THE STIFLING OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS

DAVID PIZARRO

Associate professor of psychology, Cornell University

It is increasingly clear that human intuitions—particularly our social and moral intuitions—are ill equipped to deal with the rapid pace of technological innovation. We should be worried that this will hamper the adoption of technologies that might otherwise be of practical benefit to individuals and great benefit to society. Here’s an example: My e-mail provider has long been able to generate targeted advertisements based on the content of my e-mail. But it can now also suggest a calendar entry for an upcoming appointment mentioned in an e-mail, track my location as the appointment approaches, alert me about when to leave, and initiate driving directions to get me there on time.

It feels natural to say that Google “reads my e-mail” and that it “knows where I have to be.” We can’t help but interpret this automated information through the lens of our social intuitions, and we end up perceiving agency and intentionality where there is none. So even if we know that no human eyes have seen our e-mails, it can still feel, well, creepy—as if we’re not quite sure that there isn’t someone going through our stuff, following us around, and possibly talking about us behind our back. Unsurprisingly, many view these services as a violation of privacy, even when there’s no agent doing the “violating.” The adoption of such technologies has suffered for these reasons.

These social intuitions interfere with the adoption of technologies offering more than mere convenience. For instance, the technology for self-driving cars exists now and promises that thousands of lives may be saved each year because of reduced traffic collisions. But the technology depends fundamentally on the ability to track one’s precise location at all times. This is just creepy enough that a lot of people will likely avoid the technology and opt for the riskier option of driving themselves.

Of course, we’re not necessarily at the whims of our psychological intuitions. Given enough time we can (and do) learn to set them aside when necessary. However, I doubt we can do so quickly enough to match the current speed of technological innovation.