1
00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:04,820
Nowadays, technology is an essential part of our way of life.

2
00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:08,300
Think about all the devices you use every day

3
00:00:08,300 --> 00:00:12,320
and compare the kind of innovations that you can use

4
00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:16,260
to those that existed 100 years ago.

5
00:00:17,039 --> 00:00:23,300
Maybe in those days there was no internet or no computers

6
00:00:23,300 --> 00:00:30,239
or maybe the transport wasn't done as easily and efficiently as today.

7
00:00:30,879 --> 00:00:34,960
So technology makes our life more pleasant and more comfortable.

8
00:00:35,399 --> 00:00:37,420
It improves our quality of life.

9
00:00:37,420 --> 00:00:41,200
It helps us to improve our standard of living.

10
00:00:42,020 --> 00:00:48,799
And that's why many people think that technology can improve our situation and is linked with progress.

11
00:00:49,619 --> 00:00:52,000
Progress is a very important concept.

12
00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,740
Progress refers to a change to a better situation.

13
00:00:57,579 --> 00:01:01,119
But this is a question that we should think carefully.

14
00:01:02,140 --> 00:01:06,299
Is it true that technology always is progress?

15
00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:12,019
Does all kind of technology help us to live in a better world?

16
00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:14,219
Not always.

17
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:19,560
Technology has its bright side, but it also has a very dark side.

18
00:01:20,159 --> 00:01:22,640
Think about weapons, for example.

19
00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:30,379
Today, there are extremely complicated and technologically advanced weapons that can kill millions of people.

20
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,959
And that is hardly an advance to a better world.

21
00:01:34,599 --> 00:01:41,780
But you needn't think about the war to discover how technology has a bad impact on us sometimes.

22
00:01:42,599 --> 00:01:45,540
Our technology also creates pollution.

23
00:01:45,540 --> 00:01:55,799
It uses incredible amounts of energy and raw materials, and it pollutes our environment and is contributing to climate change.

24
00:01:56,540 --> 00:02:01,099
So how can we decide if a technological innovation is positive or not?

25
00:02:02,180 --> 00:02:11,020
First of all, you should take into account that all technological advances and also scientific research is not neutral.

26
00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:18,680
Scientists and engineers, when they are doing their research, try to obtain certain goals.

27
00:02:19,020 --> 00:02:21,379
They try to achieve certain objectives.

28
00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:28,879
Think about a company, for example, a company that innovates and creates technological advances.

29
00:02:29,740 --> 00:02:31,719
What is their main interest?

30
00:02:31,719 --> 00:02:38,120
A company might be interested in making money, in making profit, which is a very legitimate objective,

31
00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:46,719
but it cannot be the only goal to be pursued because if we do that and we forget that our

32
00:02:46,719 --> 00:02:53,819
innovations can have harmful consequences, then we are not moving towards a real progress.

33
00:02:54,659 --> 00:03:01,159
If a company tries to obtain a benefit from a technological innovation, this company should

34
00:03:01,159 --> 00:03:07,680
also take into account the consequences for the people. Is that innovation going to improve our

35
00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:14,479
quality of life, is it really going to benefit us? How can we decide about this difficult topic?

36
00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:22,919
Well, the basic criteria to evaluate this is to check if an innovation respects human rights.

37
00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:30,580
Is this innovation helping us to improve our situation as human beings? Is it respecting

38
00:03:30,580 --> 00:03:37,060
human dignity? If the answer is yes, then the innovation can be considered a real progress.

39
00:03:37,060 --> 00:03:46,960
If the answer is no, then it might be technically advanced and it can produce a lot of money, but it is not a real progress.

40
00:03:47,180 --> 00:03:51,580
It is actually a problem because it is making our life more difficult.

41
00:03:52,939 --> 00:03:56,599
This is why many companies have created ethical codes.

42
00:03:57,439 --> 00:04:03,639
An ethical code is a set of rules that everybody in the company or the institution must follow

43
00:04:03,639 --> 00:04:06,740
and that tells you what can and what cannot be done,

44
00:04:07,060 --> 00:04:12,500
which are our duties, our obligations in the development of our research.

45
00:04:12,759 --> 00:04:18,259
There is also another very important thing to take into account,

46
00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:23,660
which is the limits of our current model of development.

47
00:04:24,500 --> 00:04:26,819
The way we live has limits.

48
00:04:26,819 --> 00:04:46,879
We cannot continue living like that, because our planet is finite, it has limits, and we are overusing natural resources, we are polluting our planet, and we are also contributing to change the climate, which can have catastrophic consequences for the future.

49
00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:55,899
Moreover, we are responsible not only of our own lives, but also of the good lives of future generations.

50
00:04:56,819 --> 00:05:01,560
This means that technology and science also have an ethical dimension,

51
00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:07,240
and we should take all these things into account when we develop new innovations.