Discussion: Human phobias in the digital age

In the last twenty years more technological changes have taken place than perhaps ever before in human history. Many of us feel uneasy in this rapidly changing technological world, and as changes have gathered pace, insecurity, panic and fear are adding to the confusion. The American sociologist Alvin Toffler coined a special term for this: “future shock.” In addition, a new kind of phobia has developed — future phobia.

Algorithms are already deciding what is and is not right. Filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov had an unpleasant experience when YouTube started to block his content: he contacted Google, who told him they did not know why the algorithm was excluding him. Even Elon Musk is sounding the alarm: his greatest fear is that in the future, artificial intelligence will become far smarter than humans.

But far from slowing down, technological progress is speeding up. And so it’s very important that we learn how to live with these changes and try to make sense of our fears, from losing our smartphones or our jobs becoming obsolete through advances in artificial intelligence, to being totally controlled by microchipping or experiencing virtual isolation.
We invite you to join a conversation about digital phobias and their underlying causes, share your opinions, and listen to the experts.