Friday, July 19. Travelers are stranded at Schiphol. Patients have had their operations cancelled. A botched software update disrupts daily life around the world.
Tech experts weighed in Fidelity that we must prepare for such events.
“How? We can’t do that, and in fact we don’t want to. Digital technology provides so many benefits that we benefit greatly from it socially and personally. Our whole life is designed for it. There is no serious alternative. The elevator goes there and sometimes there are no stairs at all.”
According to Italian philosopher Luciano Floridi, we cannot get rid of the digital world.
“Exactly. Digital reality is our reality, it is the water we swim in. Anyone who thinks they can heroically avoid it is excluding themselves from society.”
According to the same experts consulted by Trouw, we need a plan B and we must ask ourselves if we want to give in to digital technology. But can we really become much less dependent on it?
“Of course that is not possible. I think it is an empty comment. We have already given up on it. And what should that plan B be? An extra ticket in your pocket for a boat to Indonesia, in case the flight to Bali is cancelled? That is absurd, isn’t it? Besides, then all the responsibility for finding alternatives is left to individuals.”
Slob finds it difficult to make such an appeal to citizens. “Then they will have the monkey on their shoulders again. As if you and I had influence on issues that politics must address at an international level. The question is not whether we should want “technology” or how individuals can arm themselves against its failure. The question is: who has control over the conditions that global computer systems must meet? Don’t companies like Microsoft form a kind of cartel with no alternative? I think it is fantastic that the European Union is trying to get more control over such technology companies. Only at that level can the cartel be seriously addressed.”
With some surprise, Slob speaks of the reactions of the victims of the failed CrowdStrike IT upgrade. “Travelers at Schiphol reacted with a fair amount of resignation. It reminds me of how medieval people experienced a solar eclipse. It is also an event of enormous scope, affecting a vital part of life – the sun then, cyberspace now. And even then it was incomprehensible to most people what exactly happened and what caused it. Many people have no choice but to passively endure such a situation.”
De Denker lists the reactions he expected when he learned about the digital scrap data. “In such calamities, where you don’t really understand much and where you feel vulnerable, the first option is inaction. “We’ll see and let’s hope it doesn’t turn out too badly.”
“The second possibility is mistrust. This computer glitch could have been fertile ground for conspiracy theories, but fortunately they did not materialize. Also because CrowdStrike quickly took responsibility for the error. That was crucial, I think. Ironically, this glitch was caused by an update intended to protect computer systems from malicious hackers. How can you, as an ignorant user, really tell the difference between a cyberattack and cybersecurity? CrowdStrike proved: that difference is not so much in digital ingenuity, but in a mindset of openness and responsibility.”
“The ultimate response to such incidents is activism: resisting the way digital systems are currently devouring our lives. Technology itself need not be a problem. However, large software providers are hardly subject to democratic authority, even though they do provide a vital social service, as became clear once again on Friday. Tech companies are given too much room to simply follow their own logic and pursue their own interests.”
You choose option three.
“Yes, as a Thinker I choose that. But in this case mostly in theory, I have to be honest. Personally, I don’t know enough about the complexities of the digital world to take effective action. So I especially hope that others will do that. The division of labor is a good thing, also for activists.”
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What computer malfunctions say about technology in our society
A botched software update caused disruption around the world on Friday. What does that say about the role of technology in our society?