DO SMART DEVICES MAKE US LESS INTELLIGENT?
Benjamin Franklin wrote “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”. Fast forward to today, and the answers to life’s endless questions are a few keystrokes away or a shouted request to Alexa. Lost? Your smartphone can tell you where you are and get you from A to B. Need to check the weather? Ask Google and you’ll get an instant, local forecast. Want to know what’s happening in the world? Log in to Facebook or Twitter for a personalised stream of news.
Yet, few of us stop to question the truth behind what our devices tell us, or as German psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer put it: “When the soothsayers work with computer algorithms rather than tarot cards, we take their predictions seriously.”
Some say this illusion of certainty makes us less resilient to life’s uncertainties, while others are embracing uncertainty to make the algorithms behind the answers smarter still.
THE ILLUSION OF CERTAINTY
For Generation Z, who were born into the information age, technology is the first port of call for information. It’s creating a sense of dependence, according to Dominique Thompson, a GP, author and TEDx speaker who specialises
