Which is More Important: Technology or Mankind?

Dr. Asoke K. Laha, Chairman- Emeritus and Founder- InterraIT

It is a paradox amidst the spat of breakthroughs of technology reported in all spheres of life, that there are sordid happenings taking place at the same pace. Should we blame such occurrences as lack of a concerted effort to focus only on things that can give material comfort and wealth? We have heard about the India-born Sunita Williams and how she along with her accompanying fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore, caught up in space in the crewed mission of Boeing Starliner. Both will have to remain in space till February 2025 till a spacecraft rescues them to enter space by Tesla’s SpaceX. 

I have gone through several reports by scientists, astronauts, physicians, debating the impact of their overstay in space. Opinions differ. Some maintain that it might alter their anatomy, others observe that it might give some insights into mankind’s ambitious project of building habitats in space,  and still, others try to draw inspiration to come out with interesting science fiction and speculate on the stimulating accounts, both astronauts would narrate when they reach back Planet Earth. For certain, this new development would lead to a spate of new insights and experiences that no human being had ever experienced. 

My purpose in referring to this incident is to have a comparative look at the other serious developments happening across the world. Here I am referring to Mpox, a public health emergency that is creating flutters in Africa, which already had afflicted several people, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The most affected country because of this deadly virus akin to fatal smallpox, is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which so far had to face the spiraling spread of the virus, taking the lives of many after afflicting several thousand people. The fatal viral outbreak is noticed in other countries like Nigeria and other neighboring countries. These countries have urgently asked for international support to address the contagion, keeping back in mind the devastating impact of COVID-19, from which not many countries have fully recovered. However preventive vaccines are not be reaching them. They also complain about vaccine politics being played by countries that have vaccines in stock. It is estimated that only 200,000 units of vaccines are available in stock internationally. Of that, the US has agreed to release 10,000 units to Nigeria. Germany has decided to send the vaccines judiciously. 

The world would have been happy if the Western countries, had come out with an immediate plan to produce more vaccines and drawn up an action plan to streamline the supply chain to ensure the vaccines and medicines flow to centers that are most affected.

In countries like Africa, some parts of Latin America, and South Asia, occurrences of contagious diseases are very common. Some of the diseases, which have been reportedly eradicated either partially or fully are reappearing, such as TB, Cholera, Malaria etc. Poorer countries are bearing the brunt of these diseases. We have been talking about finding a solution for such unfortunate occurrences for a long time. But most of the talks are rhetoric and so to say lip services, going by the commitment of the world community to take stock of such sinister situations. 

There is also another side to the happenings. Every country is interested in geographies that are bypassed by development, be they Africa, Latin America or South Asia. Most of them are rich in mineral deposits including some of the rare earth that goes into the manufacture of e-vehicles and batteries used for electronic goods like lithium, cobalt, etc. These are going to drive the future growth of global trade and investment. Close to fifty African countries are closeted in Beijing at the China-African Business Summit on how to make cooperation stronger and more meaningful. But there is an unwritten agenda to these meetings and that is how to draw these countries closer to China's Axis in competition with the overtures shown by the Western world including the US and Europe, which are equally interested in a large expanse of minerals and equally large market of over 1.4 billion people. 

Leave aside the manufacturing companies which have been drawing a lot of sustenance from these regions for a long period, now a long list of digital companies are developing their footprint in Africa and other regions for marketing their products. That is a good development because there can be a meeting point in sharing the benefits of such interventions be it trade, investments, or technology. 

But when the shoe pinches, the rich countries resort to their games. Let me take a recent example. Recently, cocoa prices have shot up in the international market, mainly because of the crop failures in cocoa-growing areas in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the Ivory Coast and Ghana, mostly due to climate change. 

This adversely affected the chocolate industry concentrated mostly in the Western world. To come out of the stalemate, the chocolate industry is creating lab-grown cocoa beans and chocolates like that of laboratory-grown chickens. Not alone that, they are developing chocolate substitutes and have already invested a large quantum of resources.  Does it mean the end of the cocoa-based chocolate industry? I have reasons to believe so, going by what happened to the vanilla crop, which used to be widely used in the ice cream industry. When the substitute was developed and the demand for the product nose-dived, many farmers across the world had to abandon vanilla cultivation and were forced to switch to other crops.  

 
What are the takeaways from the Space mission, Mpox, cocoa, and vanilla? I may be simplifying things. Yet, I feel that the underlying principle of any technological advancement should be human development; it should have a human face and a human context. If Tesla took on its shoulders to bring back Sunita Williams and her fellow astronaut from space, should it not be incumbent on the scientific community to develop a safety net to ward off the perils of pandemics and epidemics? Should the industry think before developing substitutes for cocoa and vanilla about the impact it will have on people dependent on that industry?   I feel that technology should have a human face for a sustainable society.