Jasmine Jones

14 November 2021

MUSIC 256A

Reading Response #8


We've finally reached the conclusion of Artful Design, and it has been wonderful (yet sometimes stressful!) to read over these past months. There have been so many thought-provoking chapters and sections that have challenged my world view and have helped me grow as a designer. In celebration of the conclusion of the textbook, I'd like to respond to a principle that I think is relevant to today, as well as discussions we've had in class. That principle would be Principle 8.5,  which states:


"Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral (Kranzberg's 1st Law of Technology)"


This ultimately ties into the point that we cannot remove our human choices or biases from our designs, and it would be irresponsible to build systems with no thought about how it could possibly shape the human experience, for better or for worse. As we’ve discussed in class, this is very relevant to today’s technology. We live in a unique era where the boundaries of technology are being pushed every single day, creating technology and tools that seem to be straight out of science fiction novels, yet it seems like so little is being done to actually evaluate the implications of these new technologies outside of their intended use, and sometimes even within their intended use. From something as big as facial recognition technology that raises security concerns to something seemingly innocent, like infinite scroll, that makes social media addiction significantly easier, how far will we have to go until design, cognizant of the effects technology could have on humanity? It is simply not enough to not care about how one’s technology could be abused, or apologize about how one’s technology is being used for harm after the fact. If all engineers went into building new technology with intentional design, actively designing for good instead of attempting to avoid (or in the worst case, not avoiding at all) designing harmful products, we’d live in a much different world. I was recently talking to a friend of mine who mentioned that her coworker quit his job because his boyfriend was a millionaire. We started talking about the source of the boyfriend’s wealth, and it turns out he’s developing a way to integrate cryptocurrency wallets on every smartphone. To do this, and verify the identities of people with their associated wallets, he’s creating a five-pound, chromatic sphere called “The Orb” to scan and recognize over one billion people’s eyeballs. I wonder what could go wrong! I think this is a prime example of designing without impact in mind. Like mentioned in the textbook, all of these new and rapidly developing technologies are going to add up, ultimately shifting us towards a future that incorporates it all, whether it’s good or bad. How can we regulate this? Is it truly all in the hands of designers? How do we encourage intentionally positive design? Are we all doomed??????


Despite all of this, I don’t think technology is something we should fear. Technology has brought many amazing innovations to our society, and it will continue to create good that all of humanity can benefit from. However, this is near impossible to do without designing technology with “good” in mind. I think it is only when we all strive to this standard that we can begin to take the first steps towards realizing a “High Tech, High Life” society.