Letter: Technology is advancing fast but will it be used for the greater good or deployed in ways that deepen conflict?
A letter from Louis Shawcross:
Has anyone stopped to consider where artificial intelligence (AI) is actually taking us?
Smartphones only became mainstream around 2007. In less than 20 years, they have transformed daily life.
Many people now seem inseparable from their devices - constantly checking screens, earbuds in, tethered to a continuous digital stream. If this much has changed in under two decades, what might the next 20 years bring? And will it be a world we truly want to inhabit?
There is also a growing sense that once these systems are embedded, stepping away from them becomes nearly impossible.
The expanding digital infrastructure has produced powerful companies such as Palantir Technologies, which publicly confirmed in early 2024 a strategic partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Defense to support “war-related missions”.
The promise of advanced technology is one thing; its real-world application is another.
Perhaps the deeper issue is not the technology itself, but who controls it – and to what ends – once it becomes woven into every aspect of society. History offers parallels: from the invention of gunpowder, to the discovery of nuclear fission, to today’s digital revolution, transformative tools have always carried dual potential.
The crucial question is where we choose to direct them. Will AI be used to enhance human flourishing and improve life on Earth? Or will it be deployed in ways that deepen conflict and accelerate destruction?
Louis Shawcross, Co Down