essay on the negative effect of technology

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Negative Impacts of Technology

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Negative impacts of technology development essay, negative effects of technology essay, negative effects of technology on students essay, mental and physical health, privacy and security, social relationships and communication, the production and disposal of electronic devices contribute to environmental degradation. e-waste is a growing concern, as many electronic components are not biodegradable and can contain harmful materials. additionally, the energy consumption required to power our digital lives contributes to the larger issue of climate change. economic displacement.

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How Technology Affects Our Lives – Essay

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Do you wish to explore the use of information technology in daily life? Essays like the one below discuss this topic in depth. Read on to find out more.

Introduction

Technology in communication, technology in healthcare, technology in government, technology in education, technology in business, negative impact of technology.

Technology is a vital component of life in the modern world. People are so dependent on technology that they cannot live without it. Technology is important and useful in all areas of human life today. It has made life easy and comfortable by making communication and transport faster and easier (Harrington, 2011, p.35).

It has made education accessible to all and has improved healthcare services. Technology has made the world smaller and a better place to live. Without technology, fulfilling human needs would be a difficult task. Before the advent of technology, human beings were still fulfilling their needs. However, with technology, fulfillment of needs has become easier and faster.

It is unimaginable how life would be without technology. Technology is useful in the following areas: transport, communication, interaction, education, healthcare, and business (Harrington, 2011, p.35). Despite its benefits, technology has negative impacts on society. Examples of negative impacts of technology include the development of controversial medical practices such as stem cell research and the embracement of solitude due to changes in interaction methods. For example, social media has changed the way people interact.

Technology has led to the introduction of cloning, which is highly controversial because of its ethical and moral implications. The growth of technology has changed the world significantly and has influenced life in a great way. Technology is changing every day and continuing to influence areas of communication, healthcare, governance, education, and business.

Technology has contributed fundamentally in improving people’s lifestyles. It has improved communication by incorporating the Internet and devices such as mobile phones into people’s lives. The first technological invention to have an impact on communication was the discovery of the telephone by Graham Bell in 1875.

Since then, other inventions such as the Internet and the mobile phone have made communication faster and easier. For example, the Internet has improved ways through which people exchange views, opinions, and ideas through online discussions (Harrington, 2011, p.38). Unlike in the past when people who were in different geographical regions could not easily communicate, technology has eradicated that communication barrier. People in different geographical regions can send and receive messages within seconds.

Online discussions have made it easy for people to keep in touch. In addition, they have made socializing easy. Through online discussions, people find better solutions to problems by exchanging opinions and ideas (Harrington, 2011, p.39). Examples of technological inventions that facilitate online discussions include emails, online forums, dating websites, and social media sites.

Another technological invention that changed communication was the mobile phone. In the past, people relied on letters to send messages to people who were far away. Mobile phones have made communication efficient and reliable. They facilitate both local and international communication.

In addition, they enable people to respond to emergencies and other situations that require quick responses. Other uses of cell phones include the transfer of data through applications such as infrared and Bluetooth, entertainment, and their use as miniature personal computers (Harrington, 2011, p.40).

The latest versions of mobile phones are fitted with applications that enable them to access the Internet. This provides loads of information in diverse fields for mobile phone users. For business owners, mobile phones enhance the efficiency of their business operations because they are able to keep in touch with their employees and suppliers (Harrington, 2011, p.41). In addition, they are able to receive any information about the progress of their business in a short period of time.

Technology has contributed significantly to the healthcare sector. For example, it has made vital contributions in the fields of disease prevention and health promotion. Technology has aided in the understanding of the pathophysiology of diseases, which has led to the prevention of many diseases. For example, understanding the pathophysiology of the gastrointestinal tract and blood diseases has aided in their effective management (Harrington, 2011, p.49).

Technology has enabled practitioners in the medical field to make discoveries that have changed the healthcare sector. These include the discovery that peptic ulceration is caused by a bacterial infection and the development of drugs to treat schizophrenia and depressive disorders that afflict a greater portion of the population (Harrington, 2011, p.53). The development of vaccines against polio and measles led to their total eradication.

Children who are vaccinated against these diseases are not at risk of contracting the diseases. The development of vaccines was facilitated by technology, without which certain diseases would still be causing deaths in great numbers. Vaccines play a significant role in disease prevention.

Technology is used in health promotion in different ways. First, health practitioners use various technological methods to improve health care. eHealth refers to the use of information technology to improve healthcare by providing information on the Internet to people. In this field, technology is used in three main ways.

These include its use as an intervention tool, its use in conducting research studies, and its use for professional development (Lintonen et al, 2008, p. 560). According to Lintonenet al (2008), “e-health is the use of emerging information and communications technology, especially the internet, to improve or enable health and healthcare.” (p.560). It is largely used to support health care interventions that are mainly directed towards individual persons. Secondly, it is used to improve the well-being of patients during recovery.

Bedside technology has contributed significantly in helping patients recover. For example, medical professionals have started using the Xbox computer technology to develop a revolutionary process that measures limb movements in stroke patients (Tanja-Dijkstra, 2011, p.48). This helps them recover their manual competencies. The main aim of this technology is to help stroke patients do more exercises to increase their recovery rate and reduce the frequency of visits to the hospital (Lintonen et al, 2008, p. 560).

The government has utilized technology in two main areas. These include the facilitation of the delivery of citizen services and the improvement of defense and national security (Scholl, 2010, p.62). The government is spending large sums of money on wireless technologies, mobile gadgets, and technological applications. This is in an effort to improve their operations and ensure that the needs of citizens are fulfilled.

For example, in order to enhance safety and improve service delivery, Cisco developed a networking approach known as Connected Communities. This networking system connects citizens with the government and the community. The system was developed to improve the safety and security of citizens, improve service delivery by the government, empower citizens, and encourage economic development.

The government uses technology to provide information and services to citizens. This encourages economic development and fosters social inclusion (Scholl, 2010, p.62). Technology is also useful in improving national security and the safety of citizens. It integrates several wireless technologies and applications that make it easy for security agencies to access and share important information effectively. Technology is widely used by security agencies to reduce vulnerability to terrorism.

Technologically advanced gadgets are used in airports, hospitals, shopping malls, and public buildings to screen people for explosives and potentially dangerous materials or gadgets that may compromise the safety of citizens (Bonvillian and Sharp, 2001, par2). In addition, security agencies use surveillance systems to restrict access to certain areas. They also use technologically advanced screening and tracking methods to improve security in places that are prone to terrorist attacks (Bonvillian and Sharp, 2001, par3).

Technology has made significant contributions in the education sector. It is used to enhance teaching and learning through the use of different technological methods and resources. These include classrooms with digital tools such as computers that facilitate learning, online learning schools, blended learning, and a wide variety of online learning resources (Barnett, 1997, p.74). Digital learning tools that are used in classrooms facilitate learning in different ways. They expand the scope of learning materials and experiences for students, improve student participation in learning, make learning easier and quick, and reduce the cost of education (Barnett, 1997, p.75). For example, online schools and free learning materials reduce the costs that are incurred in purchasing learning materials. They are readily available online. In addition, they reduce the expenses that are incurred in program delivery.

Technology has improved the process of teaching by introducing new methods that facilitate connected teaching. These methods virtually connect teachers to their students. Teachers are able to provide learning materials and the course content to students effectively. In addition, teachers are able to give students an opportunity to personalize learning and access all learning materials that they provide. Technology enables teachers to serve the academic needs of different students.

In addition, it enhances learning because the problem of distance is eradicated, and students can contact their teachers easily (Barnett, 1997, p.76). Technology plays a significant role in changing how teachers teach. It enables educators to evaluate the learning abilities of different students in order to devise teaching methods that are most efficient in the achievement of learning objectives.

Through technology, teachers are able to relate well with their students, and they are able to help and guide them. Educators assume the role of coaches, advisors, and experts in their areas of teaching. Technology helps make teaching and learning enjoyable and gives it meaning that goes beyond the traditional classroom set-up system (Barnett, 1997, p.81).

Technology is used in the business world to improve efficiency and increase productivity. Most important, technology is used as a tool to foster innovation and creativity (Ray, 2004, p.62). Other benefits of technology to businesses include the reduction of injury risk to employees and improved competitiveness in the markets. For example, many manufacturing businesses use automated systems instead of manual systems. These systems eliminate the costs of hiring employees to oversee manufacturing processes.

They also increase productivity and improve the accuracy of the processes because of the reduction of errors (Ray, 2004, p.63). Technology improves productivity due to Computer-aided Manufacturing (CAM), Computer-integrated Manufacturing (CIM), and Computer-aided Design (CAD). CAM reduces labor costs, increases the speed of production, and ensures a higher level of accuracy (Hunt, 2008, p.44). CIM reduces labor costs, while CAD improves the quality and standards of products and reduces the cost of production.

Another example of the use of technology in improving productivity and output is the use of database systems to store data and information. Many businesses store their data and other information in database systems that make accessibility of information fast, easy, and reliable (Pages, 2010, p.44).

Technology has changed how international business is conducted. With the advent of e-commerce, businesses became able to trade through the Internet on the international market (Ray, 2004, p.69). This means that there is a large market for products and services. In addition, it implies that most markets are open 24 hours a day.

For example, customers can shop for books or music on Amazon.com at any time of the day. E-commerce has given businesses the opportunity to expand and operate internationally. Countries such as China and Brazil are taking advantage of opportunities presented by technology to grow their economy.

E-commerce reduces the complexities involved in conducting international trade (Ray, 2004, p.71). Its many components make international trade easy and fast. For example, a BOES system allows merchants to execute trade transactions in any language or currency, monitor all steps involved in transactions, and calculate all costs involved, such as taxes and freight costs (Yates, 2006, p.426).

Financial researchers claim that a BOES system is capable of reducing the cost of an international transaction by approximately 30% (Ray, 2004, p.74). BOES enables businesses to import and export different products through the Internet. This system of trade is efficient and creates a fair environment in which small and medium-sized companies can compete with large companies that dominate the market.

Despite its many benefits, technology has negative impacts. It has negative impacts on society because it affects communication and has changed the way people view social life. First, people have become more anti-social because of changes in methods of socializing (Harrington, 2008, p.103). Today, one does not need to interact physically with another person in order to establish a relationship.

The Internet is awash with dating sites that are full of people looking for partners and friends. The ease of forming friendships and relationships through the Internet has discouraged many people from engaging in traditional socializing activities. Secondly, technology has affected the economic statuses of many families because of high rates of unemployment. People lose jobs when organizations and businesses embrace technology (Harrington, 2008, p.105).

For example, many employees lose their jobs when manufacturing companies replace them with automated machines that are more efficient and cost-effective. Many families are struggling because of the lack of a constant stream of income. On the other hand, technology has led to the closure of certain companies because the world does not need their services. This is prompted by technological advancements.

For example, the invention of digital cameras forced Kodak to close down because people no longer needed analog cameras. Digital cameras replaced analog cameras because they are easy to use and efficient. Many people lost their jobs due to changes in technology. Thirdly, technology has made people lazy and unwilling to engage in strenuous activities (Harrington, 2008, p.113).

For example, video games have replaced physical activities that are vital in improving the health of young people. Children spend a lot of time watching television and playing video games such that they have little or no time for physical activities. This has encouraged the proliferation of unhealthy eating habits that lead to conditions such as diabetes.

Technology has elicited heated debates in the healthcare sector. Technology has led to medical practices such as stem cell research, implant embryos, and assisted reproduction. Even though these practices have been proven viable, they are highly criticized on the grounds of their moral implications on society.

There are many controversial medical technologies, such as gene therapy, pharmacogenomics, and stem cell research (Hunt, 2008, p.113). The use of genetic research in finding new cures for diseases is imperative and laudable. However, the medical implications of these disease treatment methods and the ethical and moral issues associated with the treatment methods are critical. Gene therapy is mostly rejected by religious people.

They claim that it is against natural law to alter the gene composition of a person in any way (Hunt, 2008, p.114). The use of embryonic stem cells in research is highly controversial, unlike the use of adult stem cells. The controversy exists because of the source of the stem cells. The cells are obtained from embryos. There is a belief among many people that life starts after conception.

