Foreword: This text was written in November 2020 as part of ICT enabled service business and innovation course at Aalto Open University. The text discusses the impact of digitalization on various aspects of society, this time focusing more on harm than on its benefits. Many things have changed since the text was written, but many challenges and questions remain the same.
Privacy. Not too long-ago digital media services were the wild west as platform owners could explore user information without users' consent for advertising and selling their digital footprint. It took years until social platforms such as Facebook forced to take a side in a discussion on what is the platform's responsibility for trolling, the spread of fake news, and data privacy.
Surprisingly, it took time for digital service users to wake up with concerns about their data privacy. It seems to be easier to forget than to demand platform owners' responsibility upon carrying their responsibility. What seems to have forced platforms to take action is the fear of losing public popularity and users.
Digital services are easy to copy which can mean a platform's rapid loss of users on any side, causing a chain effect to the other platform user side, to producers or consumers.
Legislation. Digitalization has happened so fast at the individual, company, and societal levels that legislation has fallen behind in many cases. There are no precedent cases for judgment which makes it harder to justify what takes place within the legislation, not to mention what is ethically right.
When a digital service is on an open market who defines the owner of the new service? It seems that nations take legit action only when decision-makers see a digital service as a threat to their country or as a potential risk to the nationwide business. Naturally, everchanging legislation causes a headache to globally operating digital businesses. Some nations also wish to control citizens' access to information by blocking social media, news sites, and even access to the internet. Even if nations don’t control people's access they wish sometimes to influence peoples thinking during governmental elections by spreading fake news and trolling.
Fake. For an individual, it is hard to recognize what is true and what is fake as we are somewhat used to trusting media. Social profiles can be fake, promised services can be fake, and videos can be made up, and creating these does not even require a person as artificial intelligence is sophisticated enough to make its creations. It is harmful when individuals trust and forget critical thinking. Too good to be true is precisely that in digital media.
Digital scams, robberies, and access to forbidden items and media are easier than ever, which affects societies, digital businesses, and individuals. On a societal level, digitalization has brought access to information much easier and equal opportunities to people around the world which is great, but this has changed people's behavior. It is much harder for people to focus and be present in live social events. People feel that they need to be online all the time, if not for social reasons, but for the lust of hearing the latest. Even children are exposed to heavy influence in social media and through services with artificial intelligence. Not to mention how people's identities can mess up with digital services that create illusions about people's looks and lives.
Carbon footprint. Constant digital consumption is also far from carbon neutrality. Digital perceives as immaterial data flow, but what many forget is how much energy data transfer consumes. Digital devices are also substituted frequently with new models with very little recycling possibilities. This week I noticed a headline on how carbon dioxide emissions have returned to pre-covid times after declining at the beginning of covid-19. People move less but consume the same way through digital services. It is good to keep in mind that digital is often the means, but not the end.
Concerned? Loss of personal data and leaks poses a valid cause for concern, but it is something that is already addressed at the societal and company level. It is not only a matter of financial loss but also a matter of potentially harming people's mental health if sensitive personal information leaks into the wrong hands. Something happened recently in Finland when therapeutic pediatric patient information was stolen and used for blackmail. The sensitivity and potential harm are so great that governments have started to act as well as businesses. Losing people's trust is something that no company can afford.
I think that Isolation during the covid-19 outbreak has shown that people still seek human contact. For the majority of people, social isolation has been challenging and caused in society level physical and mental healthcare problems. We still need each other and use digital services to enable those connections, but not to substitute those.
In my opinion, the biggest concern of digitalization is people's understanding of it. How biased digital can be and lead people on a long leash? This is something that should be tackled at a societal level. People need to be educated about digital, and by people, I mean also the decision-makers.
Reflection
Let's consider the industrial revolution which offered wealth to people and the possibility to consume. People were little considered the downside of this period, besides after years. Arguably some environmental impacts that industrial inventions cause are still denied by certain people, but luckily many have started to consider their carbon footprint and started to make lifestyle decisions accordingly. But notably, there was no going back to the time before the industrial revolution. I think that something similar, as well as a continuation of the previous industrial revolution, is already happening.
Digital has become such normal in people's lives that we have passed the honeymoon period. With this, I mean that individuals have woken up to the dark side of digitalization which I discussed earlier, but are not ready to give up on the benefits they´ve gained with digitalization which has originated from people's needs. The speed that technological devices developed only accelerated this but was not the cause of the digital disruption. What will happen next relies much on how smart society will support and facilitate digitalization.
Closing. Nobody knows how things will be in three years from now. We should do the right things, but who defines what are the right things to do?
Thank you for reading this text, I hope it gave some food for thought.
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