Cultural Challenges in Today’s IT World

This generation is lucky to have witnessed the boom of the technical revolution. Going from the evolution of transistors that reduced the size of our digital devices and enabled better portability. However, I am observing more panic in the technical society (based on conferences that I attended this year and last year, online groups discussions, and events) that it is impossible to keep up with the new developments in this field.

The development of Artificial Intelligence for example, has marked the beginning of a new era. It is noted that IT professionals are challenged on personal levels, albeit being proud of witnessing and contributing to these tools which will improve our lives in healthcare, agriculture, supplies, and reduce the impact of uncontrollable natural disasters.

I noticed that the curve of these challenges is in incline so I discussed this openly in multiple occasions since the early months of 2023. While individuals have  different circumstances, theses concerns can be largely grouped into these key points of discussion:

• Information Overload
• Disconnecting from others
• Lack of understanding of the workplace regulations and ethical codes of conduct
• disconnection from one’s true self or identity

Information Overload

According to Statistica this is how much data is being generated every year. This is unprecedented and challenges the human brain on many levels. 

1 zettabyte = 1,073,741,824 gigabytes

Therefore, the need to ingest this amount of data expedited the development of AI tools. According to Our Worlds Data, AI can compete with human intelligence in many areas, or can do better. See the image below for details. The steep improvement on AI tools since 2000 has challenged not only professionals but also those who develop in the AI field too.

This advancement in AI capabilities has raised questions and concerns  about the threats this poses to our core identity. Therefore, coping with the uncertainty that this change presents is alarming, leading to hazardous speculations when we attempt to imagine what our future will look like.

Disconnecting from others

Our identity is a complex entity. It is shaped of our euphoric and traumatic experiences, religion, knowledge, body attributes and personality which makes it very unique. Therefore, acknowledging who we are and maintain that within appropriate code of conduct is key for building healthy relationships and maintaining a positive culture. Learning ways to adapt is not always straightforward and has not always been observed to have been supported by organisations, for different reasons. However, acknowledging the need for tools and mechanisms to help for adaptation has improved in the last few years. This brings us nicely to the following point of the need to corporate (pun intended) this into professional settings.

Lack of understanding of the workplace regulations and ethical codes of conduct