Therefore, using embryos in research means killing them to obtain their cells for research. The use of embryo cells in research is considered in the same light as abortion: eliminating a life (Hunt, 2008, p.119). These issues have led to disagreements between the science and the religious worlds.

Technology is a vital component of life in the modern world. People are so dependent on technology that they cannot live without it. Technology is important and useful in all areas of human life today.

It has made life easy and comfortable by making communication faster and travel faster, making movements between places easier, making actions quick, and easing interactions. Technology is useful in the following areas of life: transport, communication, interaction, education, healthcare, and business. Despite its benefits, technology has negative impacts on society.

Technology has eased communication and transport. The discovery of the telephone and the later invention of the mobile phone changed the face of communication entirely. People in different geographical regions can communicate easily and in record time. In the field of health care, technology has made significant contributions in disease prevention and health promotion. The development of vaccines has eradicated certain diseases, and the use of the Internet is vital in promoting health and health care.

The government uses technology to enhance the delivery of services to citizens and the improvement of defense and security. In the education sector, teaching and learning processes have undergone significant changes owing to the impact of technology. Teachers are able to relate to different types of learners, and the learners have access to various resources and learning materials. Businesses benefit from technology through the reduction of costs and increased efficiency of business operations.

Despite the benefits, technology has certain disadvantages. It has negatively affected human interactions and socialization and has led to widespread unemployment. In addition, its application in the healthcare sector has elicited controversies due to certain medical practices such as stem cell research and gene therapy. Technology is very important and has made life easier and more comfortable than it was in the past.

Barnett, L. (1997). Using Technology in Teaching and Learning . New York: Routledge.

Bonvillian, W., and Sharp, K. (2011). Homeland Security Technology . Retrieved from https://issues.org/bonvillian/ .

Harrington, J. (2011). Technology and Society . New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Hunt, S. (2008). Controversies in Treatment Approaches: Gene Therapy, IVF, Stem Cells and Pharmagenomics. Nature Education , 19(1), 112-134.

Lintonen, P., Konu, A., and Seedhouse, D. (2008). Information Technology in Health Promotion. Health Education Research , 23(3), 560-566.

Pages, J., Bikifalvi, A., and De Castro Vila, R. (2010). The Use and Impact of Technology in Factory Environments: Evidence from a Survey of Manufacturing Industry in Spain. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology , 47(1), 182-190.

Ray, R. (2004). Technology Solutions for Growing Businesses . New York: AMACOM Div American Management Association.

Scholl, H. (2010). E-government: Information, Technology and Transformation . New York: M.E. Sharpe.

Tanja-Dijkstra, K. (2011). The Impact of Bedside Technology on Patients’ Well-Being. Health Environments Research & Design Journal (HERD) , 5(1), 43-51.

Yates, J. (2006). How Business Enterprises use Technology: Extending the Demand-Side Turn. Enterprise and Society , 7(3), 422-425.

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Essay on the Positive and Negative Effects of Technology

How it works

The advent and evolution of technology have brought about profound changes in society, impacting almost every aspect of modern life. While technology has yielded numerous benefits, it has also introduced several challenges and concerns. This essay explores both the positive and negative effects of technology on various facets of human life.

On the positive side, technology has revolutionized communication, making it easier, faster, and more efficient. With the advent of the internet, social media, and mobile communication, people can connect with others across the globe instantly.

This has facilitated not just personal communication but also broadened the scope for global business and educational opportunities. Additionally, technology has significantly advanced healthcare, leading to improved diagnostics, treatments, and increased life expectancy. The accessibility of information and digital resources has also enhanced education and learning processes, making knowledge more accessible to a wider audience.

Another positive impact of technology is seen in the realm of productivity and efficiency. Automation and digital tools have streamlined various processes in industries, reducing manual labor and enhancing precision. This has led to increased productivity and innovation, contributing to economic growth and development. Moreover, technology has played a critical role in advancing research and development across various fields, leading to groundbreaking discoveries and innovations.

However, the negative effects of technology are equally significant. One of the primary concerns is the impact on mental health and well-being. The overuse of digital devices and social media has been linked to issues like anxiety, depression, and social isolation, especially among younger populations. Additionally, the digital divide and access to technology remain significant challenges, leading to disparities in information access and technological benefits.

Another downside of technology is the threat to privacy and security. With the increasing amount of personal data being shared online, individuals are more susceptible to privacy breaches, identity theft, and cybercrimes. Furthermore, the reliance on technology has led to concerns over job displacement due to automation, raising questions about the future of work and employment stability.

Environmental concerns are also associated with technology. The production and disposal of electronic devices contribute to environmental degradation and e-waste, posing challenges for sustainable development. Additionally, the energy consumption required to power digital infrastructures has implications for global energy resources and climate change.

In conclusion, technology has a dual impact on society, offering numerous benefits in terms of communication, healthcare, education, and productivity, while also presenting challenges related to mental health, privacy, job security, and environmental sustainability. Balancing these positive and negative aspects is crucial for harnessing the potential of technology in a way that benefits society as a whole.

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• 10 February 2020

Scrutinizing the effects of digital technology on mental health

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The topic in brief

• There is an ongoing debate about whether social media and the use of digital devices are detrimental to mental health.

• Adolescents tend to be heavy users of these devices, and especially of social media.

• Rates of teenage depression began to rise around 2012, when adolescent use of social media became common (Fig. 1).

• Some evidence indicates that frequent users of social media have higher rates of depression and anxiety than do light users.

• But perhaps digital devices could provide a way of gathering data about mental health in a systematic way, and make interventions more timely.

Figure 1 | Depression on the rise. Rates of depression among teenagers in the United States have increased steadily since 2012. Rates are higher and are increasing more rapidly for girls than for boys. Some researchers think that social media is the cause of this increase, whereas others see social media as a way of tackling it. (Data taken from the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Table 11.2b; go.nature.com/3ayjaww )

JONATHAN HAIDT: A guilty verdict

A sudden increase in the rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm was seen in adolescents — particularly girls — in the United States and the United Kingdom around 2012 or 2013 (see go.nature.com/2up38hw ). Only one suspect was in the right place at the right time to account for this sudden change: social media. Its use by teenagers increased most quickly between 2009 and 2011, by which point two-thirds of 15–17-year-olds were using it on a daily basis 1 . Some researchers defend social media, arguing that there is only circumstantial evidence for its role in mental-health problems 2 , 3 . And, indeed, several studies 2 , 3 show that there is only a small correlation between time spent on screens and bad mental-health outcomes. However, I present three arguments against this defence.

First, the papers that report small or null effects usually focus on ‘screen time’, but it is not films or video chats with friends that damage mental health. When research papers allow us to zoom in on social media, rather than looking at screen time as a whole, the correlations with depression are larger, and they are larger still when we look specifically at girls ( go.nature.com/2u74der ). The sex difference is robust, and there are several likely causes for it. Girls use social media much more than do boys (who, in turn, spend more of their time gaming). And, for girls more than boys, social life and status tend to revolve around intimacy and inclusion versus exclusion 4 , making them more vulnerable to both the ‘fear of missing out’ and the relational aggression that social media facilitates.

Second, although correlational studies can provide only circumstantial evidence, most of the experiments published in recent years have found evidence of causation ( go.nature.com/2u74der ). In these studies, people are randomly assigned to groups that are asked to continue using social media or to reduce their use substantially. After a few weeks, people who reduce their use generally report an improvement in mood or a reduction in loneliness or symptoms of depression.

The best way forward

Third, many researchers seem to be thinking about social media as if it were sugar: safe in small to moderate quantities, and harmful only if teenagers consume large quantities. But, unlike sugar, social media does not act just on those who consume it. It has radically transformed the nature of peer relationships, family relationships and daily activities 5 . When most of the 11-year-olds in a class are on Instagram (as was the case in my son’s school), there can be pervasive effects on everyone. Children who opt out can find themselves isolated. A simple dose–response model cannot capture the full effects of social media, yet nearly all of the debate among researchers so far has been over the size of the dose–response effect. To cite just one suggestive finding of what lies beyond that model: network effects for depression and anxiety are large, and bad mental health spreads more contagiously between women than between men 6 .

In conclusion, digital media in general undoubtedly has many beneficial uses, including the treatment of mental illness. But if you focus on social media, you’ll find stronger evidence of harm, and less exculpatory evidence, especially for its millions of under-age users.

What should we do while researchers hash out the meaning of these conflicting findings? I would urge a focus on middle schools (roughly 11–13-year-olds in the United States), both for researchers and policymakers. Any US state could quickly conduct an informative experiment beginning this September: randomly assign a portion of school districts to ban smartphone access for students in middle school, while strongly encouraging parents to prevent their children from opening social-media accounts until they begin high school (at around 14). Within 2 years, we would know whether the policy reversed the otherwise steady rise of mental-health problems among middle-school students, and whether it also improved classroom dynamics (as rated by teachers) and test scores. Such system-wide and cross-school interventions would be an excellent way to study the emergent effects of social media on the social lives and mental health of today’s adolescents.

NICK ALLEN: Use digital technology to our advantage

It is appealing to condemn social media out of hand on the basis of the — generally rather poor-quality and inconsistent — evidence suggesting that its use is associated with mental-health problems 7 . But focusing only on its potential harmful effects is comparable to proposing that the only question to ask about cars is whether people can die driving them. The harmful effects might be real, but they don’t tell the full story. The task of research should be to understand what patterns of digital-device and social-media use can lead to beneficial versus harmful effects 7 , and to inform evidence-based approaches to policy, education and regulation.

Long-standing problems have hampered our efforts to improve access to, and the quality of, mental-health services and support. Digital technology has the potential to address some of these challenges. For instance, consider the challenges associated with collecting data on human behaviour. Assessment in mental-health care and research relies almost exclusively on self-reporting, but the resulting data are subjective and burdensome to collect. As a result, assessments are conducted so infrequently that they do not provide insights into the temporal dynamics of symptoms, which can be crucial for both diagnosis and treatment planning.

By contrast, mobile phones and other Internet-connected devices provide an opportunity to continuously collect objective information on behaviour in the context of people’s real lives, generating a rich data set that can provide insight into the extent and timing of mental-health needs in individuals 8 , 9 . By building apps that can track our digital exhaust (the data generated by our everyday digital lives, including our social-media use), we can gain insights into aspects of behaviour that are well-established building blocks of mental health and illness, such as mood, social communication, sleep and physical activity.

Stress and the city

These data can, in turn, be used to empower individuals, by giving them actionable insights into patterns of behaviour that might otherwise have remained unseen. For example, subtle shifts in patterns of sleep or social communication can provide early warning signs of deteriorating mental health. Data on these patterns can be used to alert people to the need for self-management before the patterns — and the associated symptoms — become more severe. Individuals can also choose to share these data with health professionals or researchers. For instance, in the Our Data Helps initiative, individuals who have experienced a suicidal crisis, or the relatives of those who have died by suicide, can donate their digital data to research into suicide risk.

Because mobile devices are ever-present in people’s lives, they offer an opportunity to provide interventions that are timely, personalized and scalable. Currently, mental-health services are mainly provided through a century-old model in which they are made available at times chosen by the mental-health practitioner, rather than at the person’s time of greatest need. But Internet-connected devices are facilitating the development of a wave of ‘just-in-time’ interventions 10 for mental-health care and support.

A compelling example of these interventions involves short-term risk for suicide 9 , 11 — for which early detection could save many lives. Most of the effective approaches to suicide prevention work by interrupting suicidal actions and supporting alternative methods of coping at the moment of greatest risk. If these moments can be detected in an individual’s digital exhaust, a wide range of intervention options become available, from providing information about coping skills and social support, to the initiation of crisis responses. So far, just-in-time approaches have been applied mainly to behaviours such as eating or substance abuse 8 . But with the development of an appropriate research base, these approaches have the potential to provide a major advance in our ability to respond to, and prevent, mental-health crises.

