Lesson 4:

WHEN
TECHNOLOG
Y
AND
HUMANITY
CROSS
 (Visual Aide
Summary)

INTRODUCTION
The word “technology” came from the Greek words techne and
logos which means art and word, respectively. Taking the two words
together, technology means a discourse on arts (Buchanan, 2010). art is
no longer the only topic included. Concepts like machine and tools were
also attached to the word “technology” which is the more popular sense
of the concept nowadays.

"Technology"
techn (art) logos (word) (discourse on
arts)

ROLE of TECHNOLOGY
 It makes life so much easier and more convenient than ever before.
PROBLEM ARISES on the use TECHNOLOGY
 Possible danger of the use and misuse of technology
TELEVISION SETS, MOBILE PHONES, COMPUTERS AND
HUMANITY
Most used Devices
1. Television sets –
 television remains to be the ultimate medium for
advertisement placements (The Manila Times, 2014).
 The current count of households with television set already
reached 15.135 million (Noda, 2012).

Television was a product of different experiments by various people:

 Paul Gottlieb Nipkow (german student),

In the late 1800s was

successful in his
attempt to send
 images through wires “electric telescope”
with the aid of a that had 18 lines of
rotating metal disk. resolution.
This invention was
then called the

 Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton (English scientist) and Boris

Rosing (Russian Scientist),
After some time, in 1907, previous
two inventors, created a new
system of television by using
the cathode ray tube in
addition to the mechanical
scanner system. This success
story gave rise to two types of
television systems, namely,
mechanical and electronic
television (Jezek, n.d.). These
experiments inspired other inventions, which led to the
scientists to improve the modem television people now
have.

2. Mobile phones –
 More than half of the Filipino population own at least one
mobile phone regardless of type.
  In 2010, global research agency Synovate conducted a survey
and declared 67 percent product ownership in the country.
 The Ipsos Media Atlas Philippines Nationwide Urban 2011-
2012 survey results showed that one in every three Filipinos
cannot live without a mobile phone. In other words, 30
percent of the Philippine urban population nationwide said
that mobile phones are necessities in life (Roa, 2012).
 Philippine streets are full of people using their mobile
phones. Not only this, there are some Filipinos who even
own more than one mobile phone.

Martin Cooper - On April 3, 1973, a senior engineer at Motorola,

made the world’s first mobile phone call. He called their rival
telecommunications company and properly informed them that he
was making the call from a mobile phone.

The mobile phone weighed

1.1 kilograms and
measured 228.6 x 127 x
44.4 mm. This kind of
device wan capable of a
30minute talk time
However, it took 10 hours
 to charge. In 1983, was known as the Motorola
Motorola made their first DynaTAC 8000X
commercial mobile phone (Goodwin, 2016) .
available to the public it

3. Computer or Laptop -
 There are some Filipino families who own more than one
computer or laptop while some own at least one computer or
laptop.
 Most of the profits gained by computer and laptop
manufacturers come from offices, businesses. or schools
where such devices have become part of their necessities.

Charles Babbage, a of time and each gave people a

nineteenth-century English new and improved version of
Mathematics professor, who the previous one (Steitz, n.d.).
designed the Analytical
Engine which was used as the
basic framework of the
computers even until the
present time. In general,
computers can be classified
into three generations. Each
generation of the computer
was used for a certain period
 buildings., an improvement
and a little deviation from the
standard design of a personal
computer. The first true
portable computer was
released in April 1981. It was
called the Osborne 1 (Orfano,
2011). From that moment on,
the evolution of laptops
continued until the present
time where various designs
Before, the first design of and models are already
computer was so big that it available.
could occupy whole floors of

Here are some facts about Filipinos and their use of gadgets and the
Internet (Rappler, n.d.):
 Mobile phone subscription is at 119 million.
 Filipinos spend approximately 3.2 hours on mobile and 5.2 hours
on desktop daily.
 Currently, the Philippines has one of the highest digital populations
in the world.
 There are now 47 million active Facebook accounts in the
Philippines.
 The Philippines is the fastest-growing application market in
Southeast Asia.

ROLES PLAYED BY THESE TECHNOLOGICAL

ADVANCEMENT
 C O M PU TER \
TELEV ISIO N M O B ILE PH O N E
L A PTO P
A platform for Prim arily used for U sed to surf the Internet and
advertisem ent and for com m unication, offer com m unicate.
inform ation dissem ination services like texting and Features like calendar,
Serves as recreational calling calculator, m usic player,
activity and good stress T o surf the internet and to m ovie player. cam era. and
relieve take m any m ore.
A good platform for M usic player, calendar, Personal com puter and
different propagandas and radio, television, and photo laptops have w ide screens
advocacies editor etc. and separate keyboards.
G ood w ay to bond w ith A ll-in-one device and very A vailability of a m ouse or a
one's fam ily m em bers. portable and convenient touchpad m ade these tw o
because it can fit into any technological devices easier
space. to m aneuver than m obile
phones
Play different com puter
gam es
Personal com puters are not
portable and there are tim es
w hen they need to bring
such devices to different
places.

