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I started working in tech in 2012 as a front end dev, then working my way into interaction design and research. Twelve years has gone by in a blink of an eye.
Something I've been thinking about a lot recently is how much technology will play a role in shaping a sustainable and hopeful future. When I first started years ago, I was undoubtedly certain it played a critical role—now, after years of investing my career in tech I wonder.
The things I've helped make have changed the way people work and interact with one another. It has accelerated economic growth and expanded our global literacy. But I'm a researcher ar heart. I like observing people. And in the thousands of hours of interviews I've done over the course of my career for various products, time and time again I hear the same thing—people like people more than products.
Goods and products aren't what make people's eyes light up when I ask them what excites them. They aren't part of interviewees' definition of "a good life" or "a healthy life."
If a product became hard to use or too expensive, they would likely leave. Most technology is not critical to their survival. On the other hand, most people will continue to interact with people, even if they are sometimes difficult to get along with or cost money to see.
I picture these people's faces when I read news about the tech industry talking about revolutionizing people's lives. Or that people need their services to live happily. I wonder. What if we need less than we think we do?
The more I see my monthly subscriptions that drain my bank account, or the more time I spend fiddling around with gadgets that don't work properly, or worse—I am searching for the phone number for customer service because their chat AI bot doesn't know how to properly intake products that don't work, the more I think about this.
How much am I giving up for the price of convenience?
I also wonder if the reason large companies have the amount of market share they do is not because of a superior product or service, but because of monopolies and walled gardens. I wonder about how it is so easy to sign up for an Adobe subscription, but it is so difficult to cancel. If these companies didn't worry about people leaving, why make it so hard to leave?
Mentioning these things, especially in regards to AI, can set off alarms in tech.
Nervous laughter, amused jabs about me being a luddite or being "anti-AI"—ultimately, I find it to be a diversion from the real issue, which is—I want to consume things intentionally and think about my actions critically. There's no "free pass" that AI gets simply because it is useful or convenient at first blush. I want to understand what the tradeoffs are for using this technology.
There are some times where tech will save me tons of time; and other times it absolutely wastes it and costs me more money.
Working directly with people can be terribly difficult—but for me, at the end of the day, it is extremely rewarding to work through conflicts, to find resolution, and to facilitate shared understanding.
So, which is a better return on my investment of time and energy? I've already invested a lot of my time, energy and resources into technology. I work in it, for God's sake. But nowadays, I find it harder and harder to get excited about the futures tech companies are showing us. Their track record on delivering happiness and connection is underwhelming.
In 2005, Facebook promised me connection with my high school friends. Now, according to Forbes, it's a profitable content generator for fraudulent ads.
In 2013 when I joined Twitter, I was promised more professional growth and contacts. Now, it's a personal feed for whatever Elon Musk wants to say that barely works half of the time.
I honestly am having a hard time imagining in what specific way my life will improve from more fraudulent ads or being more connected into what Elon Musk has to say.
The more hopeful future I see comes from investing in people—cooperatives, education, artists, government and infrastructure to strengthen our collective safety net and well-being.
And tech, well—I'd like for it to still be part of our lives, but not dictating our interactions with each other. It should be help us pursue our goals, not keep us from them by being endlessly scrollable like Instagram or TikTok. It should help us live in more safer, more walkable and more connected cities, not tell us who and who cannot live where. It should be connecting us, not isolating us.
I want to believe in a hopeful future. And perhaps, for that, I need tech less than I initially thought.