Technological fix

[3] In the contemporary context, technological fix is sometimes used to refer to the idea of using data and intelligent algorithms to supplement and improve human decision making in hope that this would result in ameliorating the bigger problem.

One critic, Evgeny Morozov defines this as "Recasting all complex social situations either as neat problems with definite, computable solutions or as transparent and self-evident processes that can be easily optimized – if only the right algorithms are in place.

[2] The definition of algorithms according to the Oxford Languages dictionary is “a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.” Algorithms are increasingly used as technological fixes in modern society to replace tasks or decision-making by humans, often to reduce labor costs, increase efficiency, or reduce human bias.

These solutions serve as a “quick and flawless way to solve complex real world problems… but technology isn’t magic”.

Face recognition is an example of algorithmic technology that is viewed as potentially having many benefits for its users, such as verifying one’s identity in security systems.

In the case of face recognition technology being used by the San Diego County police department, Black men were being falsely accused of crimes due to being mistakenly identified by the software.

Instead of addressing systemic and historically embedded issues of inequalities among racial groups, the face recognition technology was used to perpetuate discrimination and support police in doing their jobs unfairly and inaccurately.

However, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that the tool discriminates against Black families, who are statistically underserved and have historically lived in lower-income areas.

By using data based on historical biases, the automated decisions further fuel racial disparities, and actually accomplish the opposite of the intended outcomes.

In contrast, controllable renewable energy sources include dammed hydroelectricity, bioenergy, or geothermal power.

Evgeny Morozov, writer and researcher on social implications of technology, has said, “A new problem-solving infrastructure is new; new types of solutions become possible that weren’t possible 15 years ago”.

[6] The issue with the use of algorithms as technological fixes is that they shouldn’t be applied as a one-size-fits-all solution because each problem comes with its own context and implications.

DDT was initially use by the Military in World War II to control a range of different illnesses, varying from Malaria to the bubonic plague and body lice.

[33] Due to the efficiency of DDT, it was soon adopted as a farm pesticide to help maximise crop yields to consequently cope with the rising populations food demands post WWII.

It was found that DDT accumulated within the fatty cells of both humans and animals and therefore highlights that technological fixes have their negatives as well as positives.

[37] However, whilst the technology was new and innovative, helping to connect places through the ability of transport, it was not recognised at the time that burning fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, inside the engines would release pollutants.

An example of this can be seen by developing countries that implement technologies that suit their expertise, such as rain barrels and hand pumps.

According to her the proposed technique of dimming the rays of the sun with sulphate-spraying helium balloons in order to mimic the cooling effect on the atmosphere of large volcanic eruptions for instance is highly dangerous and such schemes will surely be attempted if abrupt climate change gets seriously under way.

[48] Various experts and environmental groups have also come forward with their concerns over views and approaches that look for techno fixes as solutions and warn that those would be "misguided, unjust, profoundly arrogant and endlessly dangerous" approaches[49] as well as over the prospect of a technological 'fix' for global warming, however impractical, causing lessened political pressure for a real solution.