The tech savior complex

It's a bird… It's a plane… No! Is the bias in the inputs of machine learning done by tech bros generating outputs that reinforce the current discourse and problems of society, but hey, the code works well and the UI/UX looks awesome and intuitive.

Let me tell you a secret, you can’t Java the shit out of everything.

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you a story. Yesterday, I saw something really interesting on Twitter, one of the most acclaimed and important Tech founders of my country (Freddy Vega, CEO, and Co-Founder of Platzi) got into a heated discussion with a bunch of people regarding humans being considered a plague, and even though I agree with him, his discussions with other users made me connect with a concept that I recently heard off. The tech savior complex. (A Civic technologist’s practice guide-Cid Harrell)

To say “humans are a scourge” makes it harder to conserve the environment and is foolish.

Of 9 million species, we are the ONLY with language, science and culture. We are VERY special.

Stopping global warming and saving species is BY and FOR humans.

Freddy is one of the most brilliant people that I’ve had the opportunity to hear and I truly admire him and support his work. I’m sure that Platzi, will be one of the most important companies of Latin America not just in market cap but also in impact. And I’m not affirming that Freddy falls into the category of Tech Savior, he is a wise and knowledgeable person, that has helped millions of people in Latam, but his “Elon Musk style” discussions on Twitter made me think about some things.

There is not a single doubt that tech people will be one of the cornerstones of solving the problems of the present to have a better future.

I had the great luck of having a really diverse group of friends and colleagues in terms of their careers and professions. Normally, we tend to socialize with people that have a more common path, but thanks to different opportunities I shared a lot with engineers during the last years.

One of the main topics that I learned with them was the great replacement, one of the key fears that we have about the works of the future. This means that there will be a point when technology will replace millions of jobs, and we will just have a handful of engineers running and sustaining the programs plus a handful of people that are at the very top of their own professions.

And, I have two thoughts about this, first one is not the first time that this happens (Jobs disappearing because of technology) and it would not be as fast and dramatic as it is portrayed, and secondly, is inevitable that knowing something about these topics (Coding, Data, etc) is already as essential as speaking English of knowing excel to get a good job.

We, as a society, must acknowledge the importance and value of the amazing minds that are working in the biggest technological transformation in the history of humanity, but in the same way, we must accept that we are way more complex as a society and that there are millions of problems that you can’t java the shit out of them.

One example of this is the constant push and critique of the tech community towards formal education and universities (Skills over Degrees…). And yes, I get it, our education system is broken, but also is extremely commodified and we are reducing education to a space where you go to be formed as a better employee, and definitely is not. Universities are a great and unique space where amazing ideas and people conflux, where we should have the freedom to study what we are passionate about for the sake of it and develop the ideas, concepts, and notions that build and strengthen a better society.

I think that a good balance should be to include technology classes since we are in school and keeping them in University even in the careers that are “not-related” and also re-evaluating the role of universities in our societies to make sure that they are a space where we develop people that are more than a skilled worker with a diploma, but definitely, the solution is not as simple as everyone knowing a programming language.

Empathy, Humbleness, and respect for difference and diversity

One key suggestion of the book, (A Civic technologist’s practice guide) is to recognize your privilege and use it in the interest of others, not just as a way of showing up.

If you are a Tech person you must acknowledge that there is a huge chance that you are privileged. Most of the people that work in tech in the global hubs, companies, or start-ups fall under a pretty white, male, cis, upper class, urban group.

But that’s not all, when you are tech-savvy you have the privilege of knowledge, of understanding concepts that people can’t, of seeing the world from perspectives that a farmer, a kindergarten professor, or a community leader don’t necessarily have.

I’m not diminishing the efforts of the thousands of people that in difficult circumstances have created a living out of learning these topics, actually, there is a lot of stories of people that after learning the necessary skills of the tech world have changed and improved their lives. But, even though these stories are really amazing and admirable, they are the minority and when you acquire those skills is important to remember that technology is not a goal in itself, is a way of solving problems.

We respect and admire your skills and all your knowledge, but is really useful to get down often from the cloud and put your feet on the ground understanding that when you are talking with other people, most likely they don’t have the same information that you have and that their backgrounds, experiences, and opinions are as important as yours.

That is why when you go to solve a problem in a community with your highly valuable skills is essential that you first go and check if someone else is already working for it. Maybe, someone in the community that is living the day-to-day problem is making a huge effort, and you should aim to support them instead of displacing them.

Remember, Your role is not to be the loudest voice in the room, is to help solve the problem and to give voice to those who can’t, to use all that knowledge and well-earned abilities to the benefit of the community and the world.

The importance of Multidisciplinarity

Recently, I developed a huge interest in reading and getting informed about the interconnection between technology and other disciplines, especially the called Humanities, my professional background and education have been in that field and I’ve always seen myself as a facilitator and a connector more than as a technical person.

And in this search, I’ve seen that one of the most important things that we must include in the tech world is multidisciplinarity. Both in the individuals and the groups.

Individually, as much as people working in other professions must start to understand the topics related to technology, the individuals that work in this field are required now and in the future to have an interest in how to include other professions in their work.

Individually, it represents a great benefit, because there will be a point (And is coming faster than you imagine) when the most “basic” tech jobs will be also automatized, and knowing other topics will be a great card in your pocket.

Also, having range is one of the essential characteristics for the next years, tech artists, tech philosophers, tech psychologists, tech+something, will be the ones leading the biggest changes out there, also this will help you to empathize way better with other people.

In terms of company or projects having people that come from other backgrounds is also a great asset, there is a lot of examples that show why is important to include different professions in your projects but one of the most common and important out there in the fight against the reinforcement of bias in Artificial intelligence, because if the outputs generated by this systems are not neutral and you as part of an organization has the power to decide if you want to reinforce the current status quo or to change it.

One essential step for this is to include people from different backgrounds to contribute with you in your projects. Diversity is growing as a relevant topic in the startup and tech world but is necessary that we don’t consider it just a defunded department but also as an essential part of any project.

Conclusion

To all the dear people that have a tech background and are working to solve all these problems. Remember, you are a role model for tons of people, and the way that you act, speak and interact will influence a lot how others do these things.

To Freddy Vega, keep rocking it! What you’ve done with Platzi is amazing. I hope that you can consider this topic of the “Tech Savior” in your different initiatives.