These advantages are particularly relevant to teenagers. Because of their extensive use of digital devices, adolescents are especially vulnerable to the devices’ risks and burdens. And, given the increases in mental-health problems in this age group, teens would also benefit most from improvements in mental-health prevention and treatment. If we use the social and data-gathering functions of Internet-connected devices in the right ways, we might achieve breakthroughs in our ability to improve mental health and well-being.

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Competing Interests

N.A. has an equity interest in Ksana Health, a company he co-founded and which has the sole commercial licence for certain versions of the Effortless Assessment of Risk States (EARS) mobile-phone application and some related EARS tools. This intellectual property was developed as part of his research at the University of Oregon’s Center for Digital Mental Health (CDMH).

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Essay Samples on Negative Impact of Technology

Negative effects of technology on education: a closer look.

Introduction Technology has penetrated every sphere of our lives, and the education sector is no exception. Schools and institutions around the world are increasingly integrating technology into their curricula to enhance learning experiences. While the positive impacts of this integration are often emphasized, it is...

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Short About Negative Effects of Technology: A Closer Look

Introduction In the modern world, technology is a pervasive force, shaping nearly every aspect of our daily lives. While technology has brought about many positive changes, such as improved communication and advances in medicine, it has also engendered a range of negative effects. This essay...

• Impact of Technology

The Negative Impact of Technology on Education: Balancing Learning

Introduction This essay has explored the negative impact of technology on education, addressing challenges related to distraction, reduced face-to-face interaction, information overload, the digital divide, critical thinking erosion, plagiarism, and more. By acknowledging these drawbacks, educators and stakeholders can work towards a more balanced and...

The Dark Side of Technology: the Issue of Smartphone Addiction

Now, we are going to define what is a smartphone and the differences between mobile phones. Both are mobile but the main difference is that smartphones can access the Internet all the time. Those devices provide information on your social identity, status but also almost...

What is Cryptocurrency Addiction: a Modern-Day Obsession

Cryptocurrency is a digitalized token money that encourages direct peer-to-peer assets exchange (known as Trading) withoutthird-party interference (such as central world bank regulations). This platform transcends any minimum age barrier, geographical distance, currency diversity, or having a saving account (which is a must to have...

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Negative Effects of Technology on Child Development and Mental Health

Technology has rapidly grown throughout the world and has become the most reliable necessity in the world today. Tablets, cameras, laptops, smartphones, etc. devices have overtaken the human population. The world is surrounded by technology all around- at home, at school, at work, everywhere. On...

• Childhood Development

Technology Makes Us Lonely: The Negatives of the Progress

There’s food on the table, with many people surrounding it ready to dig into a big family dinner, but wait everyone’s heads are down. What are they doing, are they praying, or are they really invested in a very lengthy book or Epic, like Beowulf?...

Negative Effects of Technology on Child Development

In our modern society, technology is everywhere, specifically digital technology, and nearly everyone has some form of device whether it is a smartphone, smartwatch, tablet, laptop, computer, television, or even smart tv. Our world is loaded with technology because in theory it is all supposed...

Social Media and Technology Makes Us Lonely and Isolated

Technology has been the holy grail that has led to increased connectivity, new frontiers of business and economics and improved lives. On the other hand, it has also led to intense misery and contributed to the destruction of lives. Today, I will present facts and...

Negative Impact Of Technology On Modern Society

In today's society, most people think that technology influences the way people get along with present an opinion, everyone is influencesorried affecting technology affects children's learning ability, we are surrounded by all kinds of technology, and some people think that everything new technology can improve...

The Concept of Overcoming Technological Entrenchment in Society

The entrenchment of technology throughout society is a common and complex issue that is hindering and stunting the development and innovation of newer and arguably better technologies. Through retrospective viewing the paths of technological entrenchment are complex but evident, however, the foresight required at the...

Extremely Negative Impact Of Technology Within Society

Technology plays a huge aspect in society nowadays, it’s inescapable. We’re constantly immersed in it, we constantly rely on it and we could not live without it. These points should be key signs that in the past few years’ technology is slowly beginning to have...

American Society's Growing Dependent On Technology

Technology and computers are rapidly becoming an integral part of society. In fact, it is difficult to even imagine a life without technology. It is improving day by day and from the looks of it our daily life is becoming much more easier and convenient....

• Dependence on Technology

Exploring Whether Society Is Too Dependent On Technology

Society has gotten excessively subject to innovation; might you be able to go a day without your mobile phone? Innovation has prompted hereditary transformation, what's straightaway? Our day by day lives are one-sided totally around innovation. Innovation should be diminished however much as could reasonably...

Ethics Of Mobile Phone Overuse And Its Impact On Interpersonal Relationships

Introduction Phones have made a huge impact in society in the last 10 years. To be able to enter the internet from your pocket, to talking with someone that lives halfway across the world. Having lunch with your friends you see people all around on...

• Ethics in Everyday Life
• Interpersonal Communication

Negative And Positive Impacts Of The Internet Use On Children

Many people do not realize that there are about 2 million children under the age of 15 who access the internet daily basis (Rikkers, Lawrence, Hafekost & Zubrick.2016). According to the statistics, the percentage of children using the internet in Canada from 2014 to 2020...

• Child Psychology
• Children and Technology

Alone Together by Sherry Turkle: How Technology Affects Human Communication

While Twenge makes convincing points about the deleterious impact of digital communication on intimacy, she overlooks the natural tendency and deep emotional attachment that people have towards digital communication, which aligns with the findings of Sherry Turkle in her article Alone Together. In her article,...

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• Effects of Social Media

Alone Together by Sherry Turkle: The Impact of Technology on Human Relationships

In Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together, we need to consider more carefully the ways we interact with one another face-to-face. The lack of parental focus is a big concern for families and school. Oppenheimer, “Technology is not driving us apart after all”, describes how Professor Hampton...

Sherry Turkle: Lack of Intimacy and Connection in Social Media

In today’s world, social media comes with many perks like giving you the ability to reconnect with a long-lost friend, sharing photos with family members that may live far away, and you can even look for a job from any location. However are the advantages...

Understanding Cruciality and Necessity of Net Neutrality

In my opinion, the existence of Net Neutrality is necessary and extremely crucial. My argumentations can be illustrated in four aspects. They’re protecting freedom of speech, avoiding corporate censorship of speech, safeguarding consumer interests and maintaining fair competition for enterprises. To, ordinary citizens, freedom of...

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The Pros and Cons of Net Neutrality

The internet has become an important part of people’s lives. From email on our phones to streaming our favorite TV shows, we use the internet every day. The internet grew very fast and was difficult to regulate. It is often compared to the “wild west.”...

Negative Effects Of Overuse Of Electronic In 'The Veldt'

Ray Bradbury does a good job at depicting the negative effects of overuse of electronics and how it can change the bond between parents and children. In the short story The Veldt, the parents create a tv room, the Nursery, that changes with what the...

• Ray Bradbury

Positive & Negative Aspects Of Modern Technologies

Technology make drastic change in world with the help of automation there is so numerous effects that went very easy like communication with smartphones internet and other artificial intelligence. Technology is our daily use. Everybody uses technology everyday for completing their responsibilities much faster. Technology...

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Negative Impacts Of Gadgets Overusing Among Teenagers

The term of “Kids Zaman Now” becomes a trending topic in social media. Actually, this term is referred to young generation in present era. We can do anything which pushes up by development of technology. As we can see in the reality, most of teenagers...

Harmful Influence Of Mobile Phones On Our Health

Over the past decade, the usage of mobile phones among younger generation has gone through a profound transformation. In the past, mobile phones weren’t available for the general public but to those who could afford the electronic tool. Although unlike the older days, in our...

• Mobile Phone

Negative Impacts Of Technology On Communication And Health

Here are without a doubt the most basic negative effects of advancement on society. Exercise in purposelessness There are such a substantial number of entrancing things on the Internet, yet if we should need to review and comment on everything, one life wouldn't be adequate....

• Social Problems

Adolescents As The Most Vulnerable Of All Age Brackets

Over the years, internet users have grown exponentially with more than three billion users now. Notably, 830 million online are young people or 80% of the youth population in 104 countries according to the global data released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United...

• Adolescence

Best topics on Negative Impact of Technology

1. Negative Effects of Technology on Education: A Closer Look

2. Short About Negative Effects of Technology: A Closer Look

3. The Negative Impact of Technology on Education: Balancing Learning

4. The Dark Side of Technology: the Issue of Smartphone Addiction

5. What is Cryptocurrency Addiction: a Modern-Day Obsession

6. Negative Effects of Technology on Child Development and Mental Health

7. Technology Makes Us Lonely: The Negatives of the Progress

8. Negative Effects of Technology on Child Development

9. Social Media and Technology Makes Us Lonely and Isolated

10. Negative Impact Of Technology On Modern Society

11. The Concept of Overcoming Technological Entrenchment in Society

12. Extremely Negative Impact Of Technology Within Society

13. American Society’s Growing Dependent On Technology

14. Exploring Whether Society Is Too Dependent On Technology

15. Ethics Of Mobile Phone Overuse And Its Impact On Interpersonal Relationships

• Artificial Intelligence
• Cyber Security
• Class Reflection
• Text Messaging
• Cell Phones
• Digital Era

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The Positive and Negative Effects of Technology on Your Life

As a society, we've come a long way with the help of technology. But is it all rainbows and sunshine? Or does technology have its downsides?

Technology is around us everywhere, from simple devices like our smartphones, laptop, and TV to background tech that we don't even notice. It isn't going anywhere anytime soon, meaning we have to get accustomed to it. Once we get the hang of using tech the right way, it can improve our lives.

On the other hand, tech can also make our lives harder. Whether tech has a positive or negative effect on our lives, it all depends on how we use it. So, let's look at some of the positive and negative aspects of technology in our lives, shall we?

Positives of Technology in Our Lives

Technology has, without a doubt, made all our lives easier over the past two decades. From connecting with people across the globe from the comfort of your home to running a full-fledged business without a physical space, technology has impacted our lives positively in several ways. So, read on below:

1. Technology Boosts Business

Many new tech advancements and innovations are made by and for businesses. Why? Because companies are always looking to upgrade their products and services for profit.

New technology continues to come out faster than we can keep up with. The purpose is to boost business and make the daily management of enterprises more systematic, structured, and successful.

Tech has boosted businesses by improving the hiring process, error-free collection and analysis of business data, and better communication with clients and partners.

Additionally, tech has also changed the way we work remotely for the better. It is now commonplace for people to work from home. However, certain tech, like the cloud, has made it easier than ever to work whether you're at the office or not.

What's more, tech has made it effortless to communicate remotely too. Businesses now typically use tools like Slack and Zoom on a regular basis.

2. Technology Makes Shopping Online Possible

Advancements in tech have made it easier for more people to access the internet, resulting in online shopping being more popular now than ever.

Currently, most people prefer to shop online without leaving the house because of its sheer convenience. Instead of wasting hours in the shopping mall, tech makes shopping simple.

A few of the benefits of online shopping include cheaper products, saved time, fuel, and energy, easier-to-find items, a wider variety online, and no added pressure.

Amazon is a great website to do basically all of your online shopping. It's one of the most popular online shopping platforms because you can practically find everything you're looking for, from groceries to clothing.

Generous discounts, cheap shipping, and a massive selection of products are just some of the other excellent benefits of shopping online using Amazon. What's more, there is an Amazon Shopping mobile app that you can download and use for free. If Amazon isn't available to you there are plenty of alternatives to Amazon for your online shopping .

Download: Amazon Shopping for iOS | Android

3. Technology Has Advanced Education

One of the most downplayed areas of technology that has dramatically improved over the past few years is education. Technology has definitely been beneficial for those in the business world, but it has impacted education in a big way.

A few examples include the availability of online courses, accessibility of web seminars, and unlimited online resources for research. Before tech, you'd have to physically go to class, attend a meeting or go to the library to do research.

Now, education is easier for everyone, no matter where you live. Online classes have made it possible for all students to enroll without leaving their homes.

Today, you can find several great sites for free college courses online , such as Udemy—a fantastic website that offers thousands of free and paid-for courses to choose from. Whether you want to create virtual reality games or become a yoga instructor, Udemy has a course that's perfect for you.

