Who would ever think that large numbers of people will resort to technology to accomplish the basic things they used to do themselves: Saying hi to a next door neighbor, sending homework to a school teacher and receiving lessons from the same; placing shopping orders virtually and having them delivered to our doorsteps with no contact whatsoever! The novel corona virus has changed the way humans live and many people who before now had a phobia for technology may have to adjust to its usage if they want to live a healthy life. It’s like taking a leap into the future when artificial intelligence, automation and robotics are supposed to take over basic human tasks.
The lessons the world has gained from lock down are numerous: Only have face to face contact with people when it’s absolutely necessary. Basic cleanliness goes a long way in keeping us healthy.Video conferencing can suffice for meetings; mobile telecommunications are sufficient for leaving messages, paying bills and tracking our packages when they are not delivered at the required time. From my well equipped office or living room I can send money to a distant relative, pay for a new suit of clothes, send in a proposal plan for the next job at hand and review the input of various employees at work via live editing with all of them online and hooked to Microsoft cloud. We are pushing technology to its limits with software and hardware we have invented already and some that we are still going to invent as the demand opens for them.
Spending a month or more at home around many parts of the world has taught those who are willing to learn that a lot can be achieved from staying at home, if only we are disposed towards learning. The tools at our disposal are numerous: The internet, Artificial intelligence, automation, telephones and walkie talkies. We may not have advanced to the level of Tony Stark’s Jarvis in the hit movie “Iron Man”, but it’s suffice to say we are getting by. Some of us were able to stock our houses with food and medicines and focus on productivity, even from home.
Google Classroom is a software used widely in Canada to ensure that classes continue even though children, who are among the most vulnerable groups to COVID 19, are at home. Google Classroom enables a tutor manage a class from a computer with each student being represented by an icon. The software enables the tutor communicate with the class via text and audio collectively and if he needs to address an individual student, he can do it individually too. For the process to work, each student must have access to a computer or a android phone at home.
In Nigeria the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) started a series of TV School lectures via Dove Media, through which students are expected, with the help of their parents, to tune in and follow their classes. Many other faith based organizations have taken it upon themselves to organize distant educational programmes for their members.
A series of online meetings via audio visual systems took place during the lock down. In Nigeria the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN) held an Annual General Meeting and voted in a new executive via Zoom, an application that can be operated on android systems on phones, tablets and computers. Zoom enables people to attend conferences, workshops and lectures from their homes or offices with out necessarily gathering to one venue. Several churches have been holding meetings via Zoom during the lock down.
The overwhelming question that comes from all of this is how much can we rely on technology to get things done either remotely or in our immediate environment? New Yorker Columnist Malcom Gladwell writes in his bestseller, David and Goliath about “The Advantages of the Disadvantage”. In the face of giant, the small person has an edge. COVID 19 has killed a large number of people the world over. But it has also made mankind think of possibilities. The rule of thumb seems to be: Whatever can be done remotely, why bother to have human contact to achieve it? Just before the lock down was eased a mega bank in Nigeria gave a hint of laying off a large percentage of its causal staff. Debates enthused on social media over the possibility of running a large banking operation with reliance on technology rather than human beings. Many critics were in for a shock: It is possible!
From a human resource perspective, there are advantages in automation, artificial intelligence and robotics that the human being can not necessarily match. Employees do not like to hear this, but it is true. Years ago when Apple started assembling the first batch of I-phones, human beings were on the assembly lines; these days robots can do the job with 99 percent accuracy and minimal malfunction along the way. Amazon, the world’s largest online mall, also had a large number of people in its packaging line in the earlier years. But today, robots are involved in packaging some of the goods that are ordered online. The automation system hardly ever breaks down. It does not go on leave, fall sick or demand extra pay. Many industrialists that are involved in assembly plants and mapped down procedures for the production of goods are considering what it would take to automate their operations. So the guide to industrialization and mass production of goods in the future is found in these systems. Artificial intelligence enables computerized systems to actually think the way human beings would. As long as the process is logical, a computerized system can do it. If the world needs to maintain a reduction in human to human contact, it can be achieved through robotics, artiificial intelligence and automation. Many of these systems would soon find their way into our homes and would eventually help us to run errands that could reduce our exposure to epidemics and pandemics.
On the human side of things, people have learnt the true meaning of life. Reaching out to a neighbor in distress can have a satisfying effect on the human spirit. All kinds of experiences have been related: Rushing a lady in labor to hospital to give birth to a child, taking a young man to a clinic to prepare for an urgent surgery; sharing the little food you have with neighbors who have run out of supplies and are unable to shop either because they lack the cash or they are unable to go out because of restrictions. The spate of helplessly watching people die leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It imprints the mind with indelible impressions for eons. But there is a deep set feeling of satisfaction in doing something unrepayable for a neighbor or even someone you do not know at all. To a very large extent, the lock down may have brought out the evil in some people who have hoarded supplies and palliatives not meant for them, but it has also brought out the humanity in many others who still believe in the age long creed: “Love your neighbor as yourself!”
