The Social Revolution of IoT by Karupanociten

A few days ago we talked about the Internet of Things (IoT), what it consisted of, what were the objectives it was pursuing, and how it worked, if you missed that reading, here is the link so you can return to it. In this publication, we will be analyzing the social impact that the generalization of the use of this technology could represent for humanity.

_{background image taken from: https://sherpa.ai/blog}

The Matrix movie, which served as a reference in the previous article, allowed us to imagine a reality in which machines were the owners of a world created by themselves so that we would not notice the real world, the physical world in which the Being human was another raw material in the energy manufacturing process, posing a kind of paradox as to what existence means for human beings, is existence measured by what we can touch, see or feel through our physical body? Is it about what is in our consciousness, what we perceive as reality?

Impact of the application of IoT for social development

We understand, broadly speaking, society as a group of people who have similar customs and inhabit a certain territory. In the context of this article, the society that we will refer to is all humanity, who inhabit planet earth and whose customs are associated with the use of technology and the internet, as tools for the efficient management of their daily tasks.

The management of information through Big Data processes is focused on or has as a fundamental axis people as users in the last instance, that is, the determination of general patterns is what allows predicting patterns of individual behavior and is highly used in the world of finance, digital marketing, the entertainment industry, etc. With the inclusion of the IoT, these processes, in addition to focusing on the satisfaction of the individual needs of each person, would create an information and interaction network that would allow the establishment of behavior patterns with a view to social or collective progress.

The use of the IoT, together with the other pieces that make up the current technological “puzzle”: Big Data, Big Analytics, Data Science and Data Governance, could generate the man-machine synergy necessary for the development of “Smart Cities ”, which could have efficient management of their resources making them more livable and sustainable, as well as boosting the economy in general with new business opportunities and digital tasks.

Energy consumption, one of the challenges for the IoT

We have witnessed how the birth of the blockchain, specifically the PoW protocol, which supports the bitcoin network, for example, has been a factor in reactivating the discussions about the indiscriminate use of available energy, since this type of consensus protocol, by requiring a large computational force, it so well demands large amounts of energy.

Now if we consider that, in the very short term, according to the most recent Gartner estimates, the generalization of the IoT would imply the connection of more than 20,400 million objects (with an exponential growth rate), this would represent an exacerbated increase in energy consumption world. So yes the blockchain, represents for some governments and world leaders, a threat to the environment, imagine the impact that the IoT could generate in energy terms.

The solution to the current energy problem and the one that could be generated by the adoption of the IoT, could be associated with the increasingly widespread use of renewable technologies, accelerating the transition process that involves the abandonment of fossil fuels in favor of a low society in carbon, with energy self-sustaining machinery, buildings, and cities, through the use of natural resources such as the sun, wind, temperature or tides, for example.

The security and loss of the individuality of the human being

The fact that daily processes are governed by a computer network that controls the interactions between the different components of a smart city and the human beings that inhabit it also poses a great risk of computer vulnerability. Many hackers could be tempted to attack and manage the system to take advantage of the weaknesses detected, this would suppose a dynamic in which the security agencies would be more busy protecting us from cyber attacks or cyber scams, than in the crimes that occur Currently in our physical environment, the protection and safeguarding of user information would become the fundamental basis of the security system.

On the other hand, we must think that, in the computer world, the more homogeneous, sequential, and repetitive the processes are, the more efficient they become when it comes to being carried out. The problem that this entails is that, if something has characterized the human being and has become a fundamental basic need, it is their individuality, the possibility of being an individual different from the rest, with habits, customs, and appearances that allow them to differentiate themselves. to the rest. This contrasts with the adoption of generalized patterns of conduct and behavior, so necessary so that the human-machine interaction can be carried out in the most efficient way possible.

Faced with this panorama of cyber civilization, I would like to know your opinion; Do you consider the adoption of the IoT in our daily activities positive? What kind of social impact do you think could be generated by the use of this technology? Do you consider the IoT as a threat or an element of development for humanity? I hope read your answers in the comment box.

We keep reading!