In terms of technology, Udemy also offers a wide variety of great tech-related online courses. The categories available range from IT hardware and software to operating systems and network and security. So tech can help you master your chosen path and possibly broaden your career opportunities.

4. Technology Makes Everyday Life Better

Most technology these days is created to improve businesses and generate profit. However, tech can also make our daily lives so much better.

Tech has made an immensely positive impact on the daily lives of everyday people. Some positive examples include improvements in the transportation system.

The Bullet Train is an amazing piece of tech that can travel six times faster than a regular train. Think about the introduction of self-driving cars, too: they were unheard of a few years ago, and now they're a reality.

A fair amount of people drive Teslas, and they are well-known for having state-of-the-art self-driving capabilities. Some other companies that support autonomous driving capabilities besides Tesla are Mercedes-Benz and Volvo.

Besides transportation, technology has also had a positive influence on household items. For example, smart homes are now commonplace. Smart hubs allow households to connect their devices and appliances, making life a lot easier.

Negatives of Technology in Our Lives

As much as we appreciate technology for the convenience it brought to our lives, several aspects of it have impacted our society negatively in more ways than one.

1. Technology Causes Health Problems

As technology advances, we are connected now more than ever, and it has become a huge part of our lives. That's why it's possible for technology to impact our physical health negatively.

These physical health problems can be severe. Nevertheless, you can avoid most of them by creating healthy tech habits instead of bad ones.

Apart from creating unhealthy sleeping patterns, electronic devices can cause digital eye strain, poor posture, and increased inactivity, leading to health problems like obesity.

Taking regular breaks from these devices can help you avoid these health problems. You can find a range of apps that remind you to take frequent breaks.

One popular app to use is called Focus Keeper. This app will help you reduce your digital eye strain, take regular breaks, and prevent tech burnout.

Using the Focus Keeper app is easy. All you have to do is pick the time you want to focus on something and hit the play button to start the session. When the session is over there is a quick break and then the next session begins.

In addition, you can customize the settings under Options to change the sessions per round, daily focus goal, and timer sounds.

Download: Focus Keeper for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

2. Technology Creates Job Insecurity

Job loss and downsizing are two significant adverse effects of technology. Because of advances in the tech field such as AI integration, automating and accomplishing tasks have become easy.

In this day and age, most companies need to stay up to date with the latest technology, but in the process, low-skilled employees, like factory workers and cashiers, will be replaced.

Machines can now carry out tasks that only humans could do so far, which creates a massive shortage of jobs. The bottom line is that people aren't necessarily needed for work tasks anymore because of how efficient tech has become.

3. Tech Products Lack Longevity

Technology grows incredibly quickly, so the digital devices and gadgets that we use have a short lifespan and become outdated in a matter of months.

Since these devices are so important in our daily lives, we need to maintain and upgrade them regularly. Besides maintenance and upgrades, these pieces of tech may just become outdated and pushed aside by newer, more advanced versions.

Tech products lack longevity, so they can be costly and lead to unnecessary e-waste. Instead of throwing your older devices away or tossing them in the cupboard, use a website like Decluttr . This site makes it easy to buy and sell your used tech online.

You can sell your old tech on the Decluttr website, whether you want to get rid of your outdated phone, wearable, or console.

When you've found the correct category and product, tap Sell Now and the website gives you an instant price based on its carrier and condition. Moreover, Decluttr is also available as a free iOS or Android app to help you declutter your life .

4. Technology Spawns Misinformation and Fake News

The spread of misinformation and fake news online is nothing new. In fact, it has been going on for many years. However, with all the developments that happen so frequently in technology, it has become harder to define what's true and what's not.

Since so many people cannot tell what information is factual and what isn't, it creates a lot of skepticism and misunderstanding about important topics. This can be especially harmful when it comes to political issues and trusting the media.

One example of how tech advancements are negatively affecting us is the use of deepfakes. Several negative deepfake incidents have surfaced, and it's getting harder and harder to spot them.

These incidents can warn us about the possible risk of tech in the future. If you're finding it difficult to spot fake news and misinformation , an online platform like Credder is a great tool to use.

Credder will help you avoid fake news and misinformation because it only follows news and information provided by trustworthy sources.

Technology Is a Boon and Bane to Society

Overall, tech is amazing, and it has changed the world for the better, from improving our daily lives to building better businesses. The majority of the adverse effects of technology stem from its misuse.

The way we choose to utilize tech can help or harm ourselves and others. Instead of blaming the tool, we need to use technology in a healthy, more disciplined way. By doing this, technology can continue to benefit our lives.

Living Digital

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• Observations

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/positive-negative-effects-technology-society-muhammad-ikram-blogger

March 12, 2023 / Reading Time: ~ 9 minutes

The Positives and Negatives of Technology Usage in my Life and Today’s Society

Introduction.

Technology plays a crucial role in today’s society. Wherever you go, there is a dependent use of technology at home, in the public, etc. Technology has had both positive and negative impacts on my life. One common positive side of the use of technology is that it makes our lives easier such as transportation, kitchen technology, getting work done, or communication. In my life, transportation technology helps me get from one place to another such as going to the store or taking a city bus to get to college. Kitchen technology helps me and my parents make food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Getting stuff done using my laptop, such as school work or any sort of technology since in today’s world, most of the things we do are mostly online. Or just communicating with family, friends, and family from afar like my relatives in Vietnam. There are also some negative sides to the use of technology. One common negative side is that we rely on it too much. When it comes to my use of technology, I depend on it a lot. Whether it’s for stress relief or getting out of a conversation, I rely on technology such as my phone and laptop. After looking at some positive and negative effects of technology usage on my life, I realize that nonmedia technology such as a car or stove is where most of the positive side of technology usage comes from because it assists us in making our life easier. Whereas for media technology, there are some benefits to it like getting work done, communicating with relatives from afar, or getting your local news to keep up with the world. But from my perspective, media technology is fifty-fifty when it comes to the positives and negatives. The negatives of media technology use came mostly from 24/7 media consumption and social media. In the article, Is Society Moving In The Right Direction With Technology Rapidly Taking Over The World? The writer Loubier talks about the positives and negatives of technology such as technology has made our life easier, but people are more vulnerable to becoming addicted to the digital world. And if we were to use technology right, such as not overusing it and not depending on it for every situation, we can do no wrong with technology (Loubier, 2021). In this essay, I will talk about the positive and negative effects of technology use in my digital life, from when COVID-19 started, to how it is today.

COVID-19 Lockdown

When the pandemic lockdown started, I’m pretty sure the only thing people would hear from the media every day is the increase in COVID cases. As a way to cope during the pandemic, there has been a rise in technology usage from “consuming news media, watching television, using social media to connect with others, utilizing lifestyle apps to shop for groceries and other consumer goods, and engaging in home workouts” (Garfin, para. 1, 2020). My usage of technology increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was when I was beginning the second semester of 10th grade. Our school was closed for the rest of the year, and we were given the option if we want to do extra classwork online to improve our grades or leave our grades how they are. The school district even took into consideration that there would be a lot of students who have personal at-home issues or struggling with technology, and there would not be any grade deduction. My grades were decent where I had a couple of B’s and a few A’s and I felt like I didn’t need to do any extra classwork. Looking back now, I should have taken advantage of that opportunity to improve my grades that were not an A since our grades could only just improve and not be deducted. During the lockdown break is when I significantly used my laptop and phone mainly for entertainment purposes and to be honest during the break I didn’t focus on anything about education. For the whole break, I was more focused on watching YouTube videos, movies, tv shows, and anime on my laptop, playing video games, and chatting with friends and family on my phone. It’s gotten so bad to the point where before the lockdown, my old laptop battery was normal and was not damaged. After constant use of my old laptop, the laptop cannot function without having the charger charging it 24/7. Figure 1, shows my old MacBook Air battery life and condition. With technology use, it’s the same with my parents and sisters where my dad would spend most of his day watching a tv show, my mom would spend most of her day on YouTube and my sisters would spend most of their day on their phone and laptop. Everything about our technology usage during the lockdown break has a negative effect on us because we became too dependent on it.

Figure 1. This is a screenshot from my MacBook Air showing the static battery life and condition.

Online School

About 6 or 7 months later, 11th grade was about to begin and that is when every school in the school district that I go to switch to online school. Before school resumed, every student was given a laptop and headphones for the online class and all the class communication was through Microsoft Teams meetings. During the first day of my online class, I did pretty well, like paying attention and not getting distracted by my phone and that goes on for a couple of months. A couple of months later in the online class environment, the majority of the time, a lot of the students, including me, were not very engaged in the conversation with the teachers. The only times the students are engaged is if we have to be engaged like getting called on to answer a question, doing a presentation, or going into breakout groups. Other than that, this made the whole meeting feel very awkward. I remember during one of the online classes, my teacher was discussing what to do on the assignment and then asking a question, the entire meeting was quiet. I was staring at my screen very awkwardly and avoided the conversation by going on my phone. Of course, I could have unmuted my microphone and answered the question, but I don’t like to unmute because for some reason I’m not comfortable with doing it, and it’s the same for many students. Most of the things around this time are mostly negative. As stated in the article Adolescent brain and the natural allure of digital media, the author Giedd says “The argument is that we did not evolve to be staring at a screen for most of our waking hours. We evolved to be interacting with each other face to face, using our senses of smell and touch and taste, not just sight and sound.” (Giedd, para. 4, 2022).

In my experience during the online class, I see it as a positive and a negative. In the previous paragraph, I talk about how the first couple of months I paid attention to class. Yeah, it kind of went downhill from there. When I said it goes downhill from there, I mean in managing my time…which I’m garbage at. Most of the time, the meetings were a bunch of lectures where the teachers would put what they instructed on a separate document that I could just catch up on later. I also easily get distracted on my phone during lecture meetings. It’s the same with some of my friends who would be distracted by playing video games or texting during class meetings. When the meeting was finished and the teachers had given us time to do our assignments, my friends and I would text each other looking clueless about what we were supposed to do for the assignment. However, at the end of the year, I was more surprised that I got better grades than when I was in 9th and 10th grade. I got straight six A’s and one B+.

Here’s where the positive side of technology comes in. During the lockdown, when it comes to doing homework and assignments, I was really motivated. In fact, I am more motivated than when I was in 9th and 10th grade. I think the reason for this motivation is because unlike the previous years where we had to do stuff on paper and pencil, the assignments that we were doing online to me it’s easier. It’s easier online because I could just submit my assignments through this app the district uses called Schoology using the laptop from home instead of having to bring out a whole supply in doing the assignment manually at home, then the next day going to school and submitting it. Another positive is that I worked out more during the pandemic. One of my classes online is a health and fitness class. It’s not like I have not exercised before the pandemic, it’s just that I was more consistent and exercised way more. Since it’s a health and fitness class, of course, either in school or online, I’m going to have to exercise either way, but during online P.E. class, I got more freedom to focus on which exercise I want to work on such as cardio. And so how does technology help me improve physically? I just watch videos on how to do a certain workout properly, just using my body to exercise without having to rely on gym equipment.

Back to in-person school

​​In 12th grade, we returned to in-person school and most of the students during online classes, right off the bat my classmates described online classes as a shitshow because of how unmotivated they were online. My classmate said they would spend their time doing something else such as going on YouTube, scrolling through TikTok, chatting with their friends in the middle of the online class, or playing video games. Most of the distraction is from social media. According to A Study on Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Society , it goes through the positives and negatives of social media. Some of the negatives the author Akram and Kumar mentioned are that it reduces learning, time wastage, low grades, loss of motivation, affects health, etc (Akram et al, p.6, 2017). To me, I was quite motivated and in some areas, I could be unmotivated. I’m motivated when it comes to doing the assignments, and working on myself. But when it comes to class meetings, I’m mostly unmotivated. The same students that don’t engage in conversation during online classes are more engaged in in-person classes, including me, where we are more productive in person. But it only happens over time, whereas in the beginning, it was still awkward where we were quiet.

