COVID-19 Pandemic Brought Humanity Closer to the Next Stage of Technological Revolution
The outbreak of the pandemic posed some serious challenges to the world that required the concentration of many people’s efforts and the use of the latest technologies. This has led to powerful technological breakthroughs, particularly in medicine. HSE University researchers Leonid Grinin, Anton Grinin, and Andrey Korotayev published a paper in which they assessed the impact of COVID-19 on social development. The authors concluded that the pandemic will considerably accelerate humanity’s transition to a new stage of development, but can also cause significant social strain.
The researchers believe that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the start of the final phase of theCybernetic Revolution. This is due to the growing need for development in such areas as medical, additive, nano-, bio-, robotics,info-, and cognitive technologies—fields the authors call ‘MANBRIC’. However, technological revolution always leads to drastic socio-political changes. The paper COVID-19 Pandemic as a Trigger for the Acceleration of the Cybernetic Revolution, Transition from E-Government to E-State, and Change in Social Relations discusses two key changes in this process: the distribution and development of socio-technical self-regulating systems, and the movement towards an e-state.
The socio-political and economic role of medicine grew rapidly during the fight against COVID-19 (although it had been growing before the pandemic as well due to the ageing global population).
It considerably changed states’ attitude to medical services and their funding, including a serious redistribution of public and state funds in favour of medicine, which led to additional active technological growth in this sphere.
The development of vaccines motivated innovative breakthroughs in biotech and genetic engineering. Isolation and social distancing requirements boosted the implementation of online technologies in such areas as remote medical aid, psychological counselling, and biometrics (including contactless biometrics).
The fight with COVID-19 caused a deficit of medical personnel. Medical robots, such as those used in robotic surgery, can be helpful in such a situation. Robotics and remote medical technologies can also help ensure the safety of medical personnel.
The pandemic has spurred development in fields such as additive technologies and nanotechnologies.
The researchers say that the development of information technologies and artificial intelligence have impacted social relations in recent decades. This impact can be observed in many areas, such as employment structure, the disappearance of some professions, and the emergence of others. The opportunities for remote studies, jobs and services (including healthcare) are also expanding rapidly.
In addition, a lot has changed in terms of information creation, distribution, transformation, and analysis, as well as the control of information flows. This new online power structure has serious consequences for democracy. The researchers believe that today’s AI capabilities already pose a systemic danger to society and human rights. There is a growing problem concerning the use of AI to invade people’s private lives. The authors stress that information confidentiality is a value that shapes both society and individual identities.
Andrey Korotayev, Leading Research Fellow at the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences
‘The acceleration of the technological wave and dynamic social transformation may be rather painful and cause strong social and political tension, protests and conflicts, and decreased trust in governments. It is necessary to develop new laws that optimize socio-technological interference in people’s lives, particularly intrusion into their private lives. We have to go through a difficult trial-and-error process in order to come closer to balancing technological processes and social life.’
The urgent need to reinforce safety measures during the pandemic aggravated the problem, but also demonstrated that further development in this area would lead to qualitative changes. New AI-based combined technological systems can collect, store and analyse information on billions of people. The purpose of such systems is the administrative, legal, social and even political regulation of the behaviour of individuals, social groups and society at large.
There is a trend towards delegating more and more work to sociotechnical systems to perform tasks that were previously the responsibility of the authorities, including facial recognition, traffic control, the issuing of fines, online registration, paperwork and more.
The researchers believe that a new type of administration—an administration of the future—is evolving: the e-state.
This will lead to a new ‘communicative circuit’ in the management of society, changing the framework of relations between society’s core and its periphery.
Leonid Efimovich Grinin
Chief Research Fellow, Laboratory for Monitoring the Risks of Socio-Political Destabilization
Andrey Korotayev
Leading Research Fellow, Laboratory for Monitoring the Risks of Socio-Political Destabilization
See also:
‘As We Fight Climate Change and Poverty, the Focus on Personal, rather than Social Goals, may Prove Harmful over Time’
The 11th International LCSR Workshop of the HSE Ronald F. Inglehart Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, ‘Recent Advances in Comparative Study of Values’, took place as part of the XXIII Yasin (April) International Academic Conference. HSE News Service talked about the study of values and current changes in academic life with Ronald Fischer, who presented an honorary paper ‘Why We Should Aim for Systematic Non-Invariance in Cross-Cultural Research’ at the workshop.
Stress Disorders More Prevalent among Doctors due to the Pandemic
Psychologists from HSE University have joined their peers from Ekaterinburg to look into the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of Russian doctors. They found that medical staff are suffering from stress, anxiety, and depression more often than before. The results of the study were published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Experts on the Consequences of COVID-19: The Pandemic Gives Impetus to Science and Technology
TheHuman Capital Multidisciplinary Research Centre and HSE University, in cooperation with the World Bank, held the conference ‘New Challenges of Demographic, Epidemiological and Medical-Technological Development: Search for New Models of Healthcare Development.’ The participants discussed whether the healthcare system was prepared to face the pandemic, how the latter affected lifespans and excess mortality rates, whether we can trust statistics, and what we should do to see ‘the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.’
School in the Pandemic: How Online Learning Has Worsened Inequality
At the start of the pandemic, countries over the world struggled to provide a high-quality combination of online and in-person education. What’s more, low-income families have had fewer opportunities to arrange education for their children. These issues were the topic of the open seminar on ‘International Experience: Lessons for Schools After the Stress of the Pandemic’ hosted by the HSE University Institute of Education.
Model of Predator-Prey Relationship Helps Predict Spread of COVID-19
Researchers from the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences have proposed a mathematical model that describes the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into account the restrictions applied in different countries. The model will help governments make reasonable and timely decisions on introducing or lifting restrictions. The paper was published in Eurasian Economic Review.
Researchers Discuss How the Pandemic Is Changing Civic Activism
In October, HSE University held the 10th Conference of Civil Society Researchers, organized by the Centre for Studies of Civil Society and Nonprofit Sector. The main topic of this anniversary forum was ‘The impact of the crisis on the development of the nonprofit sector and citizen self-organization in Russia: New realities and prospects’. The conference was co-organized by the Association "European University for Volunteering" (EUV) and the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV), a long-time partner of the centre.
‘Today, Ethical Questions Are Front and Centre’
The conference on Philosophy and Culture in Time of Pandemics ran from September 30 to 2 October 2021. It was divided into seven sessions held in a hybrid format. The organizers and participants discussed major topics such as social transformation during the pandemic, the role of mass media in shaping perceptions of the pandemic, and the epistemological and ethical issues that have arisen as a result.
Experts Discuss Changing Corporate Social Responsibility in Light of the Pandemic
The pandemic has forced many companies to rethink their approach to charity and to change their priorities in terms of corporate social responsibility. Meeting the needs of the elderly, women, and people with disabilities is a top priority, and the social agenda is becoming a key part of HSE University’s educational programmes. These topics were discussed at the business dialogue on Corporate Social Responsibility Beyond COVID-19 hosted by the HSE Graduate School of Business.