Technology
Is There a Place for Ethos in the Future?
The technological evolution has been outpacing virtually any other field, most noticeably law and ethics. The alarming disparity between these different areas raises a question related to the uncontrollable effect the technological advances would have on the users themselves. Although ethics and ethos come from the same Greek root ēthikós which relates to morality and moral character, ethos relates to “guiding belief of a person, group, or institution” as defined by Merriam-Webster. On the other side, ethics relates the concepts defined, that normally stem from these beliefs. Is there place for ethos in the future is a vital question, that would provide a clear understanding on the impact of technology of our life, and in particular the effect of the increasing immersion in the metaverse, and the expected invasion of the machines to our daily interactions.
Towards a Human-Centric Technology?
The central issue can be summarized by the view of Australian moral philosopher Peter Singer who said “We shouldn’t assume that evolution is guided by some kind of providence to reach the best ethical outcomes. We could imagine better outcomes: more intelligent, altruistic, and compassionate humans, for example. Maybe that’s what we need to do to protect the future of humanity.”
The development of technology should rather be human-centric. Instead of humans getting used to technology, technology should be built to cater for the traits of human beings. The guiding beliefs, defined by the ethos, should be immutable. In particular, the ethical norms that have been reigning for some should be the main constraints during the design of new technological innovations.
Ethics to Regulate the Adoption of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been invading the workplace as most companies have been radically modifying their business process to incorporate AI. According to a recent report by IBM, more than one-third of companies around the world have already incorporated AI to take their business to the next level, with another 42 percent exploring the use of AI in their business process. Undoubtedly, the considerations for such decisions are mainly related to driving down costs and creating avenues to generate additional profits.
Accountability is a key step to ensure that the adoption of AI is following the “correct moral path”. Although the basic component of AI algorithms is a set of mathematical relations that try to emulate the learning process in the human brain, the decision and assessment is done by humans at the end of day. This could result in a significant amount of bias. Amazon fell into the trap of bias with its AI-based recruitment tool. The developed algorithm discriminated against women in the selection process and was later scrapped. This simple, yet illustrative example demonstrates that hastiness in technology adoption can lead to significantly adverse results. This has pushed into more transparency and explainability in the development of AI algorithms.
Can Machines Have Ethos in the Future?
The scenario envisioned by the movie “I, Robot” in 2004 will very soon become a reality. Human beings will soon have to co-exist and communicate with machines which are becoming increasingly sentient. While humans can somehow rely on some basics of ethical thinking, machines are more calculating devices who think and act according to their interpretation of different scenarios.
Can machines have the same ethos in the future as human beings? The answer is no unless we teach them to do so and act similarly to humans. As a minimum requirement, we can teach machines some rules that would convey to a certain extent some ethical behavior. Morality, which is the basics of ethos, is something that cannot be translated to rules that can be taught to machines.
Detaching from the Real World with the Metaverse
The Metaverse is the new entrant to the large pool of “problematic” technologies. This virtual parallel world has had an unprecedented interest in the last couple of years. Each industry has jumped into this new virtual world where properties and other commodities are being sold. The Metaverse also somehow builds on the Web 3.0 concept which should be the basis over which applications can be developed. Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, AI and extended reality are all parts of the unison of these two futuristic technological footprints which are driving humans away from the real physical world to an immersive digital one.
The common practice of translating ethical considerations into laws and regulations is harder to implement in a digital and decentralized world where a central governing entity does not exist. The peculiar thing is that people are already in the Metaverse in a time where rules and regulations have not been thought of. There could be many abusive activities taking place in the virtual world without even having the opportunity to track or even solve as no norms can concretely be applied.
Workforce Changes and Ethos in the Job
The effect of an increasing reliance on technology has been seen within changes in employment dynamics in companies around the world. A lot of jobs have become unnecessary and redundant while new ones are being highly sought after, typically in areas related to data sciences. This is a normal encounter in the business circles. However, the rapid variations are causing an increasingly unemployment rates among persons whose qualifications do not fit anymore into the new job description.
Summary
The notable increase in technology adoption has been happening at a frightening pace with an unprecedented rate of adoption. 5G, artificial intelligence, Metaverse, Web 3.0, cryptocurrencies, machine to machine and human to machine interactions are some of the headlines that will shape our future. In this midst of all these innovations, does ethos still have a place is a question that is answered by the efforts we are willing to spend to make the future technology human-centric, that is, a technology that abides by the same principles that we do in our normal life. Yes, there is a place in the future for ethos if we can rapidly control the technology before it gets really out of control.