My technology usage in college

Now I’m in college and with my technology usage, I would say there are more positives than negatives. In this paragraph, I would be focusing more on my routine unlike the previous paragraphs because there isn’t really a story to tell now that I’m in college. In the morning I would walk to my bus stop, and the first technology that I use is my AirPods, and connecting them to my phone to listen to music. I would then use the city bus to head to college, and taking a city bus is a positive because I can get from place to place since I do not have a car. When listening to music while sitting on the city bus going to college, it feels like I’m in my own zone where I feel relaxed. However, there are some negatives when riding public transport. It takes me an hour to get to college from home, and now and then the bus would be overcrowded which I do not like. When I’m at college, during class I would use my laptop and phone to do classwork. Then to go home, I would repeat what I did when I’m heading out, but instead of just listening to music, I would play games such as FIFA Mobile , or watch a YouTube video. To me, it’s also a positive because these kinds of entertainment make the bus ride feel quicker. Figure 2 shows a screenshot of my daily average use of my iPhone. 

Figure 2. This is a screenshot from my iPhone showing my daily average screen time.

I mainly use my phone outside of the home to communicate with my family and friends, now and then watch YouTube, listen to music on the bus, and play games on it such as FIFA . When I head home, the first thing I smell every time is my parents’ cooking, which also uses kitchen technology such as a stove. This is a positive because, without these technologies, cooking would have been a lot harder and a lot of work. When I’m finished with dinner, I would head to my room and use my laptop and check if I had any assignments to do. If not, I would just watch a movie or a tv show. Figure 3 shows a screenshot of my daily screen time on my MacBook Pro. 

Figure 3. This is a screenshot from my MacBook Pro showing my daily screen time use.

I mainly use it to do schoolwork, watch YouTube videos, movies, tv shows, anime, etc. I use my laptop throughout the day, but I mostly use my laptop during the night which is negative because I’m not giving my eyes any breaks. And pretty much I would repeat my routine the next day.

Overall, technology has brought many positives such as making our life easier, transportation, faster way to cook, getting work done, and having close communication. Technology has also brought many negatives such as we become too dependent on it, easily a distraction, becoming addicted to it, affecting our physical and mental health, and losing social skills. Looking at my digital life through the usage of technology, what I could get is there are both positive and negative effects and I would say they are balanced. The positive is, most of the technology that I use makes my life easier, me commuting from home to college, cooking food, and communicating with family, friends, and family in Vietnam. And negative being I depend on it too much, it’s very distracting, sometimes a waste of time, and lacks real-life communication. Technology has affected my life and many others in both a beneficial way and a detrimental way. To keep in check with our health and livelihood and continue to gain the benefits of technology, we must not rely on technology to solve all of our problems, and sometimes we have to rely on ourselves instead because too much of anything is bad for us.

Akram, W., & Kumar, R. (2017). A Study on Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Society. International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering, 5(10), 351–354. https://doi.org/10.26438/ijcse/v5i10.351354 Garfin, D. R. (2020). Technology as a coping tool during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: Implications and recommendations. Stress and Health, 36(4), 555–559. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2975 Giedd, J. N. (2020). Adolescent brain and the natural allure of digital media. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 22(2), 127–133. https://doi.org/10.31887/dcns.2020.22.2/jgiedd Loubier, A. (2021, June 1). Is Society Moving In The Right Direction With Technology Rapidly Taking Over The World? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrealoubier/2021/06/01/is-society-moving-in-the-right-direction-with-technology-rapidly-taking-over-the-world/?sh=f09b5407c099 .

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Negative Effects Of Technology (Essay/Paper Sample)

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Negative effects of technology

Technology utilization in the world is becoming very high with its rapid evolvement resulting in its use in every part of life making it incredible. It has seen numerous systems and appliances relying on them, among them, cell phones use and the internet. However, with its different forms of use and numerous benefits, it continually results in negative impacts in our mental, environmental and physical health.

Use of technology affects health. It does so by first affecting the way of thinking. The increased use of technology such as mobile phones or video games by children and teenagers affects how their brains work. It reduces their attention span on one thing due to continued working with multiple perspectives thus, decreasing their memory abilities. Additionally, the reliance on search engines to find information and constant data flow in 140 characters or less makes them prone to forgetfulness and reducing their attention span.

Secondly, technology affects health through causing obesity. The increased time spend on mobile phones, watching television, using the internet or playing video games results in a lack of physical activities and exercise. Moreover, spending more time watching television also results in increased snacking on unhealthy foods. These aspects lead to obesity. Thirdly, it affects health by emitting chemicals and waves that make one vulnerable to cancer, over extended use of the technology disturbs the sleeping schedule causing poor sleeping habits and causes neck, eyes, and headaches due to increased curving of the body and staring at the gadgets.

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Technology destroys the environment. The industries that manufacture technological products increases emission of numerous waste products to the air, earth, and water. When it is disposed of as runoffs, it contaminates water bodies such as lakes and rivers, while their manufacture emits carbon dioxide emissions and other harmful chemicals to the air that boost climate change. Disposing of their waste in landfills results in soil contamination and killing of vegetation around these environments as well.

Additionally, use of technology destroys the environment by causing the extinction of species. The high consumption of energy attributed to technology results in the disruption of the atmosphere through climate change. Thus, the increased emission of toxic substances to the environment produces harmful chemicals that kill various animals such as the peregrine and the bald eagle. Technology also affects the environment through excess power consumption. The high use of technology at work, home and schools result in increased need for energy to ensure the technologies work non-stop. Thus, it enhances the reliance on its generation that relies on nuclear and fossil fuels that further strains the environment.

The reliance on technology results in isolation. Physical interaction is crucial to human health as it facilitates bonding and creation of relationships. However, with technology use, it creates online social networks that result in constant and quick communications. However, it reduces face-to-face communication, personal contact with others and engagement in social activities with families and friends, leaving one in their world.  Isolation causes strained relationships, loneliness, depression and lack of support systems to enable one efficiently overcome various issues.

Technology use also breeds privacy and security concerns. Continuous use of technology and posting of personal information online makes it possible for everyone to know about one’s life. Criminals can access this information through phishing, virus attacks, and hacking and use it to conduct criminal activities stripping people of security. Moreover, technology makes children prone to sex crimes by sexual predators and bullying through avenues such as texts, emails or hurtful videos as perpetrators can hide behind fake identities.

In conclusion, use of technologies is an essential phenomenon in the world as it provides connectivity, and creates numerous positives that make a better world. However, its use presents severe adverse impacts that threaten the future. Therefore, one has to choose to use it effectively to reap the benefits while avoiding these consequences as well.

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Impacts of technology on children’s health: a systematic review

Impactos da tecnologia na saúde infantil: revisão sistemática, raquel cordeiro ricci.

a Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Três Lagoas, MS, Brazil.

Aline Souza Costa de Paulo

Alisson kelvin pereira borges de freitas, isabela crispim ribeiro, leonardo siqueira aprile pires, maria eduarda leite facina, milla bitencourt cabral, natália varreira parduci, rafaela caldato spegiorin, sannye sabrina gonzález bogado, sergio chociay, junior, talita navarro carachesti, mônica mussolini larroque.

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Authors’ contribution

To identify the consequences of technology overuse in childhood.

Data source:

A systematic review was carried out in the electronic databases PubMed (National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health) and BVS (Virtual Health Library), considering articles published from 2015 to 2020, in English, Portuguese and Spanish using the terms “Internet”, “Child” and “Growth and Development”.

Data synthesis:

554 articles were found and 8 were included in the analysis. The studies’ methodological quality was assessed by the Strobe and Consort criteria, being scored from 17 to 22 points. The articles showed positive and negative factors associated with the use of technology in childhood, although most texts emphasize the harmful aspects. Excessive use of internet, games and exposure to television are associated with intellectual deficits and mental health issues, but can also enable psychosocial development.

Conclusions:

Preventing the use of the internet is a utopic measure ever since society makes use of technologies. The internet is associated with benefits as well as with harms. It is important to optimize the use of internet and reduce risks with the participation of parents and caregivers as moderators, and training of health professionals to better guide them.

Identificar as consequências do uso excessivo da tecnologia na infância.

Fontes de dados:

Foi realizada uma revisão sistemática nas bases de dados eletrônicas PubMed (National Library of Medicine — National Institutes of Health) e Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) com artigos publicados de 2015 a 2020, em inglês, português e espanhol, utilizando os termos internet, child e growth and development .

Síntese dos dados:

Foram localizados 554 artigos, resultando em oito artigos incluídos nesta pesquisa. Os estudos foram avaliados quanto à sua qualidade metodológica pelos critérios Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (Strobe) e Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (Consort) e receberam pontuações que variaram de 17 a 22 pontos. Os artigos evidenciaram que há fatores positivos e negativos associados ao uso de tecnologias na infância, embora a maioria dos textos ressalte seu aspecto prejudicial. O uso excessivo de internet, jogos e exposição à televisão ocasionaram alterações intelectuais e da saúde mental, porém também possibilitaram o desenvolvimento psicossocial.

Conclusões:

Impedir o uso da internet é uma medida utópica, visto que a sociedade faz uso de tecnologias. Considerando que a internet pode trazer benefícios, mas também malefícios, são importantes a otimização do uso e a redução dos riscos, como a participação dos pais e responsáveis como moderadores dessa utilização, além da atualização dos profissionais da saúde para melhor orientá-los.

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, information and communication technologies increasingly make up children’s daily routines. Data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) state that, among Brazilian children aged 10 years and over, internet use rose from 69.8% in 2017 to 74.7% in 2018. Exchange of messages, voice and/or video calls and, finally, watching videos, such as series and movies, are the most frequent activities performed requiring internet services. 1

Studies on digital technologies have been carried out in several fields, since the contents of activities on the internet may vary, reflecting the broad range of information available online. From this perspective, much has been questioned about the impacts of information and communication technologies on children’s physical and psychosocial development. In the cognitive sphere, the influence on sleep, memory, reading ability, concentration, the ability to communicate in person are commonly cited, in addition to anxiety symptoms when children are away from their cell phones. 2 , 3

This construction of self-image by means of technological tools results in potentializing a phenomenon of modernity and the emergence of large cities: placing intimacy as the focus of spectacularization. Furthermore, intense consumption of content can cause anxiety, panic and even depression. In the case of children with previous mental health conditions and who require monitoring, these effects can be even more intense. 4

With this in mind, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a series of recommendations to parents regarding the exposure of children of different age groups to digital technologies. Children under the age of 5 should not spend more than 60 minutes a day in passive activities in front of a smartphone, computer or TV screen. Children under 12 months of age should not spend even a minute in front of electronic devices. The goal is for boys and girls up to 5 years old to change electronics for physical activities or practices that involve interactions in the real world, such as reading and listening to stories with caregivers. 5 These guidelines are part of the strategy for awareness on sedentary lifestyle and obesity by the Organization of United Nations (UN).

Thus, it is clear that this spectrum of influence can culminate or intensify various pathologies. Therefore, the aim of the study was to identify the positive and negative consequences of technology overuse in childhood.

The selection process and the development of this systematic review were based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (Prisma) protocol. 6 This review was registered with the International Prospective Registry of Systematic Reviews (Prospero), under number CRD42021248396.

The National Library of Medicine — National Institutes of Health (PubMed) and Virtual Health Library (VHL) electronic databases were searched from March to July 2020. The purpose was to systematically analyze original studies addressing information technologies and communication (Internet, social media, etc.) in child development based on a guiding question: what is the impact of information and communication technologies on childrens physical and psychosocial development?

The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) was used to define the search term. Then, an exploratory investigation was carried out with the purpose of identifying keywords within the theme. The terms “internet”, “child” and “growth and development” were used, in English language, along with “AND”, to combine them. Additionally, the bibliographic references of articles selected were checked.

For the articles to be included, the following aspects were considered:

• Original articles.
• Studies conducted with children.
• Research regarding information and communication technologies (Internet, television, etc.) related to child development.
• Published from 2015 to 2020.
• Articles written in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Studies carried out with adolescents, adults and the elderly, as well as theses, dissertations, monographs, duplicate studies and case studies were excluded.

