1): The Road to Superintelligence https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html