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What is biometric identification? It is the process through which unique biological characteristics are used in biometric identification to recognize and validate a person. These characteristics can be found in facial traits, eye structures, DNA, fingerprint patterns, and even handwriting. All this data that can be gathered on an individual inevitably brings up the ethical issues in biometrics that need to be addressed.
Facial recognition and fingerprint scans were previously the domain of security, and they were utilized for identification and law enforcement. However, increasingly more business and civil applications are using biometrics authentication. Due to this increased use, it is crucial to address the moral and ethical issues in biometrics when used in the creation of new application and technology.
Applied biometrics and corporate ethics have received little empirical study despite the widespread use of biometric technologies. As a result, there is plenty of room for future study to help us better comprehend the moral consequences of adopting this technology.
This article examines the ethical concerns associated with the use of biometric technology on the use of biometrics for non-security applications as well as the moral ramifications for business.
Ethical Issues in Biometrics and Privacy
Biometric data takes privacy concerns to a whole new level that typical data gathering only touches on. Digital identities can be forged, and anonymity on the web can be maintained to a degree if you know how. Also, digital data can be deleted – if we forget that Meta (Facebook) has been revealed to store deleted data, which is an ethical concern in itself.
The problem with biometric data is that it is unforgeable, unconcealable, and permanent, You can’t change your eye structure, your fingerprint, or your facial features. Big tech companies already have your face, fingerprints, and your voice recorded and stored via current biometric authentication systems – mainly used for unlocking your phone. That data will be there forever, and there is little that people can do about it besides avoid it In the first place.
While many companies still give users the option of using a good old fashion passcode to unlock their phones, as technology as a whole tends to do, the biometric alternative is slowly gaining more traction, and will one day become the norm, as it is hard to argue its convenience and security. You can’t accidentally leave your eyeball at home or forget your fingerprint. But in the same sense, you can’t change it. If your childish curiosity while browsing the web put a black spot on your record, there’s no changing that.
Therein lies the question of who if anyone should have access to such data. Today’s tech giants have all our data in their hands, that won’t change with the spread of biometric verification methods. Indeed, it will only increase targeting capabilities.
While the collection of biometric data on its own does not necessarily mean it will be shared, monetized, or abused in any way, it never the less requires clear and strict guidelines and regulations to be implemented around it. There are too many things that can be abused by the wrong party when the ethical issues in biometrics are not taken seriously, and if such limitations are not applied stringently.
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The Reno line of smartphones has always had a fantastic camera and an attractive design. The Reno 8 and 8 Pro include a 120Hz AMOLED display, the newest Dimensity chipsets, 80W fast charging, a 32-megapixel front camera, and triple 50-megapixel back cameras, among other notable features that make the Oppo Reno 8 and Reno 8 Pro high-quality yet affordable option for anyone.
Here we compare the two latest Oppo phone series iterations and see what to expect from the flagship Oppo smartphone, and how the Oppo Reno 8 and the Oppo Reno Pro stack up against each other.
Oppo Reno 8 Specifications
The Oppo Reno 8 has a smaller 6.43-inch full-HD+ AMOLED display with a resolution of 1,080 by 2,400 pixels, a 90Hz refresh rate, and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It also runs Android 12 with ColorOS 12.1 on top. Additionally, the display has an 800 nits maximum brightness and a 20:09 aspect ratio. An octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 1300 SoC, up to 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM, and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage are all found within the Oppo smartphone.
The Reno 8 has a triple back camera configuration for pictures and movies, with a 50-megapixel main sensor and an f/1.8 lens as its focal point. Additionally, there is a 2-megapixel macro camera with a 112-degree field of view and an 8-megapixel sensor coupled with an f/2.2 ultra-wide angle lens.
The Reno 8 offers 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.3, GPS/A-GPS, NFC, and a USB Type-C connector as connection options. An accelerometer, light, gyroscope, magnetometer, and a proximity sensor are among the sensors on board. For biometric verification, the phone also has a fingerprint sensor hidden behind the display. A 4,500mAh battery inside the Oppo Reno 8 supports 80W Super Flash Charge quick charging. The phone weighs 179 grams and has dimensions of 160 x 73.4 x 7.67mm.
Oppo Reno 8 Pro Specifications
A 6.7-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,412) AMOLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection is included with the Oppo Reno 8 Pro. Running on top of Android 12 is ColorOS 12.1. Additionally, the display supports HDR10+ and is certified by Netflix HD, Amazon HDR, SGS Low Motion Blur, and SGS Low Blue Light. The MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Max SoC, which has eight cores, and up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM power the smartphone. Storage on the Oppo Reno 8 Pro is UFS 3.1 capable of up to 256GB.