The search and selection of articles took place at two different times. The articles were selected first by title and abstracts and, then, the full texts were accessed and evaluated.

Studies that met the eligibility criteria were fully analyzed by two independent researchers, whose evaluations were then compared to verify common points. In cases of uncertainty about the eligibility of the study, a third evaluator took part. Then, the data was extracted and input in predefined data tables.

The methodological quality of observational articles included was assessed according to the initiative Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (Strobe), based on various evaluation criteria for this type of studies. The maximum score is 22 points, which are distributed over several items: title and/or abstract (one item), introduction (two items), methodology (nine items), results (five items), discussion (four items), and funding (one item). 7 , 8 All observational studies were evaluated, and each item, when present, added up to 1 point; then the sum was scored according to Table 1 .

The methodological quality of the one randomized trial was based on the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (Consort) strategy, which contains a checklist with 25 items, divided into: title and abstract (one item with two sub-items); introduction (one item with two sub-items); methods (five items) and a topic with information about randomization (five items); results (seven items); discussion (three items); and other information, such as registration, protocols and funding (three items). 9 , 10 Each item, if met, equals 1 point, and they were all added up according to the analysis of the papers. The score of methodological quality of this randomized trial is shown in Table 1 .

In order to synthesize the description of characteristics as main results and descriptive approach, the following information was extracted from each selected article: name of the main author, year of publication, country where the study was performed, design, sample size, type of technology evaluated, statistical variables, main results, and limitations.

Searches on PubMed and VHL using the descriptors “internet”, “child” and “growth and development” retrieved 550 articles. After applying inclusion criteria, 221 studies were selected and, after reading the titles and abstracts, 125 were excluded. 92 articles were read in full and, per the inclusion criteria and a detailed analysis, four studies were selected. Four other articles were included after an additional search in the reference list of primarily selected articles; the studies should have the same inclusion criteria defined in the methodology. Thus, eight articles made up the sample. The flowchart is shown in Figure 1 .

Most studies were epidemiological. Almost all of them were observational (n=7), and only one was an intervention study. The observational studies included were longitudinal and/or cross-sectional (n=5), case-control (n=1) and cohort studies (n=1). Only one experimental study was included, a randomized controlled trial (n=1), as shown in Table 1 .

Their methodological quality was based on their scores ( Table 1 ). Most studies were observational (n=7) and, therefore, were evaluated according to the Strobe criteria 7 . The score ranged from 17 to 22, and most articles reached 20 points (n=4), which is good methodological quality. The quality of the randomized trial with 18 points—according to the Consort 2010 criterion, which has a maximum score of 25—was also considered good. 9

The main results about the implications of technology in childhood are detailed in Tables 2 and ​ and3 3 .

After reading and analysis, the articles were classified and distributed into two categories according to their approach: negative aspects (n=6) and positive aspects (n=2). The review results are reported below.

Negative aspects

Six of the studies linked technologies to negative aspects. The papers highlitghed intellectual complications, 3 , 11 , 12 body image dissatisfaction 13 , 14 and encouragement of unhealthy food consumption. 15 Table 2 shows the main information.

Excessive internet use is transversally associated with lower cognitive functioning and reduced volume of several areas of the brain. In longitudinal analyses, a higher frequency of internet use was associated with a decrease in verbal intelligence and a smaller increase in the regional volume of gray/white matter in several brain areas after a few years. These areas relate to language processing, attention and executive functions, emotion and reward. 3

In a study conducted with 80 British girls aged 8 and 9 years, appearance-focused games led participants to have a greater dissatisfaction with their appearance compared to control girls, who were not exposed to such games. Therefore, internet games that address appearance can be harmful to girls’ body self-image. 13

It’s not just appearance-focused games that have a negative impact on body image. TV shows, depending on the approach, can also impact negatively psychological development. In a study with Australian girls, some TV shows aimed for the age group of 6-9 years focused on sexualization were absorbed or internalized as social messages by children. The authors stated that the exposure made these girls whish to wear sexualized clothes and create negative relationship with their body image. 14

Furthermore, a study with 562 Dutch and Spanish children reported that, among Dutch children, games with advertisements (advergames) for high-calorie foods stimulated the consumption of unhealthy foods, while those who played other games with advertisements other that food-related, were less inclined to this eating habit. 15 Thus, depending on what the child is exposed to, some influences may not be beneficial.

Video games were associated with increased mean diffusivity in cortical and subcortical areas. That is, prolonged video game use was associated with negative consequences, as it can directly or indirectly interrupt the development of neural systems and cause unfavorable neurocognitive development, especially when it comes to verbal intelligence. 11

Another study on children’s exposure to television, identified a negative effect on the gray matter of the frontal area of the brain with consequences for verbal language. No changes were identified in sensorimotor areas as related to TV watching time; the effect may not be direct, since watching this media is often associated with less physical activity, which, in turn, causes changes in the volume of gray matter in sensorimotor areas. 12

Positive aspects

Only two studies brought the positive aspects of technology use, related to cognitive and psychosocial development 16 and forms of interpersonal relationships. 17 Main information is shown in Table 3 .

Associations of electronic media use with psychosocial development and the executive function among 3- and 5-year-olds, particularly related to total screen time, TV shows viewing, and application use were assessed by the authors, who concluded that cognitive and psychosocial development in children 12 months later was positive when exposure to these media lasted less than 30 minutes a day. 16

In a study conducted with 2,840 students in South Korea, children with depressed mood were more likely to use the internet to socialize, exchange ideas and talk about their concerns as a way to meet their friendship needs. The Internet can be beneficial for children, who can take advantage of online opportunities for socialization and friendships based on common interests. 17

The studies analyzed, in general, show that children currently spend a significant amount of time on the Internet or other means of information, and consider that this exposure can have positive and negative impacts on children’s cognitive development and learning skills.

As for the negative impacts of this habit in childhood, the higher frequency of internet use is associated with a significant decrease in verbal intelligence, mainly related to language skills and concentration/attention abilities. One study reported frequent internet use by children as related to decreased memory performance. 18

Another issue that must be taken into account is the number of games emerging all the time with new elements of fun and entertainment to attract children. An alert should be raised, however, about destructive websites such as the Blue Whale Challenge, which target vulnerable children and young people, threaten their physical integrity and are completely unethical, leading to the gradual destruction of society. 19

On the other hand, researchers have identified, among the most frequent purposes in allowing children access technology declared by parents, the promotion of problem-solving skills (56.7%), learning of basic mathematics (53.8%), developing hand-eye coordination (46.2%), introduction to reading (51%), language (47.1%) and science (26%), as well as entertainment (56.7%). 20

Based on the studies selected, we point out an unexpected result for parents: the problematic use of electronic devices at an early age can have children show low levels of openness to experiences, increasing the level of emotional instability, impulsive or other behaviors related to attention. Then, we must reinforce that exposure to media must be carefully pondered by parents and guardians as to avoid media dependence and misuse.

Problematic internet use (PIU) is associated with less openness and agreeableness, as children with higher levels of PIU end up with a deficit in social skills and difficulties in establishing interpersonal relationships, which can lead to being less open and visible, or less friendly externally. It was also found that these children tend to experience negative emotions and use the internet as a means of feeling better about their everyday problems or unpleasant feelings. Relationships were also between problematic video game use and behavior problems, specifically related to thoughts, attention, and aggressive behavior. 21

In order to bypass the negative effects of inappropriate use of the internet, one cannot ignore, on the one hand, the positive side of these technologies. Technology is extensively available and it is almost impossible to remove it from children’s daily lives. 22 But the negative effects mentioned during the discussion deserve the same attention, as the authors place parental control and moderation as key factors. 23 In this sense, there is a directly proportional link between parental participation and attention and a less harmful relationship between children and technologies, especially regarding social factors. 24

Currently, children spend their lives immersed in the world of digital media, and research has consistently shown the growing, early and diversified use of this media. Children exposed to electronics tend to develop a desire for continued use, creating a potentially harmful cycle. Even more worrisome are the effects of digital media on young children by disrupting parent-child interaction, which is critical to a healthy emotional and cognitive development. 25

There are potential benefits of digital technology as a tool to enhance early childhood development, creativity and social connection, but it is imperative that parents monitor what their children are consuming and help them learn from it. 26

A review of the literature about media reported an adverse association between screen-based media consumption and sleep health, mainly due to delays in bedtime and reduced total sleep duration. The underlying mechanisms of these associations include:

• Time replacement, that is, time on screens replacing sleep time and time spent other activities.
• Psychological stimulation based on media content.
• Effects of light emitted by devices on circadian timing, sleep physiology, and alertness. 27

There is, therefore, and evident need to identify the warning signs of excessive technology use in this age group and define the appropriate limit of daily screen time. Children can make a balanced use of technologies, taking advantage of them without exaggeration, favoring communication and the search for information that is relevant to learning.

It is important to emphasize that pre-judgments about technology-dependent children should be avoided, and knowing their feelings about themselves, as well as the factors that bother them, is important, as well as having a sensitive listening to form a vision of ideal approach in this condition of technology dependence by means of suggested strategies to effectively face these difficulties. 28

Although this review has important and interesting results, some limitations must be listed. First, there the number of studies identified with the criteria of our work was limited. Also, most of the studies were observational. Therefore, experimental research must be carried out as a means to understand the cause-consequence dynamics between media and their implications for child development. Further studies with larger samples and specific age groups, which would be relevant to increase statistical power, are needed.

The analysis of the articles showed positive and negative factors associated with the use of technologies by children. The main losses caused by technology use in childhood are excessive time connected to the internet, worsening of mental health, and changes in the circadian rhythm. The articles mentioned as negative factors the development of intellectual impairments, including verbal intelligence and attention, emotional instability, internet addiction, binge eating and physiological changes.

The main benefits of the use of technologies by children found were the strengthening of friendships and the possibility of greater social connection. For the preschool age group, there is evidence of improvement in cognitive and psychosocial development. Thus, in order to have technology as an ally for healthy child development, parents and guardians should limit the time of use and control the type of content seen and shared by children.

Currently, preventing internet use is an unrealistic measure, since parents and guardians also make great use of technologies. However, because of the new settings imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, many services have moved towards digitization, including education and social interaction. Internet use nowadays is a reality for all age groups and makes this study relevant; measures aimed at optimizing its use and reducing risks must, therefore, be adopted. Once again, we emphasize the importance of parents and guardians as moderators and update training of health professionals to better guide them.

Further studies are suggested so the notion of risk-benefit of internet use and its long-term consequences for child development is kept up to date.

The study did not receive any funding.

• Essay Editor

Essay on Negative Impact of Technology on Fashion Industry

1. introduction.

Technology is a critical factor in the development of future fashion business, helping the fashion industry evolve over time. Continuous development of creativity is essential for the industry. Today, the industry faces increasing competition and fluctuating production cycles. Almost everyone in the fashion retailing process says that technology is influencing the fashion industry. However, few people can illuminate the negative impact of technology. I found no authoritative documents providing a macro explanation, let alone a targeted prediction. The purpose of this research is not to provide a comprehensive conclusion but to critically analyze some issues and to identify areas that deserve further attention. I hope to inspire more people in the industry and research to focus on these problems and develop future creativity. The fashion industry is an area of great interest to the authors. The authors have long been in the industry and have a great interest in integrating technology into the industry, so they feel very strongly about these issues. The purpose of the work is to critically analyze some of the problems that have begun to occur, and to provide insight that can eventually influence creative new technologies. This research critical analysis approach uses a range of sources that includes industry reports, research papers, online databases, library searches, manufacturers' information, interviews, and many others.

