Under the best circumstances, technology has been a value-add for humanity. With benefits like access to information, medical advancements, global communication, information sharing, and environmental solutions, few would argue that tech is inherently bad. Unfortunately, the inability to develop technology in a sustainable and responsible way and the rise of the obnoxious tech bro has made tech CEOs almost unbearable to deal with. It’s so bad many people are divesting altogether and going analog.
How did we get here? While currently CEO’s like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerburg are the poster boys for the rising tech oligarchs (which we’re quite frankly disgusted by) tech companies have not done anything significant to limit or combat over consumption of their products for the last few decades. Instead they’re opting to engage in an AI arms race. For the good of our future society, tech leaders must make an effort to address issues with privacy, childhood mental health, job displacement, ethical mining, and discrimination in a real way but instead tech leaders are signaling that they’re ready to do the opposite.
Technology is designed to keep us hooked, turning our attention into profit for tech companies. As a result, Americans spend too much time scrolling. If your screen time report makes you cringe, you’re not alone. While some apps can be fun and even useful, it’s easy to feel like they’re running the show. We have an app for everything now, telling us how much water to drink, how many steps to take, and how much sleep we should be getting. Because of over consumption, we’re starting to ignore our biological rhythms and thought processes, surrendering our daily routines to the discretion of an app. Too much screen time can leave us anxious, stressed, and worn out and it isn’t an accident.
Then there’s AI, tools like ChatGPT can help you brainstorm ideas or better phrase an email. But overdo it, and suddenly you’re outsourcing your brain. Using AI should feel like a collab, not a takeover. Let it handle the dull chores, sure, but keep the big, creative moves for yourself. Don’t even get us started on the ethical issues around DALL-E. Without restraint, we are going to turn into creativity robots who can’t think without an algorithm’s help.
Technology is also messing with how we connect IRL? Group chats and DMs will never replace the vibe of an actual face-to-face convo, yet we’re often sacrificing time together in lieu of solo time scrolling. Too often, we’re creating status updates when we should be talking and settling for emojis instead of emotions. The fix? Use your tech to get together, not drift apart. Hit up your friends for coffee instead of sending another meme. You’d be surprised at how the memories hit different when you’re not staring at a screen.
Current day tech—the gadgets, the servers, the AI—comes with a price tag, and no, we’re not just talking dollars. Mining rare earth minerals for your latest device is trashing ecosystems and generating cycles of violence and exploitation in Africa. The ginormous data centers to power AI are guzzling water and churning out CO2 like it’s going out of style. It’s like leaving your car idling… forever, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Smarter energy use, better recycling, and actual accountability from tech leaders could flip the script. But we’ve got to demand it—and call out the BS loudly. Tech workers and consumers alike need to make our voices hears, and put the oligarchs in a position to serve our needs and not the other way around.
Leaders like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai are basically running the world—or at least a big chunk of it, shaping everything from how we work to what we value as a society. Fair policies, privacy protections, real competition—that’s the vibe we need, not donating hundreds of thousands to a second Trump presidency and removing fact checks to allow fake news to run rampant across social platforms.
In a world where tech is both a blessing and a curse. We should use the tools without letting them use you. It’s time to call out the waste and the power trips and prioritize human connection over digital noise. Tech should be here to enhance our lives, not run them. It’s about time we start saying no to big tech.
