Digital Revolution or 4ht Industrial Revolution

In recent years, we have witnessed unprecedented technological progress. In this article, I will explain questions that make me reflect and will likely make you reflect as well.

What is the digital revolution?

If you ask for a specific date that marks the beginning of the digital revolution, I would undoubtedly say January 9, 2007. The beginning of the digital revolution from the perspective of this millennial author is undoubtedly the launch of the iPhone by Apple. It was an event that radically transformed the way we interact with technology and marked the beginning of a new digital era.

The iPhone marked the birth of a new market and economic model based on data. Companies like Microsoft, Google, Meta, Amazon, or OpenAI are fully aware of how all this works. Thanks to them, we have made significant progress.

Now we have real-time GPS navigation, video conferencing messaging systems, social networks, and artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT.

Welcome to the digital revolution, the fourth industrial revolution, or any other synonym. All these words describe a set of advances in many areas of human knowledge that will enable a transformation of the established societal paradigm.

Where is the digital revolution taking us?

To answer the question of where we are going, we must first know how we got here. We have arrived through the data-based economic model. The word “data” originates from the Latin “datum” and means “what is given” or “what is granted.” So, what have we given?

We have given our time to the big tech companies. The more time we spend on their products, the better they know us and the better price they offer for advertising spaces auctioned automatically in milliseconds.

You have surely noticed this when talking to friends and family. Those shoes, books, or insurance that appear while you scroll (swipe the screen) are no coincidence. Big tech companies have very effectively designed free products to manipulate what our senses perceive. To shape the trap, WhatsApp has changed how screens look, for example. This is called A/B testing. If we spend more time, it will stay that way.

The most well-known example of behavioral modification technique is infinite scroll. Aza Raskin, the creator of infinite scroll, described it in an interview with the BBC as “behavioral cocaine”. This technique is widely used in social networks like Instagram, Meta, YouTube, or TikTok. By the way, once my web design teacher told me that the index finger is the finger of will. What a coincidence!

Aza Raskin explained that this technique is extremely addictive because it removes any natural pause in content consumption, making it difficult for users to stop using the application.

Have you noticed how we use smartphones?

The most evident place is public transportation. In the face of boredom, we protect ourselves and immerse ourselves in the digital world. Escaping from the shortcomings we have in the real world. We spend the entire journey unable to look out the bus window and take refuge in a false virtual shelter.

Blinded by “likes” and letting algorithms show us content we haven’t even consciously chosen. I call us “sheep without critical thinking”.

I call us sheep because that’s how I really consider us. Sheep are naturally docile and move by inertia of what the group does. They never question what happens around them and respond to the movements of the shepherd dog when the shepherd orders it.

The analogy works very well if we are the sheep, the shepherd dog is what we consume in the digital world, and the shepherd are the big tech companies.

So, where is the fourth industrial revolution taking us?

The power of tech companies is capable of manipulating our behavior. The arrival of artificial intelligence and robotics makes people dehumanized to humanize machines. It’s quite paradoxical.

Have you noticed how we create humanoid robots? Why do we strive to create human projections in inanimate bodies? Are our social shortcomings unable to react to human beings? Have we lost so much hope that we prefer a robot with a cat face serving sushi?

Technology itself is neutral. We humans decide what we do with it. In the past, the pre-Socratics focused on observing nature. Thinkers like Descartes established the individual as the center. Currently, we are guided by the interests of technocratic minorities. I believe the digital revolution will shift the individual towards a dual physical and digital world. The shortcomings of the physical world are attempted to be solved in an unreal and digital utopia.

The digital revolution is driven by artificial intelligence. What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is one of the milestones we have reached since 2007. To begin with, let’s define the terms well. Artificial intelligence is neither intelligent nor artificial. It is a set of algorithms programmed by people under objective and/or subjective criteria. It is common for many technology-related terms to be composed of at least two words to hide the real meaning. Smartphones, the internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence… All this is well explained by philosopher and writer Jordi Pigem in “Pandemia y posverdad.”

I know what you might be thinking. Jose, artificial intelligence is intelligent…

I’ll give you a practical example. A pharmaceutical company wants to launch a new drug to help people with depression. The pharmaceutical company, along with health authorities, decides to program an artificial intelligence with 10,000 parameters. 10,000 parameters that will answer a single question: is it necessary to prescribe the drug?

The team of programmers, statisticians, shareholders, and health authorities will define where the limit is. You have noticed, right? Conflict of interest. Shareholders will want to sell as many drugs as possible. Who will write the line of code that decides whether the percentage is 50% or 60%? The machine or the human?

Artificial intelligence is not intelligent. It is objective and decides a dilemma: yes or no. Humans are responsible for deciding when the context is yes or no.

Do we have a solution?

To change the direction we are heading, it is not easy. The current data-based economic model makes us consume a specific type of content. It only shows us what we like. If they only show us what we like, we spend more time so they can sell us things.

The price we pay as a collective is the polarization of society. The truth is distorted daily. In a world where there is an absence of truth, it is difficult to find certainties and define criteria. In my humble opinion, we are heading where critical thinking determines.

The bad news: critical thinking is not in very good health these days. The good news is that it is in our hands to turn the situation around.

Asking questions, daily reading, being in contact with nature, having real physical conversations with friends and family, or engaging in humanities-based activities (drawing, music, writing) are the way - Jose Antonio López