Whisper it quietly, but often it’s much simpler to push an old-fashioned light switch than to shout three or four times at a hard-of-hearing voice-activated smart assistant. And, let’s face it, do workplace managers really want to install motion scanners under the desks of their employees to see who takes the longest toilet breaks?
Sure, it’s obviously important for businesses to stay on top of tech advances, but there’s a thin line between innovating with purpose and innovating just for the sake of it.
Ryan Abbott, professor of law and health sciences at the University of Surrey, specialises in the impact of AI, machine learning and technological advances, but even he believes that common sense sometimes makes more sense than deep learning: “It’s not clear there’s value to technology for technology’s sake and people may adopt it for the wrong reasons – maybe because there’s hype associated with it, rather than considering whether it’s really efficient to use things like artificial intelligence for different tasks.”
His mother, for instance, wasn’t convinced of the value of one smart feature on her new car. “My mother recently purchased a car, which at the press of a button can turn into Santa [mode]. She hasn’t figured out how to disable it, so she’s driving around in a Christmas mobile that plays Christmas tunes,” he says. “It’s of questionable value, particularly in the summer.”
He’s also less than convinced about all of his smart watch features: “I’m not sure I need my watch to tell me to breathe every five seconds either. I’m not sure it does much more than raise my blood pressure.”
Bear in mind that there’s a litany of wonder-technology fads that led nowhere. Do you see many people wearing their computer screen in their glasses? Or using their telephones to monitor whether their toothbrush is scrubbing those hard-to-reach parts?
A few years ago, the travel industry got very excited when Icelandair became the first ever airline to allow people to book flights through Facebook Messenger via a booking bot. It has quietly been retired.
It’s also tempting to get caught up in the hype around the “smart city”, with its lamp-posts that listen for sounds of trouble. Even Laurence Kemball-Cook, founder and chief executive of Pavegen – which installs paving slabs that turn kinetic energy from people’s footsteps into electricity – thinks that a lot of city development is frivolous, not functional. “Everybody is talking about smart cities, but they are talking about smart for smart’s sake – Bluetooth umbrellas that tell you when it’s raining, multiple connected devices, smart watch, smartphone, smart shoes,” he says. “I’m fed up with that. Our mantra is technology that works for people.”
In a world in which shiny innovations have become seductive siren calls, how can businesses resist the allure of pointless tech fads?
Purpose
Kemball-Cook believes it’s important to look at whether all new developments have a true problem-solving purpose. “I think really important tech has a clear mission from the start,” he says. “You can create stuff that’s rubbish and still sell it these days – like Juicero [a failed juicer venture with pre-packed ingredients]. But when you get something people love that the market likes, there’s exponential growth – it works.”
Teamwork
Abbott recommends involving the whole business in creating a new product from the start. “Make sure products are being developed by multidisciplinary teams – not just tech people who may be interested in doing something for the sake of technology but without an ultimate view of what would benefit the consumer,” he says.
Explore low-tech alternatives
Another good tip is to consider whether a low-tech solution might exist to your problem before investing in the latest one. You could equip your reception with all kinds of gadgets, scanners, buzzers and heart-rate checks – or perhaps you could make a beautiful garden so everyone walks into work feeling a little more relaxed.
Due diligence
Other experts suggest looking at the people behind the company of the tech you are considering: do they live their own principles or are they living the high life? “Do the founders have a purpose other than making money?” Kemball-Cook always asks. “Look at their values: I try to live as sustainably as possible. If your primary goal is making impact, all the good things will follow.”
The sustainability test
Keep an eye on the environmental impact of what you are doing. Prof Nikki Dibben, a University of Sheffield academic who worked on Bjork’s high-tech project Biophilia, an album that works with all kinds of tech and applications to teach elements of music and science to children, adds: “The value of technology has to be seen within a sustainability agenda. If we’re simply doing things for the sake of doing things, we are going to end up ultimately wasting resources.”
