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52 Reasons to Fear that Technological Progress Is Reversing

Now is a time for brutal realism and here's what it tells us

Ted Gioia

Jul 29

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How did I turn into a scaremonger? That’s not my natural role.

Even on Halloween, I smile and avoid scaring the grimy ragamuffins at the door. I let them take extra candy and compliment them on their costumes. Cool jazz is playing in the background.

Meanwhile my neighbor down the street fills his front yard with stuffed ghouls and zombies. He plays creepy music at loud volumes—interspersed with the sounds of screaming and howling.

When he opens the door he’s dressed like the Grim Reaper. The poor tots run away even before taking a single Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Ah, I’m not like that.

Well, not until recently. I’m now scaring other people with my scenarios—but only because I’m more than a little frightened myself.

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That’s because we live in a tech-driven society. And tech is getting oppressive—almost to a malicious degree. It’s turning into a command-and-control empire for the benefit of the technologists, not us.

Somehow Silicon Valley went rancid—and it happened in just the last few years.

Not long ago, I was an ardent defender of tech. I admired many tech leaders—especially Steve Jobs, who had the temperament of an artist. I used the latest innovations myself, and benefited from them.

Then something changed.

In the near future, I will diagnose exactly what happened and why—and I also hope to share a plan for countering the decay. But today, we will just look at the symptoms.

52 of them, to be precise. And they are alarming.

The rot is everywhere. I see it on almost every web platform and in every branch of technology. Options disappear. Constraints increase. Good things get worse. Stuff that works stops working.

Do you think I’m exaggerating?

Consider the warning signs below, and judge for yourself.

I’ve tried to provide sources for these items. And maybe a few can be debated or disputed, but the overall picture of toxic tech is irrefutable.

I’d love to be proven wrong. I have no vested interested in this argument. In fact, my personal happiness would be enhanced if my concerns turned out to be totally unwarranted.

I prefer handing out candy, with cool jazz in the background.

But, alas, we have instead reached a tipping point—well, we’re actually far beyond the tipping point. We are currently on a downward slope and accelerating into the fog and mist.

In short, now is the time to be a realist, not a dreamer plugged into a VR headset. Below is what reality is telling us. And you ignore reality at your own risk.

52 Warning Signs of Technological Reversal

Entire businesses are unplugging from the web—because software upgrades are getting too risky to implement. Incompatibility issues are frequent and can put the entire business at risk.
It’s happening at home too—as a growing number of people refuse to upgrade their operating systems. And for good reasons.
Software disenchantment is widespread in other areas—in the face of growing evidence that programs are getting bloated and more inefficient over time.
Scientific journals are now filled with thousands of fake AI-generated papers— many of them are just “gobbledygook sandwiches.” These journals are essential in advancing science, but are increasingly worthless.
Even legit studies can’t be replicated—perhaps as many as 70%. This threatens to undermine the entire legitimacy of the research establishment.
Science and tech publications are increasingly filled with exaggerated hype and overheated rhetoric.
For the first time in US history, people have decided that they want less education—because costs of learning now outweigh perceived benefits.
Your body is now the epicenter of industrial pollution—and nobody knows how to clean it up.
Product recommendations were once useful—but Google has destroyed them. This won’t change because the search engine actually makes more money by forcing you to wade through garbage reviews.
Google search is declining rapidly on all fronts.
Almost half of people surveyed fear that they are addicted to their smartphone. The typical user now checks the phone 352 times per day.
Web platforms are rapidly embracing fast-paced scrolling and swiping interfaces, almost certainly because it promotes addictive use and thus increases revenues.
In some classrooms, almost every student is using AI to cheat.
Despite urgent mandates to reduce energy consumption, emerging technologies are increasing the demand for energy at unprecedented rates. Is this sustainable?
Many of the leading tech billionaires are building huge bunkers that will allow them to survive Armageddon. It’s unsettling to see the people creating our future operating with such fear.
For the first time in history, technologists are estimating p(doom)—namely the probability that Silicon Valley computer technology will destroy the world.
Foods are now ultra-processed and packed with unhealthy fillers. Even a simple meal is like an experiment from Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory
People surveyed express more fear than enthusiasm about AI by a 5-to-1 margin. And the gap gets larger each year. Has any dominant technology in history ever generated such rapidly growing anxiety as people learn more about it? ...