ETHICAL DILEMMA FACED BY THESE TECHNOLOGICAL

ADVANCEMENTS
 Most parents would argue that these devices make their children
lazy and unhealthy.
 More likely to experience alienation because they no longer take
time to get out of their houses and mingle with other people.
 Moral Dilemma, especially for children that can easily search the
web and go to different websites without restrictions. Makes them
very vulnerable to character change and view things around them.
The word “RESPONSIBILITY” in the sense of being accountable
for and accountable to is very appropriate to the ethics of technology
because it makes each and every person in the scientific-technological
development a proxy with reference to one another. The ethics of
responsibility focuses on the positive rather than the negative. In this
way, the people will have an idea how the devices ought to be used in
order to maximize their positive results.
ROBOTICS AND HUMANITY
Robots are now widely used. For example, service robots, these
particular robots do specific tasks but focus mainly in assisting their
masters in their everyday task. The International Federation of Robotics
(IFR) and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
made it their task to formulate a working definition for service robots. A
preliminary extract of the relevant definition is (IFR, 2012):
 A robot is an actuated mechanism programmable in two or
more axes with a degree of autonomy, moving within its
environment, to perform intended tasks. Autonomy in this
context mean the ability to perform intended tasks based on
current state and sensing without human intervention.
 A service robot is a robot that performs useful tasks for
humans or equipment excluding industrial automation
application.
 A personal service robot or a service robot for personal use
is a service robot used for a noncommercial task, usually by
laypersons.
 A professional service robot or a service robot for
professional use is a service robot used for a commercial
task, usually operated by a property trained operators.
Germany was one of the first countries to develop service robots. It
sponsored a collaborative project called "DESIRE" (Deutsche
Servicerobotik Initative-Germany Service Robotics Initiative) which
was launched on October 1, 2005. DESIRE has the following individual
objectives (DESIRE 2009)
 To achieve a technological edge toward attaining key
functions and components that are suited for everyday use.
  To create a reference architecture for mobile manipulation.
 To promote the convergence of technologies through
integration into a common technology platform.
 To conduct pre-competition research and development
activities for new products and technology transfer in start-
up enterprises in the field of service robotics
Some of the expected work to be performed by DESIRE are the
following (Mock n.d.):
1. Clear up the kitchen table.
2. Fill the dishwasher.
3. Clear up this room.
The earliest conception of robots can be traced around 3000 B.C.
from the Egyptians. Their water clocks used human figurines to strike
the hour bells. This mechanical device was built to carry out specific
physical task regularly. From that time on, different machines were
already built that displayed the same mechanism and characteristics as
the robots in the present.
However, the earliest robot as people know them were creates in
the early 1950s by George Devol "UNIMATE" was his first invention
from the words “Universal Automation“, unfortunately, his attempt did
not succeed. After "Unimate" several robots were also invented which
were better versions the previous ones (Stanford, n.d) Ever since, people
never stopped they quest in the field of robotics.
ROLES PLAYED BY ROBOTICS
They are primarily used to ease the workload of mankind. They
were invented to make life more efficient and Iess stressful. On one
hand, they perform complicated activities which human beings are
incapable of doing. On the other hand, they perform the simplest tasks
home so that their masters can perform the complex ones without
stressing themselves over the simple tasks. There are also robots which
are made for pleasure. To be more specific, these types of robots
perform activities to entertain people. They can usually be found in
amusement parks or exhibits. In addition, there are also some robots
which were made to serve as toys. They also perform different activities
but they are usually child-friendly. Other examples of robots are those
which can be seen in movies.
Just like people living in the society, robots also have their own set of
rules and characteristics that define what a good robot is. These laws
were formulated by Isaac Asimov back in the 1940s, when he was
thinking of the critical consequences of robots. These are the following
(Stanford, n.d )
Law One:
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a
human being to come to harm.
Law Two:
A robot must obey the order given to by human beings except where
such orders would conflict with the First Law
Law Three:
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does
not conflict with the First or Second Law.

ETHICAL DILEMMA/S FACED BY ROBOTICS

Robotics also faces different problems and dilemmas. One of the
dilemmas faced by robots is safety. Who should be held accountable if
someone safety is compromised by a robot? It is important to know who
should be blamed and who should be held responsible if such thing
happens. Another one is the, emotional component. This may seem a
little absurd as of the moment, but looking at how fast technology
progresses nowadays, it is not completely impossible for robots to
develop emotions (Evans, 2007).
In the field of robotics, there are the so-called partial autonomy
and full autonomy.
 PARTIAL AUTONOMY includes active human-robot
interaction
 FULL AUTONOMY excludes active human-robot
interaction. In other words, a robot with full autonomy can
perform actions or activities even without a master telling it
what should be done or what should be performed next (IFR,
2012).
Using Asimov’s laws for robots, it can be concluded that robots,
are ethical but only if they strictly follow the laws specified. Asimov
ensure the safety of not only the users of the technology but also the
people around them. However, if the agent using the technology misuses
the robot to achieve personal agendas, then without a doubt, the agent
should be held accountable for any consequences it may bring. It is
important to note that this is under the assumption that the robot strictly
followed the laws specified without any form of deviation. if the
problems arise when the robot deviates from the laws specified, then the
maker or the inventor of the machine should be blame worthy. It just
means that the robot was not programmed very well because it violated
the laws. Other problems may arise when the machine develops the
ability to think for itself. In this case, the one that should be blame can
both be the maker or inventor and the robot itself. This is because, in the
first place, the maker gave the robot the capacity to think for itself so he
should be very much aware of its possible consequences. To put it in
another way, the maker programmed the robot in such a way that it can
already think for itself even without an active participation from a
human being. In addition, since the robot thinks for itself, whatever
decision makes and whatever consequence it may bring, the robot itself
should be held responsible.
For the second dilemma, it is just right for the robots to be given
their own set of rights should they develop the ability to feel different
kinds of emotion. It can be argued that the same thing happened with
animals. It was concluded that animals are indeed capable of emotions.
The same should be done to robots without any reservations. Should that
time come, they ought to be treated differently and they ought to have
new laws to follow in order to accommodate the new characteristic they
have developed.