Thoughts on Techno-Anthropology

I wish someone would’ve predicted the emergence of an multidisciplinary study called Techno-Anthropology when I was an undergrad, Anthropology major at Syracuse University in the early 90’s. I left school certain that I would never use my ethnographic and cultural observation skills in my career as a technologist. Fast forward almost 30 years later and there’s a palpable need for social science expertise to justify, understand and perhaps sometimes counter the wide spread advance of technology in our society. Techno-anthropologists examine the cultural, social, and ethical implications of technology, as well as how technology is integrated into various aspects of human life. As big tech corporations engage in an arms race to produce the smartest generative AI services, critical questions about how this technology both benefits and harms society cannot be answered fast enough. The people developing the technologies are probably not the most qualified to give the answers. I believe this is where the Techno-Anthropologist (TANs for short) can be useful. In full disclosure I’m one of the people asking these important questions at a big tech corporation (AWS) and managing programs to identify and potentially mitigate bias and harms. My studies in Anthropology and decades as a technologist certainly help, but I often find myself wondering if at some point I could transition to a role as a full-time, independent researcher. <a href="https://medium.com/@kazarazat/thoughts-on-techno-anthropology-7e135827f3e1">Click Here</a>