You And Your Human Problems

Dear Friend,

Fences are made with sticks, sandy soil for gardens is turned over by men with large hoes, and cement is mostly mixed with shovels here in Tamale, Ghana.

Technology can make life easier for those who can afford it, but tech does not solve relationship problems. My farming friends would like a tractor so they can farm more land, but they still hang out with their friends every evening. A young mason mixed and poured a floor for the atrium of our house, but a cement mixer doesn’t help him keep his friends.

My Western friends are still figuring out that communication technology tethers us, but we have to use it to be connected.

You have to call a friend to talk with them. Your computer doesn’t write an email by itself. Zoom requires two people to show up at the same time in a room for a chat.

Tech can make us feel connected when really are not connected. Billy Baker, Boston Globe journalist and author of “We Need to Hang Out,” deleted FaceBook from his phone. He noticed that instead of feeling like he knew what was going on in his friends’ lives via pictures and posts, he had to talk to his friends.

Your human friendships, connections, and problems are not going to be solved by any type of technology. Artificial Intelligence is going to open new tools for communication. Our job as intentional friends is to use it for real connection—not to live under the illusion of loose tethering is “good enough” for you or your friends.

Decide how to use control technology for building relationships.