‘We are watching as AI renders people irrelevant’ Premium

Usha Ramanathan says that she is a tech skeptic. “As a skeptic, I will question everything that comes,” says the human rights activist, who works on the jurisprudence of law, poverty, and rights. “It doesn’t mean that I will reject it, but I will not accept it until I question,” says Ms. Ramanathan, who has extensively engaged with issues around technology and the human conditions of freedom and liberty over the years. 

Usha Ramanathan says that she is a tech skeptic. “As a skeptic, I will question everything that comes,” says the human rights activist, who works on the jurisprudence of law, poverty, and rights. “It doesn’t mean that I will reject it, but I will not accept it until I question,” says Ms. Ramanathan, who has extensively engaged with issues around technology and the human conditions of freedom and liberty over the years. 

People have become the subject of technology, today, she adds. “It has become the new faith, and you need to worship it without question,” she says. “If you don’t follow it out of adoration, then you follow it out of fear,” believes Ms. Ramanathan, who does not own a mobile phone even today, claiming that she has never seen a need for one. “I like a certain mental space and this takes away from this,” she says.

Ms. Ramanathan, who recently delivered a talk titled A Philosophy for Technology at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bengaluru, offers insights into why the ubiquitousness of technology is problematic, the issues associated with the Indian national ID project, and why artificial intelligence is one of our most dangerous innovations to date.