After an overdose of techno-optimism, we need a pinch of scepticism

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Thalidomide, an active ingredient in a German-developed drug, was initially hailed as a cure for anxiety and nausea in pregnant women and marketed globally with little regard for the long-term consequences. It wasn’t until thousands of babies died prematurely or were born with severe defects that the full dangers became clear.

where innovation is often mistaken for progress.

In Singapore, nearly half of the youth aged 15 to 21 exhibit “problematic smartphone use,” according to research by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) published in August 2024.

Excessive device use stunts language skills and chops attention spans. For older children, the trade-offs are equally grim – screen time eats into sleep, physical activity and social interaction.

Online banking, digital wallets and instant payment systems have made transactions seamless, but they have also made financial crime easier, faster and harder to track.

Deepfake technology and artificial intelligence- or AI-generated scams now convincingly mimic voices, faces and even entire conversations, turning our own digital footprints against us.

When bike-sharing was introduced in Singapore, it quickly morphed from a solution to our last-mile problem into a hazard for pedestrians, as public spaces became cluttered with abandoned bicycles.

For qns on pros and cons of tech....