A Clever Servant but a Dangerous Master. Societal Responses to the Technological Development and Infodemic

The Riga Conference 2020 Policy Brief
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is not a prediction anymore, it is here. It reaches far beyond technology development and future economy. Its speed is exponential, accelerating deep system change in every aspect of human life and societal transformation. The question is whether societies around the globe are evolving in the same speed and when they will not be able to adapt to the technological development accordingly. Maybe it is happening in a subtle but overwhelming way already now? What are the conceptual paths to address this paradigm change adequately – internationally, nationally, and on a societal and individual level?

We can already see both disruptive and highly creative nature of technologies’ impact on human lives. A vivid example is modern information technologies. They enable spread of information at such speed and volume, that it affects national and international economies, politics, security and societies in general in ways that are utterly disproportionate with the root realities. Infodemic is a blend of “information” and “epidemic” that typically refers to a rapid, overwhelming and far-reaching spread of both accurate and inaccurate information about an issue. Thus, the Infodemic potentially can do more harm than the pandemic itself.

New technologies already have influenced perception and core value system of the societies. The question remains – for better or worse?

Read the Policy Brief here: