Sergi Valverde: Evolution of Technology Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

The capacity to exploit technology for enhanced adaptation to the environment is not exclusive to humans, but we are the only species capable of developing complex technologies, and specifically, electronic computers. The consequences of this new kind of coevolution between humans and technology are enormous, leaving a large footprint in living styles, social interactions, and the environment. However, it is not easy to predict whether these interactions will be predominantly beneficial or not. Our species evolved in a very different environment from today’s highly technological spaces, which defines a new set of problems and challenges to biology.

In 1960, the psychologist J. C. R. Licklider proposed the symbiotic relationship between computing devices and humans was an inevitable event. This once futuristic vision turned into a commonplace reality only 50 years later. We are literally surrounded by computers at home, while working in the office or walking down the street. A recent study determined that, on average, each person touches their cell phone over 2,600 times per day (extreme users touch their phones more than 5,400 times daily), and check their phones about 262 times per day, i.e., once every 5.5 minutes. Indeed, it would not be surprising to see an increased frequency of human-computer interactions soon, as more spaces of our daily lives are progressively invaded by new computer devices, like wearable computers.  

Using computers allowed higher task efficiency, new forms of entertainment and large-scale collaborations.  Information technologies brought obvious benefits for our society. But widespread usage also raises concerns. Researchers found that using smartphones five or more hours a day involves a higher risk of obesity and other habits associated with heart disease. This also involves mental health issues. Information technology aided in the deployment of large-scale surveillance systems capable of tracking persons and identifying human emotions, and many civil rights and privacy groups have expressed their opposition against this continual surveillance of citizens.

Licklider anticipated a future where artificial cognition would exceed our capacities, and effectively becoming independent from us. Underlying was the assumption that human-computer symbiosis would be largely beneficial, and thus encouraging the usage of computers to “augment human intellect by freeing it from mundane tasks.” More recently, this approach has been extended by the broad application of machine learning to almost all domains of knowledge, including science. Critics warned that we should meet these early successes with skepticism, as they provide solutions that we do not fully comprehend. Perhaps we are abandoning our old dream of understanding nature to algorithms, which paradoxically have begun to mirror the huge complexity of the world surrounding them.