One of the ways that computers have made the world safer is their use is in the world of medicine. Just look at the recent breakthroughs with covid19. The time that it took for researchers around the world to communicate with each other, run billions of simulations on the gene sequence once they received it, and develop a vaccine far faster then the last vaccine created in history couldn’t have been done without the use of computers. Another way that computers have made the world safer is through the use of biometric identity management used at our nations borders and points of entry. Yes of course there are always ways to circumvent a system and those that would spend great time and money to do so, but the reality is that with these systems in place law enforcement is far greater adept at being able to identify those would do our nation harm. Another way that computers have made the world safer is their use in predicting weather patterns in an effort to protect against natural disasters. In 2015 the United Nations stated that 90% of the world natural disasters were weather related. NOAA’s Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputer System (WCOSS) operates at a speed of 5.78 petaflops. It harvests information from satellites, radar, and sensors all over the world in order to assist both meteorologists and scientist predict and protect us from the weather to come.

While computers have made the world safer, they also have had a hand in making us less safe. I know I’m misquoting someone when I say this but the sentiment remains the same, the best thing about the internet is that you’re only about 1.5 milliseconds away from the smartest minds that humanity has ever produced, the down side is you’re also 1.5 milliseconds away from every psychopath in the world. The same way in which computers have allowed us to communicate and be closer to people, so too is that one of the ways that computers have made us less safe. Being so close to everyone in the world, including those that would do you harm definitely makes you less safe. Our reliance on computers for the storage of our entire lives, creating that single point of failure, has made us less safe. Sure it is convenient to be able to bank, shop, save money, invest for the future, pay bills, and have access to everyone you know through your phone (which is just a smaller computer) or your laptop, but so too does that make you less safe. Now someone can rob you of all your money, your identity, and have access to all the people you know in a matter of minutes. The last way I’ll discuss in which computers have made us less safe, is their use in developing the weapons that exist in the world. It’s unfortunate, but as I write this I truly believe those same devices that at one time brought us such harmless things like hamsterdance.com are going to be behind the devices that end up destroying humanity and putting whats left of the civilization into another dark age, if there is anything left of humanity when all is said and done. Hypersonic missiles, emp devices, unmanned nuclear capable devices, autonomous robots capable of killing, and everything in between are possible because of computers and I can’t think of anything that has made humanity less safe than it’s ever been before.