Humane Technology - Does Technology Make Us More Human(e)?

We often mistake technology for being cold, robotic, and digitally distracting. Yes, it can be those things, but to reduce our perspectives of the latent possibilities in technological progress to merely those associations is quite Luddite-esque. In this week's Decoding Tomorrow we decipher 3 trends that are enabling humans to be more human and humane, while liberating us from the menial and the mundane. During the last few weeks I have had the privilege to work with the Long Term Care industry in North Carolina, a leading medical device company in Australia, and a cloud-based enabler of life science innovation in Milan, and the recurring theme is that a humane technology movement is afoot...   

The humane technology movement aims to align technology to human needs rather than merely exploiting our human vulnerabilities for profit - as witnessed in the Social Dilemma. During the pandemic we have seen how the most human touch in any customer journey is now the digital, contactless 'touch', how robotic carers are scaling human-centric empathy in hospitals and aged care settings, drones delivering medicine to the elderly, and how brands like Headspace are creating digital nutrition to boost happiness, calm and creativity.

Have a think about how these trends and the maturity of emergent technology is allowing your brand to reconnect on a more human level. Here are 3 of my trend analysis observations from this work...

Wo/Man and Machine and Its Innovation Potential

2nd Renaissance - Green Growth with John Elkington

This week on the 2nd Renaissance we speak with John Elkington - the author of Green Swans - and one of the wise elders and founders of the global sustainability movement and regenerative capitalism. The Evening Standard named John among the ‘1000 Most Influential People’ in London, describing him as “a true green business guru”, and as “an evangelist for corporate social and environmental responsibility long before it was fashionable”. A CSR International survey of the Top 100 CSR leaders placed John fourth: after Al Gore, Barack Obama and the late Anita Roddick of the Body Shop, and alongside Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank. It seems evident that the green tech and clean tech John speaks about in this Green Swans interview are optimally positioned to - once again - deliver more positive humanitarian and planetarian outcomes.