2. Technological Advancements in the Fashion Industry

In recent years, technological advancements have infiltrated across the fashion supply chain and production processes. These technological advancements predominantly aim to provide solutions that are believed to be faster, cheaper, or more efficient than solutions already available. Alongside these technological advancements, the introduction of e-commerce and online retailing has made it easier for suppliers to get their products in front of an audience. These advancements, in parts, drive the fast fashion business models, where consumers can have access to 'celebrity' looks at low prices and are furthermore accessible by increasing disposable incomes and a society that carries out their normal day-to-day activities online. However, the fashion industry should not forget that the human eye and the human touch play a key role in the fashion processes. Many luxury fashion businesses are still in existence because of innovation and centuries of artisan expertise in the creation of beautiful and superior quality goods that are unique to their brand. Technology was introduced into the fashion production processes in the 18th century but was used to enhance the craftsmanship of artisans. Clothes were made with the help of machines but were still much handcrafted. The invention of the sewing machine is an example of one of the major advancements in technology in the fashion industry, which led to the expansion of markets and revenue for fashion houses across the world. In the modern fashion industry, technology is integrated into production processes to make clothes cheaper, promote speed, and develop complicated patterns; the human touch is becoming less preeminent.

3. Negative Impact of Technology on Fashion Industry

There are also negative impacts that technology has made on the fashion industry. The use of technology has resulted in wage loss of labor, unemployment, and loss of facility. It also degrades the environment. When one thinks about technology, it invokes the universe of the factory: its heavy, speeding machinery, its noise, and smells. Technology has created a visual language of garments. It demands precision in the makeup of the garment, which demands continuous work of the machine operators. Unlike the slow, inconsistent work of the artisan, the tournament work of the speedy machine operators facilitates an industrial production cycle characterized by rapid, eye-catching change. Technology creates textile products for early 21st-century consumers; it is a tool and a process used by industries, artisans, and designers. The use of technology is significant in enhancing the productivity and quality of the garment production in the fashion industry. All types of sewing technologies have had the basic impact of reducing the labor and skills required to make a garment. However, they have also degraded the skill level of most garment assemblers. Even the basic idea of technology is to enhance productivity by producing more products in less time. Since the group of people who were responsible for producing the product desired by today's general were unskilled, technology was accepted by fabric manufacturers and garment producers. There are some negative impacts that technology has made on the fashion industry. It has resulted in wage loss of labor, unemployment, and loss of facility, and it also degrades the environment. Thus, if used well, it may give good results, and if not, it may come out with negative results.

3.1. 1.1.1 Automation of Production Processes

The main goal of any business manager is to remain profitable in any economic environment. There are no doubts that cost reductions or the optimization of any process involved in the creation of a new product is mandatory. To achieve these goals, technology improvements are always welcome. Within the fashion industry, the support or substitution of manual labor by new technologies had a negative impact on the labor requirement or the decrease in the time required to produce a new product. The continuous pressure to meet market requirements (shorter life-cycles, customized products, etc.) usually implies the company's necessity to further invest in technology. This dilemma is clearly evident when we take into account the existing literature, mainly because we can find multiple examples that demonstrate how technological advancements can cause a significant amount of labor to be replaced. On one extreme, we have critics and studies that show that nowadays only 20% of the amount of jobs are required in the automotive, textile, and footwear industries in comparison to the same number of products produced 50 years ago. With these results, no wonder that we had crucial social and political impacts in the main textile or footwear production areas, and there are also a significant amount of voices that call attention to other results such as a significant negative impact on the richness and local economies. According to the same source, the negative comments and/or critics that we may arise related to technology advancements in the production world were already present in the golden years of the industrial revolution. However, we must not forget that the same authors present other examples (tablet, washing machine, mobile phone, etc.) where the increase in labor replacement rate was also something in analysis.

3.2. 1.1.2 Fast Fashion Culture

Fast fashion culture promotes and reinforces human consumerism. Fashion is used as a pointer of high consumer ability by enabling even greater collections with its many opportunities. In this context, cheap and low-quality items have become much worse and huge. The term 'fast fashion' was firstly used in a New York Times article published by Suzanne Feisher in January 1990. Expressing the direct connection between fast fashion and technology, gift and the digital tools by advocating high fashion which targets the outflow and questionable consumption. In UEFA studies, sustainable fashion and fair fashion cause many problems not only for women but also for the victims of the unfair cost of life. The extraction of very neat and cheap work is far more damaging than easy to think, the value destroyed by people who contribute close value to a serious degree and damage the environment. In fact, the fast process decreases confidence, general labor factors disappear and a constant source of cheap labor is needed. The fashion industry accounts for up to 70% and 90% of the workforce in manufacturers. The constant desire to follow new trends quickly results in increased consumption, increased waste and the production of all low-quality buy products. Clothing production continues constantly, but we quickly get rid of poor-quality items. Consequently, clothing waste turns to millions of tons. Along with fast fashion sense and customer change, clothes that are now bored in the cabinet are returned to the podcast store. These clothes are referred to as unsold goods canceled orders, overproduction and awash.

3.3. 1.1.3 Environmental Concerns

Several industries, including the fashion industry, worry about the outcome of technology on the environment. While the news is mainly positive, some companies are seeing a detrimental effect due to irresponsible factors. The fashion industry mainly focuses on environmental benefits. The concept that products from fashion tech are environmentally unfriendly automatically discredits the notion of fashion technology saving resources or even the environment. This perception comes from the dominant narrative that technology in fashion denotes mass consumption, waste, and even models of how humans should look and consume. Some have even coined the terminology "fast tech" and "fast fashion" industries, which both focus on meeting the need for immediate production and meeting aesthetic trends. This can bring simultaneously negative impacts on the world, such as unethical environmental and labor factors. "Fast tech" typically refers to wearable devices, but more often than not is referred to as fast fashion: mass production of fashionable items to meet trends or certainly a quicker production than the four major fashion cycles: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. By using fabric that is prepared using non-environmentally friendly methods, such as polluting dye, unethical behavior such as the poor working conditions found in India and Bangladesh, and waste produced through garment production.

4. Conclusion

In conclusion, transforming data-driven technology from big perils to big opportunities presents an important research agenda that needs to be resolved. The fashion industry has complicated networks of stakeholders including supply chain parties from developing countries, who are often vulnerable to exploitative labor conditions. The industry is also accused of pushing fashion fads by ignoring high social and environmental costs. No wonder then that technological development that fosters a lack of accountability or transparency is one of the most potent reservations with it. In consumer markets that have proven resilient to centralized control in favor of moderation, technology inclination is likely to end in discard. As future directions of technologies dominate our lives, every industry will come across in their own way what many fashion cognoscenti already understand: that when it turns to creating objects of mass desire, new technology can only carry progression so far. The use of methods and technologies of the new generation in the fashion industry hinders business processes and reduces competitiveness of the industry in the world market of fashionable and high-quality goods. Moreover, technological progress in the fashion segment supposes that industry structure and specialization must change. Also, it may result in the market decline. What are we doing today to break this? What concept does technological development in the fashion industry have? It is necessary to present the concept of technological progress of the fashion industry, to understand which scenario of its development is more acceptable and prospective for business to regain motivation and trust of the consumers in a new stage of the world economy.

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The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value

If 2023 was the year the world discovered generative AI (gen AI) , 2024 is the year organizations truly began using—and deriving business value from—this new technology. In the latest McKinsey Global Survey  on AI, 65 percent of respondents report that their organizations are regularly using gen AI, nearly double the percentage from our previous survey just ten months ago. Respondents’ expectations for gen AI’s impact remain as high as they were last year , with three-quarters predicting that gen AI will lead to significant or disruptive change in their industries in the years ahead.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Alex Singla , Alexander Sukharevsky , Lareina Yee , and Michael Chui , with Bryce Hall , representing views from QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and McKinsey Digital.

Organizations are already seeing material benefits from gen AI use, reporting both cost decreases and revenue jumps in the business units deploying the technology. The survey also provides insights into the kinds of risks presented by gen AI—most notably, inaccuracy—as well as the emerging practices of top performers to mitigate those challenges and capture value.

AI adoption surges

Interest in generative AI has also brightened the spotlight on a broader set of AI capabilities. For the past six years, AI adoption by respondents’ organizations has hovered at about 50 percent. This year, the survey finds that adoption has jumped to 72 percent (Exhibit 1). And the interest is truly global in scope. Our 2023 survey found that AI adoption did not reach 66 percent in any region; however, this year more than two-thirds of respondents in nearly every region say their organizations are using AI. 1 Organizations based in Central and South America are the exception, with 58 percent of respondents working for organizations based in Central and South America reporting AI adoption. Looking by industry, the biggest increase in adoption can be found in professional services. 2 Includes respondents working for organizations focused on human resources, legal services, management consulting, market research, R&D, tax preparation, and training.

Also, responses suggest that companies are now using AI in more parts of the business. Half of respondents say their organizations have adopted AI in two or more business functions, up from less than a third of respondents in 2023 (Exhibit 2).

Gen AI adoption is most common in the functions where it can create the most value

Most respondents now report that their organizations—and they as individuals—are using gen AI. Sixty-five percent of respondents say their organizations are regularly using gen AI in at least one business function, up from one-third last year. The average organization using gen AI is doing so in two functions, most often in marketing and sales and in product and service development—two functions in which previous research  determined that gen AI adoption could generate the most value 3 “ The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier ,” McKinsey, June 14, 2023. —as well as in IT (Exhibit 3). The biggest increase from 2023 is found in marketing and sales, where reported adoption has more than doubled. Yet across functions, only two use cases, both within marketing and sales, are reported by 15 percent or more of respondents.

Gen AI also is weaving its way into respondents’ personal lives. Compared with 2023, respondents are much more likely to be using gen AI at work and even more likely to be using gen AI both at work and in their personal lives (Exhibit 4). The survey finds upticks in gen AI use across all regions, with the largest increases in Asia–Pacific and Greater China. Respondents at the highest seniority levels, meanwhile, show larger jumps in the use of gen Al tools for work and outside of work compared with their midlevel-management peers. Looking at specific industries, respondents working in energy and materials and in professional services report the largest increase in gen AI use.

Investments in gen AI and analytical AI are beginning to create value

The latest survey also shows how different industries are budgeting for gen AI. Responses suggest that, in many industries, organizations are about equally as likely to be investing more than 5 percent of their digital budgets in gen AI as they are in nongenerative, analytical-AI solutions (Exhibit 5). Yet in most industries, larger shares of respondents report that their organizations spend more than 20 percent on analytical AI than on gen AI. Looking ahead, most respondents—67 percent—expect their organizations to invest more in AI over the next three years.

Where are those investments paying off? For the first time, our latest survey explored the value created by gen AI use by business function. The function in which the largest share of respondents report seeing cost decreases is human resources. Respondents most commonly report meaningful revenue increases (of more than 5 percent) in supply chain and inventory management (Exhibit 6). For analytical AI, respondents most often report seeing cost benefits in service operations—in line with what we found last year —as well as meaningful revenue increases from AI use in marketing and sales.

Inaccuracy: The most recognized and experienced risk of gen AI use

As businesses begin to see the benefits of gen AI, they’re also recognizing the diverse risks associated with the technology. These can range from data management risks such as data privacy, bias, or intellectual property (IP) infringement to model management risks, which tend to focus on inaccurate output or lack of explainability. A third big risk category is security and incorrect use.

Respondents to the latest survey are more likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider inaccuracy and IP infringement to be relevant to their use of gen AI, and about half continue to view cybersecurity as a risk (Exhibit 7).

Conversely, respondents are less likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider workforce and labor displacement to be relevant risks and are not increasing efforts to mitigate them.

In fact, inaccuracy— which can affect use cases across the gen AI value chain , ranging from customer journeys and summarization to coding and creative content—is the only risk that respondents are significantly more likely than last year to say their organizations are actively working to mitigate.

Some organizations have already experienced negative consequences from the use of gen AI, with 44 percent of respondents saying their organizations have experienced at least one consequence (Exhibit 8). Respondents most often report inaccuracy as a risk that has affected their organizations, followed by cybersecurity and explainability.

Our previous research has found that there are several elements of governance that can help in scaling gen AI use responsibly, yet few respondents report having these risk-related practices in place. 4 “ Implementing generative AI with speed and safety ,” McKinsey Quarterly , March 13, 2024. For example, just 18 percent say their organizations have an enterprise-wide council or board with the authority to make decisions involving responsible AI governance, and only one-third say gen AI risk awareness and risk mitigation controls are required skill sets for technical talent.

