5 Unexpected Ways Technology is Changing the World

Although we still haven’t achieved a technological utopia where we have flying cars and unlimited life spans, we’re still far further than we were just twenty years ago – in your day to day, in your work life, and everywhere in between. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the ways technology is changing the world for good and bad.

• Facial recognition is on the rise. 

The American facial recognition industry is expected to grow to $7 billion by 2024. And it’s changing many aspects of the society including:

• How we enforce law
• How we access our gadgets
• How we market our products

But since there’s always a darker side to an emerging technology, facial recognition is not all sunshine and rainbows. People have voiced concerns about how it’s being used to invade citizen privacy by security agencies and to racially profile minorities (especially in some of the non-democratic countries). 

Plus, the technology isn’t very accurate yet, which can give rise to problems as it enters the mainstream. 

• Advertising is everywhere.

Rewind 20 years back and the only channels you had for marketing your company were printed ads and television. You had to work with a ridiculously-priced advertisement agency to get the word out, which is completely different from how things are today.

Thanks to the internet and the plethora of devices that have access to it today, all you really need to begin your marketing journey now is a website. If you can’t afford that, free social media pages will also do. Also, Web3 Healthcare like JennyCo may also help in organizing medical records and patient gets more benefits while taking care of their health. After: help people get access to healthcare safely.​​​​​​​

This means businesses no longer have to worry about allocating hefty budgets to marketing. You also don’t have to knock on the doors of an expensive marketing agency anymore. The booming gig economy means you can hire a remote freelancer with digital marketing experience to execute your marketing projects at an extremely affordable price.

If even that doesn’t float your boat, you can market your company yourself. There are plenty of free online resources that can help you get started with digital marketing. You also have a wide range of pre-made templates for things like email copy and press releases. Just tweak the templates according to your goals and you’re good to go. You can learn more about them here.

• The gig economy has changed how we look at making a living. 

Making money sitting at a computer all day was essentially unheard of 30 years ago. If you wanted to make money, you had to take up a traditional 9-5 job. But that’s not the case anymore.

The pandemic lockdowns have shown us a new way to think about making money. And that’s via freelancing, where you sell your services remotely via the internet. There are plenty of credible freelancing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr that allow you to do this without exposing yourself to scammers.

The best thing about the gig economy is that you can sell any skill that you can think of. Examples include writing, designing, voice overs, video and photo editing, virtual assistance, data collection, and SEO and digital marketing.

The boom in the gig economy has also shifted employers’ focus from in-house employees to freelancers. That’s because in-house employees are high-maintenance — you need to provide them with space, computers, internet, bonuses, health insurance, vacations, and whatnot. With freelancers, you spend only on the actual deliverable.

As an example, a beginner in-house content strategist will cost you around $83k per year on average. Compare this to $5k a month a skilled freelance strategist will charge you and it’s easy to see how cost-effective the freelancing world is.

• The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing everyday life. 

If there is one technology that is changing many aspects of our day-to-day lives at the same time, it’s IoT. From smart cars to smart cities, smart furniture, and smart appliances, IoT has drastically automated your everyday life.

You can think of IoT as a huge data dumping platform. Data from various physical devices is gathered using sensors (e.g. the camera on your phone). This data is dumped onto the IoT, which processes and extracts valuable information from it. This information is then sent as output, allowing you to turn on the fan using your mobile phone.

IoT also has many industrial applications, where it’s used to maintain product quality, prevent stock run-outs, and alert users about impending issues with their devices to ensure timely repairs.  

• Telemedicine is changing the way we receive health services.

Telemedicine is where patients consult with their doctors over a video call. Although the technology isn’t new, there has been an increased focus on it ever since COVID-19 shut the world down. Since hospital visits meant an increased risk of catching the virus, many telehealth services popped up to help people get access to healthcare safely.

These services not only allow you to consult your doctor over a video call but also get additional services like e-prescriptions, lab test bookings, and online medication orders. 

In some cases, you can visit a primary care physician who can then connect you to a specialist over a video call. This can help the specialist take a better look at you through the medical equipment of the primary care doctor, increasing the consult’s effectiveness.

Telemedicine is also being used to reduce medical errors. The idea is to supervise on-ground doctors through a sophisticated monitoring system that allows a “tele-doctor” to view interventions as well as patient vitals remotely. 

In case something is going in the wrong direction, the tele-doctor can call the on-ground doctor and alert them. This is especially useful in resource-poor settings, where many patients are being looked after by a single doctor.