Impacts of New and Emerging Technologies

Technology changes everything it touches

New and emerging technologies, from robots and automation to new materials and 3D printing, change how products are designed, made and used. Those changes bring real benefits, but also real costs, and a designer has to weigh both. ⚠️ Good answers judge the impact, they do not just list the technology. The specification groups the impacts into four areas, and this module works through each: - Industry and enterprise: how goods are made, and new models such as the circular economy. - People: how technology changes lifestyle, culture and society. - The environment: the resources used, and the waste and pollution created. - Sustainability: whether the way we make things can carry on into the future. Keep asking two questions of any new technology: who benefits, and who or what pays the price?

Words for new technology

Five terms you need before you use them. Learn what each one means.

Match the impact area to an example

Linear against circular

The biggest idea in this topic is a change in how we treat materials. The two models could hardly be more different.

Weigh the impact

A factory replaces much of its assembly line with robots. What is a fair statement of the impact on industry and people?

• Output and consistency can rise, but some manual jobs are lost, so workers may need retraining
• There are only benefits and no drawbacks at all
• There are only drawbacks and no benefits at all
• Automation makes no difference to how a factory works

Spot the true technology-impact facts

Tap the TWO statements that are true.

• A circular economy keeps materials in use instead of throwing them away
• Automation can raise output but change or reduce the jobs people do
• A linear economy is designed to produce no waste at all
• New technology has no effect on how people live

A tool for cutting waste

When you judge the environmental impact of a product, a simple set of prompts, often called the six Rs, helps you find ways to cut waste. - Refuse: do we need this product or feature at all. - Rethink: could it be designed in a completely different, better way. - Reduce: use less material and energy. - Reuse: use it again, or for a new purpose. - Repair: fix it rather than replace it. - Recycle: turn its materials into something new. ⚠️ Notice that recycling is the LAST resort, not the first: refusing and reducing prevent waste before it is ever made, which is why the circular economy leans on them so heavily.

Effects of new technology

Select the TWO statements that are true of new and emerging technologies.

• They can make products more accessible and change how people communicate
• Making new products can use up resources and create pollution
• New technology never has any environmental cost
• Automation has no effect on the jobs available

Order the circular flow

Put the stages of how a material flows in a circular economy into a sensible order.

• A product is made from materials, designed to last and be repaired
• People use the product for as long as possible
• When it wears, it is repaired or remanufactured
• Only when nothing else works are its materials recycled into new products

Two lives of a phone

Here is the same product treated in two very different ways, so the impact is clear. The throwaway route: a phone is made, used for a couple of years, then dropped in a drawer or a bin when a new model appears. The metals and plastics in it are lost, and fresh raw materials must be dug up to make the next one. The keep-in-use route: the same phone is designed so the battery and screen can be swapped, so it lasts longer; when it is finally beyond repair, it is taken apart and its valuable metals are recovered to make new products. The second route keeps materials working for far longer and digs up far less, which is exactly the idea this topic is built on. When you judge any new technology, trace the materials the same way.

Complete the technology facts

An economy that keeps materials in use by reusing, repairing and recycling them, rather than throwing them away, is a _____ economy. Using machines to do work people once did by hand is _____. Designing a product to wear out or date quickly so it is replaced sooner is planned _____. A resource that nature can replace, such as timber, is a _____ resource.

Build the rule

Choose the words that complete this statement about reducing environmental impact.

The impacts run

Five questions on the impacts of new technology. Three lives.

Judge the technology

Read each case and choose the best answer, then think about why.

• A company redesigns a kettle so that its heating element and handle can be replaced when they fail, instead of the whole kettle being binned. Which idea is this an example of?
• A designer is asked to reduce the environmental impact of a product and reaches straight for recycling. What is a better first move?
• A student writes that a new smartphone has only positive impacts on society. How would you improve this?

Explain the impacts of new technology

A student in the year below thinks new technology is simply good for everyone. Explain the impacts of new and emerging technologies using what this module has covered, weighing both sides.

• Name the four areas that new technology has an impact on
• Explain what a circular economy is, using the term precisely
• Give one benefit and one drawback of automation in industry
• Explain how the six Rs help reduce the impact on the environment
• Finish by weighing the benefits and costs of one new technology and reaching a judgement