That twinge of worry. That occasional, sudden-onset widening-gyre sensation. It’s hard not to experience a bit of anxiety at the world’s recent technological upheavals—the endless stream of hacks, leaks, and cyberattacks; the whiplash advances in artificial intelligence and automation; the constant fear and loathing stoked by @socialmedia; and the Hieronymus Bosch spectacle that is democracy in the age of flying monkeys and fake news. It might be different if the leaders of the tech industry were offering reassurances, but instead we’ve got Tesla founder Elon Musk warning about the “existential risk” that AI poses to humanity, Y Combinator president Sam Altman expressing his certainty that automation is coming for millions of jobs, and countless tech moguls reportedly buying up “apocalypse insurance” in the form of New Zealand real estate. And if those rich white men have their hair on fire, God help the rest of the world racing to set up 2FA on Gmail .
The only person who isn’t spooked, it seems, is Mark Zuckerberg. And somehow it’s just as hard to trust folks like him, who insist with an imploring smile—while busily rewiring the social fabric of human civilization—that everything’s going to be great.
Of course, every generation regards its reckoning with new technology as a turning point for the species. But what’s important to realize, whether our blip in history is truly pivotal or just another moment of five-alarm normalcy, is this: The choices people make in the face of anxiety always determine whether the world they leave behind looks more utopian than dystopian.
So feel free to take a second with us to breathe into a paper bag. It’s natural to worry. But it isn’t helpful. Fear, experts agree, is the mind-killer. If we’re going to make intelligent choices that serve us well in the future, we need to look plainly at all the things that are freaking us the $@&% out right now. Before we start burning the looms, is there actually any real evidence for the belief that robots are coming for everyone’s jobs? What can social platforms do to stop their troll infestations? How could we prepare for a massive online security breach? And how much, really, should we be worrying at all? That’s what we’re offering here: a moment of hyperventilation, and many more pages of clarity.
This article appears in the September issue. Subscribe now.
