Right applications of Technology
Why?
In the spirit of ‘right livelihood,’ as our human work blends more and more with the application of technology, I explore some thinking and resources for the ‘right applications’ of technology.
My guiding constraints for what to explore will be the concept of ‘appropriate technology’- using the right tool in context that is ‘enough’; good work design (human and planet centric); ethical application; digital technology transforming how human work is done, and ‘keeping the human in the loop’ as more automation emerges in our occupations.
What is technology?
A broad definition is
“a capability given by the practical application of knowledge”
Ref: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/technology
Definitions vary – some are now labelled as ‘obsolete’ in dictionaries as our societal view of ‘technology’ changes.
“The branch of knowledge dealing with the mechanical arts and applied sciences; the study of this.”
The earliest known [written] use of the noun technology is in the early 1600s.
OED’s earliest evidence for technology is from 1612, in I. Casaubon’s Answere Epist. Peron.
Ref: https://www.oed.com/dictionary/technology_n?tl=true
Technology is not only a human domain – many animals make and use tools. Living beings have survived, died and thrived by using technology.
Safety and digital transformation
Status: A Growing field, human outcomes in workplaces rely on the safe design of work and use technology that contributes to those outcomes by either making tasks easier and/or safer to do or removing the human from a task altogether e.g. digital automation, Robotics.
Applications: Mainly high-risk, high-tech organisation and industry adoption, agriculture sectors (industrial farming). Explore the trends.
Resources:
1. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) Healthy Workplaces Campaign – “Safe and healthy work in the digital age – Ensuring a human-centred approach to managing digital technologies in the workplace” – Search for terms: AI and worker management, Automation of tasks, Digital platform work, Smart digital systems, robotics.
2. International Labor Organization The 2019 World Day for Safety & Health at Work was all about the Future of Work.
3. National Safety Council Work to Zero Initiative – technology for injury prevention.
4. World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution; a collection of insights, reports and case studies relating to the application of Industry 4.0 technologies aimed at supporting stakeholders to “harness the full potential of technological progress for the equitable and human-centered transformation of industries, economies and societies
5. Centre for Work Health and Safety – The NSW Government Centre for WHS – https://www.centreforwhs.nsw.gov.au/research/australian-whs-research-database
Safe Work Australia the peak body for WHS is surprisingly quiet on ‘digital transformation’ and not actively communicating on ‘artificial intelligence’ – the last post was FEB2023
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/awhs-strategy_23-33/context/emerging-challenges
Work Design
Status: The interface of human work and technology is more and more integrated. Think about any tasks you do paid or unpaid and where you use some form of technology as a device, strategy or tool.
I can only think of pulling weeds as an example of no technology except for the application of my knowledge about which plants I don’t want where. Even then I am more likely to ‘cut and drop’ weeds using a scythe tool which has a long history of invention and cultural narrative.
Application: The design of work as a ‘profession’ emerged in the industrial era e.g. Taylorism where people were assigned specific roles in a cotton milling factory. Before that period, your role would have historically evolved through artisan (inherited enterprises, skills or guilds like weaving, smithing), cultural roles (warrior, shaman, fisher, serf farming for the land owner) and through a person’s position in your local society – your ‘place’, ‘caste’ with gender and ability being a high determinant. You would ‘be’ that and more as your identity in the community for example cultures with surnames originate from their family work such as the English surname “Smith’ from smithing workers.
Resources:
- Centre for Transformative Work Design
https://www.transformativeworkdesign.com/
Take the quiz on your current role to check out its design – https://www.transformativeworkdesign.com/smart-work
There are five themes of work characteristics for positive outcomes.
- Stimulating work involves having varied, interesting, and meaningful tasks in a job.
- Mastery at work comes from knowing what your role is, knowing how you are going on your tasks, and understanding how your work fits into the bigger picture.
- Agency in a job means having a sense of autonomy and control over when and how you do your tasks, as well as being able to make decisions about your job. Agency is also supported when you are asked for input into departmental decisions, and consulted about change.
- Relational work design recognises that people need connection and support at work. Example aspects of relational work include being part of a team, having support from your peers and supervisor, and knowing how your work impacts’ on others’ lives.
- Tolerable demands at work means the things you are expected to do at work are not overwhelming. Tolerable demands can mean, for example, having reasonable work hours, not being tightly monitored, and having reasonable and consistent expectations for performance.
2.
Lo—TEK, an acronym for (Lo)cal + (T)raditional (E)cological (K)nowledge
https://www.lo-tek.com/ – design by radical indigenism –
Book and educational program offers.
3. Biomimicry in design – https://biomimicry.org/what-is-biomimicry/ –
Humans are not separate from ‘nature’. We can learn a lot about energy and ‘work’ ( as an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result) to design our systems.
4. Thriving at work – https://www.thriveatwork.org.au/resources/work-design/
Future of Work Institute
5. SafeWork Australia also has a comprehensive guide on the principles of good work design. The very skilled SWA team pulled this together well, collaboratively and pragmatically. The guide covers all the basics any manager or person designing work for people should know and apply. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/good-work-design-handbook.pdf
6. From an individual perspective, understanding your values and strengths keeps your work aligned for wellbeing – useful for job seeking and job crafting (shaping your role to make the most of your strengths and skills for added value).
You can do the strengths survey here for free to set your baseline. Martin Seligman originated this approach (positive psychology).
https://www.viacharacter.org/
Applications of Chat GPT
- While it’s fun to ask Chat GPT anything, I suggest explore your big questions for our times – here are my examples https://www.are.na/work-smith/chatgpt-adventures-with-my-keyboard
2. Useful article to frame your prompts sourced from