What Responsibility Do People Have When Developing New Technology?

Introduction

 Attention grabber

 According to technological experts, human evolution and survival are pegged on the pace of technological developments.

Background

In the current world, technological advancement has been used to cure diseases, alleviate poverty, and even for educational purposes. Despite the numerous advantages experienced through the development of technology, there is a certain level of responsibility tied to the usage and advancement of technology. In the context of 'Frankenstein' written by Mary Shelley and 'the immortal life of Henrietta lacks' by Rebecca, technological advancements should be highly regulated.

 Thesis statement

  Technological advancement, if not checked can become a risk to human existence.  Human survival make-up usually seeks security due to the uncertainty connected to the future.

 Body

Link sentence to the first body paragraph

Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein' highlights the link between human existence and nature.

Body paragraph

Frankenstein ends up killing Victor, his creator. Also, victor's brother does not escape the consequences of his actions. Frankenstein represents the dangers technology pose to human existence. In the current world, technologists are developing artificial intelligence robots that have replaced most human work. Consequently, most of the human work force remain unemployed due to the adverse effects robots have caused.

First main point

Advancing technology even when humans do not need it seems to be the new norm because humans end up having irrelevant technology which they cannot convert to good use (Shelley 117). For example, some smartphones can open fridge doors and even dictate sleeping patterns. These types of technology are not necessary and only serve to reduce human interaction with the natural world.

Sub point

 That is the main reason technologists need to be accountable due to the extensive impact technology had on human existence. Also, humans need a deeper understanding to control technology.

Sub point

 For example, the creator of Frankenstein did not have clue that his creation would end his life if he knew he would be more careful.

Sub point

In essence, the need to regulate technology advancement is tied to its impact on human life, if any technological development negatively human life then their future is insecure.

Link sentence

 In ‘the immortal life of Henrietta lacks’ a woman's genetic makeup is used to explore the benefits technological advancement can have on people ad even an entire family. The ethical aspect of the studies done on Mrs. Lack makes one question the ethics that was applied behind them.

 

Sub point

 First of all, some of her cells were taken out of her body without her consent. Despite her poor background, her cells could not compensate for her poor life. For instance, her cells were vital in the development of the polio vaccine, the creation of clones, and genetic mapping One of the most ironic thing about Lack’s life is that she could not afford medical fee at Hopkins, the medical institution responsible for extracting and examining her genetic makeup, ‘she like most black patients, only went to Hopkins when she thought she had a choice' (Skloot 15).

Sub point

It is vital to note that Henrietta Lacks lived at a time when the Black Americans were segregated from the rest of the white Americans hence should only have access to the 'colored' part of Hopkins medical facilities where the medics offered inferior medication (Skloot 109).

Sub point

 The fact that in the quest for technological advancement, a scientist can ignore the plight of someone and even go-ahead to extract cells from her body without her knowledge is distasteful to technological advancement (Nemitz 78).

Link sentence

One of the ways that can justify the advancement of technology is the observation of ethical norms accompanied by technological advancement (Nemitz 216).

Main point

In the medical world, it is wrong for someone to take genetic makeup from a patient without his or her permission. It is also immoral to benefit from one's Lack's genetic makeup without benefiting the person from whom the genetic material was collected.

Sub point

Ethical norms protect the general public from exploitation and unwarranted tests and trials (Nemitz 102). For instance, whenever, there is a good work ethic. All the issues governing the research and development of new technology have to be systematic.

Sub point

 This way, it becomes easy to monitor the ongoing of a certain technological advancement if the initiators of the entire research adhered fully to the regulations set in place (Nemitz 415). This way, human lives are secured from technology that could harm them in the future.

Sub point

There are numerous underlying reasons for adhering to ethical norms while advancing technology (Nemitz 101). One of the reasons is that ethical norms ensure that any technological progress supports human life. No technology should harm human life. Also, researchers in the medical field should be able to explain the background of each of their findings.

Link sentence

 Technology enables the adaptation of human life to the ever changing environmental. Therefore, it enables human to survive and existence (Nemitz 118). Consequently, the need to regulate it so that it might not come to harm human beings.

Conclusion

 In summary, advancement in technology should be highly regulated. The role of technology should be the improvement of human life. As exemplified in Frankenstein, humans should understand technology beforehand. Otherwise, it would harm the human existence. Human dignity should be respected and upheld whenever people come up with new technology. For instance, Lack's should have been informed that her genetic content was extracted from her body. This way, it could have been easier to monitor the entire process.

 

 

Work cited

Nemitz, Paul. "Constitutional democracy and technology in the age of artificial intelligence." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 376.2133 (2018): 20180089.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Broadview Press, 2012.

Skloot, Rebecca. "The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, the sequel." New York Times 23 (2013).