Harper’s “Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in the Year 2020” looks at HCI and how technology is evolving and affecting our human, cultural, and social values. I believe this article was written in 2007, so now in 2022, it was interesting to look at the predictions the authors had for what technology would look like and see what they got right. The authors ultimately questioned whether technology would improve our quality of life and help us to feel more connected, or will it make us more tired, frustrated, and lose some values by having less human connection? The article is broken up into four sections, analyzing the major changes that we have seen since HCI began to emerge in the 1980s, the different eras of computer-driven revolutions, how these changes have transformed our interactions, and future predictions and research in the area of human-computer interaction. 

The way we interact with computers is heavily evolving, demonstrated by what things looked like in the 1960s to now. It was interesting to see all these different changes, whether it be video display units, handsets, hard disks, and the emergence of robots, which can help us with tasks around the house. There has also been a boom in user-generated content, as now we all have the power to be creative and produce our own digital content. Yet even with all these new booms in technology, there are also downsides including privacy concerns, new ways of learning and living that may be difficult to adapt to, and the pressure and expectation that since we always have access to technology, we should be able to respond right away to anything. I can definitely see this as professionally and personally there is an expectation that we answer emails and texts right away. I agree that we should be doing this, but it can be a bit stressful to constantly have to update those around us. Also, we have become so accustomed to technology that we don’t even really think about until it’s not right there at our disposal. I automatically assume I’ll always have my computer, phone, tv, etc. always at the ready to use so these days, it feels a lot weirder when I walk into a room and don’t see those things right away. The authors mentioned how trust in technology will be an incredibly important factor going forward. We need to be able to trust technology to carry out activities but also make us feel safe and secure in the process. 

The authors also asked a lot of questions of the future of technology, especially in relation to how human values and technology are interconnected and the growth of techno-dependency and hyper-connectivity. I liked that the author had a lot of questions, focused on the interaction and design of technology as well as the broader impacts. Typically, the readers are the ones who are supposed to come away with questions, but I like that the authors are also thinking and recognizing that there is still a lot to be unanswered when it comes to the future of technology and human-computer interaction. Will more complex technological advancements lessen and undermine our sense of safety and security? We don’t necessarily want to value surprise and unpredictability when it comes to certain devices. Will we trust new technological advancements enough to fully incorporate them into our daily lives? Will more technology make us become more or less creative ourselves?

To begin preparing for the future, HCI needs to understand and analyze human values at play and what the moral and ethical impacts will be when designing new technology. The authors laid out a foundation for looking forward including a five-stage process of understanding human values, studying those values, designing, building, and evaluating values and what is most important. HCI needs to move towards design and evaluation of systems that enable human values to be achieved. The reading ends with recommendations for moving forward with technology and human-computer interaction, including revisiting HCI research and methods, teaching it to the younger generation, and having more advanced training on it. I’d be interested to see these authors reflect on this piece and what they got right or missed the mark on. Since this article was written before 2020, I now can see that a lot of their predictions came to fruition. Yet, I think a lot of this information can also be applied and updated to look at what is going to happen in 2030, 2040, etc.