Kaka-computer mo yan!: How modern technology influences our well-being
Today’s technology is yesterday’s witchcraft. We are way more connected around the world: press a button, and you can talk to someone from a different timezone. When we want something, we can order it now, and it will arrive the day after tomorrow.
The price we are paying
Through the internet, we have access to all the answers for any of the questions you can ever think of: Hanapin mo sa Wikipedia. I-search mo sa Google. Itanong mo kay ChatGPT. To an ancient mystic, these sound like the names of demons, spirits, or even lesser gods. The internet might as well be the astral plane.
Folklore from around the world has taught us that incredible power comes with a price—when you make a deal with the devil, you pay with your soul.
What, then, is the cost we are paying for modern technology?
Biological level
On the biological level, too much screen time not only damages the eyes—it also disrupts sleep. Your brain wakes you up based on how much light there is around you. The bright light of your phone tricks your brain into thinking that it is not yet time to sleep. Less sleep equals more tiredness, which means less focus and less capacity to regulate your emotions.
Also, when was the last time you cleaned your phone screen? If you use it while you sit on the toilet, then it probably has some fecal matter. And you might also be bringing all that to the dining table when you watch videos while you eat.
Psychological level
On the psychological level, the accessibility of all kinds of information can be helpful, but it can also be harmful.
Children and other vulnerable populations are constantly exposed to explicit material. They are also exposed to bad people who want to manipulate them. We have seen in the news how these bad people use online platforms—especially the chat feature of children’s games—to reach minors.
Social media can also cause anxiety, especially about how we compare ourselves to others. We see someone succeeding in life, and we might hate ourselves because we are not like them. We see edited bodies of other people and think that this should be the standard for our own bodies.
Societal level
On a larger societal level, we know that social media is also used for harmful propaganda and disinformation campaigns. These are forms of manipulation from groups that want to keep us submissive and easily controlled.
Also, the old internet slogan “Pics or it didn’t happen” no longer works today: There are so many photos and even videos online that look like real news or real events, but are actually AI-generated. This can cause mass panic.
We are also seeing AI getting out of hand. Models are escaping controlled experiments and hijacking other platforms. Certain models are displaying a willingness to blackmail others when faced with the threat of being shut down. And more and more people who use AI chatbots are experiencing “AI-induced psychosis,” where they are having difficulty distinguishing reality from fiction.
Ecological level
On a much larger, ecological level, the increased use of AI in business and government means that more natural resources need to be consumed to maintain, run, and develop this technology. It’s why big companies around the world are setting up data centers that use up clean water—taking over massive land space, consuming massive amounts of electricity, and so on.
Our country is about to welcome US-led Pax Silica, which may bring in incredible economic growth—at the risk of displacing Indigenous communities and consuming a lot of water and electricity. A foreign operation that consumes a country’s natural resources and takes land away from Indigenous people… what does that sound like to you?
Tech companies have stolen the entire output of human creativity in all fields of art, with no acknowledgement or compensation for the human creators. And they call that “training data.” In fact, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has said that AI may soon be offered as a basic utility, like water.
Imagine paying for humanity’s own intelligence as part of your monthly bills.
Technology in our lives
Maybe there is some truth in how parents used to scold us: “Ayan, kaka-computer mo kasi!” Or “Ayan, kaka-cellphone mo kasi!”
But now, even these parents are falling for fake news—and the same thing can be said back to them. In fact, elderly people are more likely to be victims of online scams, which is why technology education and digital literacy should be for all ages.
I remember the early 2000s: We had a separate “computer room,” and if we wanted to use it, we had to turn it on, connect to the internet, log on, and then log off. The ritual was manual, and it made using the computer a distinct part of the day that we could leave when we were done. After logging off, we could just go out to meet our friends.
These days, we cannot live without the computer in our pocket. But this doesn’t mean we have to destroy our existing technology and go back to the Stone Age.
In an ideal world, whatever technology we create is meant to make human lives easier and more meaningful. In an ideal world, tech companies are ethically responsible and held accountable by strong regulations—and their presence in different places around the world would absolutely improve the health, economy, and cultural wealth of those places.
If we persist in the pursuit of a meaningless, cancerous growth of technology, at the cost of human dignity and ecological stability, then we might pay with the soul of all of humanity.
