Describe three ways computers have made the world safer and less safe.

Safer:

Modern medicine has been completely transformed by computer technology. Incredibly in-depth imaging technology allows doctors to see detailed scans of sick patients. The internet has allowed collaborations around the world between experts that improve our understanding of diseases. Data analytics tools help epidemiologists deal with outbreaks of viruses. These are just a few of the many common applications in this industry. These lead to better health outcomes which makes the world safer.

Computers allow us to look after the environment in ways that were not possible before. Threats to our global and local environments can be foreseen and monitored. Data can be collected and analyzed. This is all done using computer technology.

Another way the world is made safer by computers is that a wide range of safety information is now easily available. This could be anything from a warning on your cell phone about a tornado in the area to an internet search about the toxicity of a cleaning product in your home. Access to information that helps us navigate a potentially harmful situation is now just a few clicks away at all times.

Less Safe:

Computer networks create large vulnerabilities. The power grid for example is now reliant on networks of computer technology that can be exploited in ways the older strictly physical systems could not.

Cybercrime is another way that computers have made the world less safe. Having our lives play out on the digital stage is enormously efficient and advantageous in many ways. However, this also means that we can be reached by remote threats. Someone stealing your money 60 years ago needed to actually gain access to your physical wallet. Now there are a myriad of ways that a criminal can do this from the other side of the world.

The proliferation of destructive technology makes the world less safe and has been facilitated by use of computers. Computers have revolutionized many fields of technology. While these breakthroughs are often helpful, many of them present new risks to society. An example of this is synthetic biology. We now have the ability to engineer pathogens. This creates the risk of bioterrorism. Another example is Artificial Intelligence. Many experts worry that if AI isn’t properly constrained, it could create unintended consequences that lead to existential risks.