People are both increasingly dependent on and untrusting of digital technology. What does it mean to find trust through technology and how can we improve that trust?
More information is being shared and consumed in our digital age than ever before. According to Nielsen research, almost
half of the average adult’s day is spent interacting with media, at about 11 hours per day.
While this means that people across the globe are more connected, and that knowledge can be accessed and shared more easily, it also means that people are tasked with determining which sources of information are trustworthy, and which ones aren’t.
The concept of trusting technology is made even more complex by the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. While these tools can be used to automate complex processes and improve productivity across industries, people are not always willing to trust them.
Where does this apprehension come from? Why are people at once trusting of all of the technology in their daily lives, but on an intellectual level, terrified of it? Read on to learn what’s behind these fears and how trust-through-technology solutions like blockchain can help dispel them.
What causes distrust in technology?
According to the
2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Technology Report, technology has the highest percentage of trust across industries, including retail, automotive, fashion, energy, and even education. However, the report also states that 65% of people agree that technology companies have too much power to determine what news and information people see or don’t see. This is related to the concept of “
techlash”: The negative reaction to the growing power and influence of large tech companies.
So, it’s clear that one source of worry is the people creating the technology and deciding how it’s used. This is not hard to understand — it’s easy to complain when a company like Apple exercises the power it holds by incorporating another update that users begrudgingly have to go along with, like removing the audio cord so that iPhone users would be more inclined to buy their wireless earbuds.
Another point that causes distrust is the idea that people will lose their jobs to AI and new technology. The same Edelman report states that 55% of employees worry that their jobs will be taken away because of automation and/or other innovations.
Finally, security and privacy are the other big drivers of distrust in technology. Websites gather cookie data, marketers track purchasing behavior, and cyber attackers are constantly trying to get sensitive information from medical records or bank accounts.
Because people put much of this information online, it’s scary to think about who could be accessing this information, and what they could be doing with it. People can’t always see and track these non-physical records, so this can be a big cause of distrust in digital technology.
What engenders trust in technology?
On the other side of the coin is how easily people give up all this information online. They hate that Facebook might be over-sharing their information, but they continue to log on every day and post photographs. People fear that Google might be listening to their every word via Google Homes devices, yet they keep them plugged in. It’s hard to give up the conveniences people have become used to, no matter how much they distrust technology. That technology itself has become a kind of constant comfort.
And often people trust technology more than themselves. For things like math calculations, how likely are you to do the math by hand when a calculator is much faster and more accurate? Why alphabetize a list of names when Excel can do it in an instant?
In short, people are both dependent on, yet still untrusting of, the digital technology that’s part of their everyday lives.
How can we improve trust?
Embracing AI may be one positive way forward. As it turns out, AI is actually helping create more jobs and improve existing jobs, rather than taking them away. Gartner predicts that by 2020,
AI will have created more jobs than it eliminated, and by 2025, there will be two million net-new jobs. AI often enhances positions instead of eliminating them.
For example, an employee can integrate automation to streamline processes and avoid working overtime. Gartner also predicts that in 2021, AI augmentation will generate $2.9 trillion in business value, and it will recover 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity.
For businesses, it’s always important to stress both the risks and the benefits of technology so your teams can better understand the full picture. Employees will become more trusting of technology if executives lead the way forward.
Building trust through technology
These goals can be accomplished by establishing
trust through technology. This means implementing solutions like blockchain, which is “
an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions.” Blockchain can help prove where information comes from and how it has been altered and distributed. With features like proof-of-work and the ability to track and verify records, blockchain creates a verifiable environment where users can be
more confident about the media and data they rely on, both in terms of security and transparency.
Another point to remember is that
AI is still controlled by humans. Trust can build up over time when it’s clear that we’re still calling the shots, not blindly trusting AI to make important decisions.
In our ever-changing digital landscape, it’s more important than ever to ensure you have electronic security and telecommunication solutions you and your employees can trust.
Contact the team at Unisol International to learn about our turnkey deployments of IP networking solutions.
UNISOL International is a worldwide merchandiser and leading technology solutions provider to 16 industry sectors, offering a turn-key approach with a customized, integrated, total solution concept that combines product fulfillment and a-la-carte professional services. Contact us for expert advice on the technology you need to build trust with employees and customers.
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