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Advanced Technology . . . Not Really
An article on how technology falls short in conveying emotions
Modern-day digital technologies have become so intertwined into our lives to the point where some may argue they are an extension of the individual themselves. These technological devices that surround our daily lives, whether it be from the home appliances in your living space or down to the smartphones in your pocket, will one day take over or improve our quality of life. Specifically speaking, our smartphones. Smartphones have become an object that most people tend to rely on, or as some say “can’t live without.” The question is, however, are these devices and other technologies made for human communication effective enough to take into account emotional awareness? The very aspect that differentiates us as humans, to the inanimate devices we carry and claim to be so significant in our daily lives.
Future technology that could account for emotional awareness is AI or Artificial Intelligence, whether that will be a possibility is still unknown. However, as we stand now, with smartphones being the most used device for human communication, I don’t believe it is an effective way to express our emotions. I think this because, as a device to allow communication, smartphones don’t allow the same emotional awareness as you would have to communicate with someone in person. Words on a screen will not be the same as seeing someone face to face, reading their body language and facial expressions, and hearing the tones of their words.
While emotional awareness is not completely possible with the technology we have now, other tools can aid but not replicate in expressing emotions such as empathy. An example of a tool that can be used while communicating with someone through technology such as a smartphone, are emoticons, otherwise largely known as emojis. Emojis have allowed people to express themselves when texting their friends and family or other individuals. They have made it possible to add emotion into a text by putting a happy face when expressing happiness or joy for example, or by putting a sad face when expressing sorrow or sadness. While these basic emotions are possible, other more complicated types of emotional expression such as empathy have not been able to be replicated. In this aspect, technology is lacking.
This is a problem because the inability of being able to express proper emotions and feelings when communicating through devices and other technologies can lead to misunderstandings. This can become a problem because proper communication is such a significant aspect of human life. In other words, with our current technological capabilities, complete emotional awareness is not attainable in our lifetime.