The Oppo Reno 8 Pro boasts a triple rear camera arrangement with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 main sensor and an f/1.8 lens, an 8-megapixel sensor and an ultra-wide lens with an f/2.2 aperture and a 112-degree field of view, and a 2-megapixel macro camera with an f/2.4 aperture. Along with the MariSilicon X NPU, the phone’s camera will offer generally better performance in both bright and dim light. It has a 32-megapixel front-facing camera sensor with an f/2.4 lens for taking selfies and making video calls.
The phone has 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.3, GPS/A-GPS, NFC, and a USB Type-C connector as connectivity options. An accelerometer, a light meter, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, and a proximity sensor are among the sensors built into the phone. For biometric authentication, the phone also contains a fingerprint sensor underneath the touchscreen. The smartphone has a 4,500mAh battery that supports rapid charging at 80W Super Flash Charge. The phone weighs 183 grams and has dimensions of 161 x 74.2 x 7.34mm.
Both the Oppo Reno 8 and Reno 8 Pro are prime smartphones that can fit any user’s preferences and can be considered premium smartphones on the cheaper side. If you like photography, you will be satisfied with the level of quality overall, but keep in mind that neither phone is particularly water resistant, so be careful where you take it.
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Many prefer the rumbling ‘vroom’ of a gasoline car to the soft hum of an electric vehicle, while others would rather just be satisfied in the knowledge that they are lessening their carbon footprint. Let’s look at the cold hard facts however, and compare electric cars vs gas cars
Electric Cars vs Gas Cars: Components
The amount of moving components is an important distinction between electric and gasoline-powered automobiles. While a gasoline-powered car contains hundreds of moving components, an electric vehicle just has one, the motor. Another significant distinction is that the electric car has fewer moving components. The electric car is more dependable and needs less routine maintenance. The maintenance needed for a gasoline-powered car ranges from routine oil changes, filter replacements, tune-ups, and exhaust system repairs to less frequent component replacements including water and fuel pumps, alternators, and so on.
Electric Cars vs Gas Cars: Maintenance
The expenses associated with maintaining an electric car are reduced since there are less maintenance requirements. The shaft, the only moving component of the electric motor, is extremely dependable and needs little to no maintenance. The controller and charger are electrical devices that require minimal to no maintenance because they have no moving components. Modern sealed lead acid batteries are maintenance free and utilized in electric cars nowadays. However, these batteries have a finite lifespan and will eventually need to be replaced. New batteries are being developed to increase the range of electric cars as well as the battery pack’s lifespan, perhaps eliminating the need to replace the battery pack throughout the course of the vehicle’s lifespan.
Electric Cars vs Gas Cars: Efficiency
In addition to being simpler and less expensive to repair than gasoline-powered vehicles, electric vehicles are also more cost-effective to run. The electric car will drive roughly 43 miles for $1 based on the efficiency of 3 miles/kwhr and the cost of power at 7 cents per kwhr. The gasoline-powered car will go roughly 18 miles based on the average gas mileage of 22 miles per gallon and the price of gasoline at $1.25 per gallon. As a result, an electric car may drive more than twice as far on a dollar’s worth of petrol.
Where Electric Falls Behind
There are still a number of difficulties for the owner of an electric car despite the fact that it will be less expensive to operate and maintain.
The primary issue is the restricted range offered by existing battery technology. The amount of driving distance possible utilizing the current batteries is between 50 and 150 miles. These ranges are being extended by new battery technologies, and prototypes of these batteries have shown ranges of up to 200 miles between recharging. Solar powered charging stations are being implemented in numerous places to decrease range anxiety towards electric vehicles
The lack of qualified service professionals to repair and maintain electric cars is another issue that faces their owners. A two-year associate degree program has been developed to train high school graduates to become proficient electric vehicle technicians, and training programs are being developed and made available to upgrade the conventional automotive technician with the skills needed to maintain an electric vehicle.
Infrastructure to recharge the batteries is also required. The most important component of the infrastructure for recharging already exists: electric power is accessible practically everywhere. To support the electric car, it is still necessary to guarantee that charging stations with the right sorts of service (i.e., maximum voltage and current) are placed in important areas. Plans must also be made.
Inside Telecom provides you with an extensive list of content covering all aspects of the tech industry. Keep an eye on our Technology sections to stay informed and up-to-date with our daily articles.
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Ian Terblanche, Global Strategic Sales & Channel Director at Sigfox
