The Technology of Humanity: Can Technology Contribute to the Quality of Life?
No aspect of our lives remains untouched by technology—from the way children are created to the way people die; from the way we communicate to the way we learn and work. As a society we have come to rely on technology to meet consumer preferences, to promote economic growth, and to address social problems such as improving human health and conserving the environment. Yet, along with their vast potential for improving our lives, emerging technologies may create scientific challenges for risk assessment and may have initially-unrecognized impacts on cultural values and social concepts. As part of an ongoing effort to help create a research and policy agenda to closely monitor the psychological and social impacts of technology, the Institute for Science, Law & Technology (ISLAT) and the Institute of Psychology at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) cosponsored the conference “The Technology of Humanity: Can Technology Contribute to the Quality of Life?” on April 5, 2002.
The interdisciplinary conference addressed the effects of technological advances on society, culture and the individual. A diverse group of prominent participants—social scientists, computer scientists, natural scientists, lawyers, business executives and policymakers—described their work and helped define the research and policy agenda for robotics, biotechnology, the Internet, communications and other technologies affecting mind, body, family and community. The program was divided up into five main sections: “Internet; American Life; Privacy,” “Technology in Action: Impacts of the Workforce, Healthcare, and Special Populations,” “The Intersection of the Virtual and the Real—Possibilities & Ethics,” “Summary of Research and Policy Agenda,” and “Stories Stronger Than Fact.” The diversity of topics and viewpoints made the conference a huge success and generated interest in continuing these important conversations.
Hosts
- Lori Andrews, Director of ISLAT
- Laurie Rosenow, Senior Fellow, ISLAT
- M. Ellen Mitchell, Dean of the Institute of Psychology at IIT
Program Contributors
- Lee Rainie, The Internet at Major Life Moments
Director, Pew Internet and American Life Project and former editor, U.S. News and World Report
- Robert Kraut, Net Social Benefit: The Quality of Life Online
Herbert A. Simon Professor of Human Computer Interaction, Carnegie Mellon University
- Eugene Borgida, Civic Culture Meets the Digital Divide: The Role of Community Electronic Networks
Professor of Psychology and Law, University of Minnesota
- David Greenfield, Internet Addiction: Sometimes New Technology Can Create New Problems
CEO, Center for Internet Studies and Partner, Psychological Health Association
- Wendy Rogers, How Can Technology Contribute to the Quality of Life of Older Adults?
Professor of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Joel Cooper, Computer Anxiety and the Gender Divide
Department of Psychology, Princeton University
- Anita Bernstein, Engendered by Technologies
Mason Ladd Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Iowa College of Law
- David Nickelson, Psychology of Telecommunications
Director, Office of Technology Policy & Projects, American Psychological Association
- Selmer Bringsjord, Artificial Creativity and Enhanced Decision Making
Director, Minds and Machine Lab/Program, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Steve Jones, Do Ethics Scale? Research, Rights and Ethics
Professor and Head of Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Nick Bostrom, Transhumanist Priorities
Department of Philosophy, Yale University
- Sanyin Siang, Deconstructing Babel: Needed Dialogues for Technological Advancement Program
Associate, AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Society and Law Program
- Marge Piercy
Author, He, She and It and Sleeping with Cats
Return to Current Research Projects
|