Bringing gen AI capabilities to bear

The latest survey also sought to understand how, and how quickly, organizations are deploying these new gen AI tools. We have found three archetypes for implementing gen AI solutions : takers use off-the-shelf, publicly available solutions; shapers customize those tools with proprietary data and systems; and makers develop their own foundation models from scratch. 5 “ Technology’s generational moment with generative AI: A CIO and CTO guide ,” McKinsey, July 11, 2023. Across most industries, the survey results suggest that organizations are finding off-the-shelf offerings applicable to their business needs—though many are pursuing opportunities to customize models or even develop their own (Exhibit 9). About half of reported gen AI uses within respondents’ business functions are utilizing off-the-shelf, publicly available models or tools, with little or no customization. Respondents in energy and materials, technology, and media and telecommunications are more likely to report significant customization or tuning of publicly available models or developing their own proprietary models to address specific business needs.

Respondents most often report that their organizations required one to four months from the start of a project to put gen AI into production, though the time it takes varies by business function (Exhibit 10). It also depends upon the approach for acquiring those capabilities. Not surprisingly, reported uses of highly customized or proprietary models are 1.5 times more likely than off-the-shelf, publicly available models to take five months or more to implement.

Gen AI high performers are excelling despite facing challenges

Gen AI is a new technology, and organizations are still early in the journey of pursuing its opportunities and scaling it across functions. So it’s little surprise that only a small subset of respondents (46 out of 876) report that a meaningful share of their organizations’ EBIT can be attributed to their deployment of gen AI. Still, these gen AI leaders are worth examining closely. These, after all, are the early movers, who already attribute more than 10 percent of their organizations’ EBIT to their use of gen AI. Forty-two percent of these high performers say more than 20 percent of their EBIT is attributable to their use of nongenerative, analytical AI, and they span industries and regions—though most are at organizations with less than $1 billion in annual revenue. The AI-related practices at these organizations can offer guidance to those looking to create value from gen AI adoption at their own organizations.

To start, gen AI high performers are using gen AI in more business functions—an average of three functions, while others average two. They, like other organizations, are most likely to use gen AI in marketing and sales and product or service development, but they’re much more likely than others to use gen AI solutions in risk, legal, and compliance; in strategy and corporate finance; and in supply chain and inventory management. They’re more than three times as likely as others to be using gen AI in activities ranging from processing of accounting documents and risk assessment to R&D testing and pricing and promotions. While, overall, about half of reported gen AI applications within business functions are utilizing publicly available models or tools, gen AI high performers are less likely to use those off-the-shelf options than to either implement significantly customized versions of those tools or to develop their own proprietary foundation models.

What else are these high performers doing differently? For one thing, they are paying more attention to gen-AI-related risks. Perhaps because they are further along on their journeys, they are more likely than others to say their organizations have experienced every negative consequence from gen AI we asked about, from cybersecurity and personal privacy to explainability and IP infringement. Given that, they are more likely than others to report that their organizations consider those risks, as well as regulatory compliance, environmental impacts, and political stability, to be relevant to their gen AI use, and they say they take steps to mitigate more risks than others do.

Gen AI high performers are also much more likely to say their organizations follow a set of risk-related best practices (Exhibit 11). For example, they are nearly twice as likely as others to involve the legal function and embed risk reviews early on in the development of gen AI solutions—that is, to “ shift left .” They’re also much more likely than others to employ a wide range of other best practices, from strategy-related practices to those related to scaling.

In addition to experiencing the risks of gen AI adoption, high performers have encountered other challenges that can serve as warnings to others (Exhibit 12). Seventy percent say they have experienced difficulties with data, including defining processes for data governance, developing the ability to quickly integrate data into AI models, and an insufficient amount of training data, highlighting the essential role that data play in capturing value. High performers are also more likely than others to report experiencing challenges with their operating models, such as implementing agile ways of working and effective sprint performance management.

About the research

The online survey was in the field from February 22 to March 5, 2024, and garnered responses from 1,363 participants representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. Of those respondents, 981 said their organizations had adopted AI in at least one business function, and 878 said their organizations were regularly using gen AI in at least one function. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent’s nation to global GDP.

Alex Singla and Alexander Sukharevsky  are global coleaders of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and senior partners in McKinsey’s Chicago and London offices, respectively; Lareina Yee  is a senior partner in the Bay Area office, where Michael Chui , a McKinsey Global Institute partner, is a partner; and Bryce Hall  is an associate partner in the Washington, DC, office.

They wish to thank Kaitlin Noe, Larry Kanter, Mallika Jhamb, and Shinjini Srivastava for their contributions to this work.

This article was edited by Heather Hanselman, a senior editor in McKinsey’s Atlanta office.

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COVID-19: Long-term effects

Some people continue to experience health problems long after having COVID-19. Understand the possible symptoms and risk factors for post-COVID-19 syndrome.

Most people who get coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) recover within a few weeks. But some people — even those who had mild versions of the disease — might have symptoms that last a long time afterward. These ongoing health problems are sometimes called post- COVID-19 syndrome, post- COVID conditions, long COVID-19 , long-haul COVID-19 , and post acute sequelae of SARS COV-2 infection (PASC).

What is post-COVID-19 syndrome and how common is it?

Post- COVID-19 syndrome involves a variety of new, returning or ongoing symptoms that people experience more than four weeks after getting COVID-19 . In some people, post- COVID-19 syndrome lasts months or years or causes disability.

Research suggests that between one month and one year after having COVID-19 , 1 in 5 people ages 18 to 64 has at least one medical condition that might be due to COVID-19 . Among people age 65 and older, 1 in 4 has at least one medical condition that might be due to COVID-19 .

What are the symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome?

The most commonly reported symptoms of post- COVID-19 syndrome include:

• Symptoms that get worse after physical or mental effort
• Lung (respiratory) symptoms, including difficulty breathing or shortness of breath and cough

Other possible symptoms include:

• Neurological symptoms or mental health conditions, including difficulty thinking or concentrating, headache, sleep problems, dizziness when you stand, pins-and-needles feeling, loss of smell or taste, and depression or anxiety
• Joint or muscle pain
• Heart symptoms or conditions, including chest pain and fast or pounding heartbeat
• Digestive symptoms, including diarrhea and stomach pain
• Blood clots and blood vessel (vascular) issues, including a blood clot that travels to the lungs from deep veins in the legs and blocks blood flow to the lungs (pulmonary embolism)
• Other symptoms, such as a rash and changes in the menstrual cycle

Keep in mind that it can be hard to tell if you are having symptoms due to COVID-19 or another cause, such as a preexisting medical condition.

It's also not clear if post- COVID-19 syndrome is new and unique to COVID-19 . Some symptoms are similar to those caused by chronic fatigue syndrome and other chronic illnesses that develop after infections. Chronic fatigue syndrome involves extreme fatigue that worsens with physical or mental activity, but doesn't improve with rest.

Why does COVID-19 cause ongoing health problems?

Organ damage could play a role. People who had severe illness with COVID-19 might experience organ damage affecting the heart, kidneys, skin and brain. Inflammation and problems with the immune system can also happen. It isn't clear how long these effects might last. The effects also could lead to the development of new conditions, such as diabetes or a heart or nervous system condition.

The experience of having severe COVID-19 might be another factor. People with severe symptoms of COVID-19 often need to be treated in a hospital intensive care unit. This can result in extreme weakness and post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event.

What are the risk factors for post-COVID-19 syndrome?

You might be more likely to have post- COVID-19 syndrome if:

• You had severe illness with COVID-19 , especially if you were hospitalized or needed intensive care.
• You had certain medical conditions before getting the COVID-19 virus.
• You had a condition affecting your organs and tissues (multisystem inflammatory syndrome) while sick with COVID-19 or afterward.

Post- COVID-19 syndrome also appears to be more common in adults than in children and teens. However, anyone who gets COVID-19 can have long-term effects, including people with no symptoms or mild illness with COVID-19 .

What should you do if you have post-COVID-19 syndrome symptoms?

If you're having symptoms of post- COVID-19 syndrome, talk to your health care provider. To prepare for your appointment, write down:

• When your symptoms started
• What makes your symptoms worse
• How often you experience symptoms
• How your symptoms affect your activities

Your health care provider might do lab tests, such as a complete blood count or liver function test. You might have other tests or procedures, such as chest X-rays, based on your symptoms. The information you provide and any test results will help your health care provider come up with a treatment plan.

In addition, you might benefit from connecting with others in a support group and sharing resources.

• Long COVID or post-COVID conditions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects.html. Accessed May 6, 2022.
• Post-COVID conditions: Overview for healthcare providers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-care/post-covid-conditions.html. Accessed May 6, 2022.
• Mikkelsen ME, et al. COVID-19: Evaluation and management of adults following acute viral illness. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed May 6, 2022.
• Saeed S, et al. Coronavirus disease 2019 and cardiovascular complications: Focused clinical review. Journal of Hypertension. 2021; doi:10.1097/HJH.0000000000002819.
• AskMayoExpert. Post-COVID-19 syndrome. Mayo Clinic; 2022.
• Multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mis/index.html. Accessed May 24, 2022.
• Patient tips: Healthcare provider appointments for post-COVID conditions. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/post-covid-appointment/index.html. Accessed May 24, 2022.
• Bull-Otterson L, et al. Post-COVID conditions among adult COVID-19 survivors aged 18-64 and ≥ 65 years — United States, March 2020 — November 2021. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2022; doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7121e1.

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Google’s A.I. Search Leaves Publishers Scrambling

Since Google overhauled its search engine, publishers have tried to assess the danger to their brittle business models while calling for government intervention.

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By Nico Grant and Katie Robertson

Nico Grant reports on Google from San Francisco and Katie Robertson reports on media from New York.

When Frank Pine searched Google for a link to a news article two months ago, he encountered paragraphs generated by artificial intelligence about the topic at the top of his results. To see what he wanted, he had to scroll past them.

That experience annoyed Mr. Pine, the executive editor of Media News Group and Tribune Publishing, which own 68 daily newspapers across the country. Now, those paragraphs scare him.

In May, Google announced that the A.I.-generated summaries, which compile content from news sites and blogs on the topic being searched, would be made available to everyone in the United States. And that change has Mr. Pine and many other publishing executives worried that the paragraphs pose a big danger to their brittle business model, by sharply reducing the amount of traffic to their sites from Google.

“It potentially chokes off the original creators of the content,” Mr. Pine said. The feature, AI Overviews, felt like another step toward generative A.I. replacing “the publications that they have cannibalized,” he added.

Media executives said in interviews that Google had left them in a vexing position. They want their sites listed in Google’s search results, which for some outlets can generate more than half of their traffic. But doing that means Google can use their content in AI Overviews summaries.

Publishers could also try to protect their content from Google by forbidding its web crawler from sharing any content snippets from their sites. But then their links would show up without any description, making people less likely to click.

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Computational investigation of the effect of geometry and fuel composition on the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell

• Freitas, João
• Coelho, Pedro J.
• Ferreira, Ana F.

The need to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels due to their negative impact on the quality of the air and on the greenhouse effect is causing major changes in the energy sector, with a progressively greater contribution of renewable energy sources to satisfy the global energy demand. Fuel cell technology is emerging as a key player in the energy transition since fuel cells convert directly chemical energy to electricity and heat without pollutant emissions. Among the different types available, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) can operate at high temperatures (up to 1000ºC), leading to high efficiency and stability. This work is concerned with the computational investigation of a planar solid oxide fuel cell. The governing conservation equations for mass, momentum, energy, species transport and electric charge are solved for a three-dimensional planar fuel cell. Different fuel and oxidizer compositions are considered and their influence on the performance of the fuel cell is investigated. The results show that when the hydrogen molar fraction in the fuel decreases, the maximum power and temperature decrease. The power, the efficiency and the maximum temperature are greater when the oxidizer is oxygen rather than air. The influence of the geometry of the air and fuel channels is also assessed, namely the dimensions of the channels and the effect of steps and obstacles in those channels.