Technology and Sustainable Development: The Promise and Pitfalls of Techno-Solutionism

Technological change is at the core of all major disruptions in human history, and revolutions, wars, and general development are regularly connected to some sort of technological change. However, not all development is beneficial. While technology has fuelled great innovations and rapid development, the notion of sustainable development has gained prominence as we now experience serious social, economic, and environmental challenges.

This book examines whether technology can be used to fix the very problems caused by technology, as the various chapters examine different aspects related to how technology has brought us where we are today (which some will say is the best place humanity's been at according to a range of metrics), and whether technology helps or hinders us in our efforts to solve the challenges we currently face. The issues discussed cover the three sustainability dimensions and include topics such as the materiality of AI, technology in education, AI for gender equality, innovation and the digital divide, and how technology relates to power, the political system, and capitalism. The chapters all build on the theoretical backdrop of technological change, sustainable development, and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals are actively used throughout the book, both to examine how these goals capture or overlook central elements of sustainable development, and also to facilitate and create a common framework of engagement between the chapters.

The book provides a novel combination of traditional theories that are explored through different case studies, providing the ground for a better understanding of how and when technology can - and cannot - be the enabler of sustainable development. It is thus an important resource for students of all disciplines, technologists, and those developing and applying new technologies. It is also a valuable resource for politicians and regulators attempting to harness the power of technology for good, while limiting its negative potential.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http: //www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license. Funded by stfold University College.

科技變革是人類歷史上所有重大變革的核心，革命、戰爭和一般發展通常與某種形式的技術變革相關。然而，並非所有的發展都是有益的。雖然技術推動了巨大的創新和快速發展，但可持續發展的概念已經引起了重視，因為我們現在面臨著嚴重的社會、經濟和環境挑戰。

本書探討了技術是否可以用來解決技術所引起的問題，各章節探討了與技術如何將我們帶到今天這個地方（根據一系列指標，有人會說這是人類曾經達到的最好地方）以及技術是否幫助或阻礙我們解決當前面臨的挑戰。討論的問題涵蓋了三個可持續發展維度，包括人工智能的物質性、教育中的技術、促進性別平等的人工智能、創新和數字鴻溝，以及技術與權力、政治體制和資本主義的關係。這些章節都建立在技術變革、可持續發展和聯合國可持續發展目標的理論背景之上，這些目標在整本書中都得到了積極運用，既用於檢視這些目標如何捕捉或忽視可持續發展的核心要素，也用於促進和創建章節之間的共同參與框架。

本書提供了傳統理論的新結合，通過不同的案例研究來探討，為更好地理解技術何時可以成為可持續發展的推動者提供了基礎。因此，它是各學科的學生、技術人員以及開發和應用新技術的人的重要資源。對於試圖利用技術的力量促進福祉並限制其負面潛力的政治家和監管機構來說，它也是一個有價值的資源。

本書的開放存取版本可在http://www.taylorfrancis.com上獲得，並根據創意共享[署名-非商業性使用-禁止演繹（CC-BY-NC-ND）4.0許可證](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)提供。由斯特福爾德大學學院資助。

Henrik Skaug Sætra is a political scientist with a broad and interdisciplinary background and approach, mainly focusing on the political, ethical, and social implications of technology. He focuses specifically on the sustainability-related impacts of AI and has previously published a book and several articles on AI and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Henrik Skaug Sætra是一位政治學家，具有廣泛且跨學科的背景和方法，主要關注技術的政治、倫理和社會影響。他專注於人工智慧的可持續相關影響，並曾出版一本書和多篇文章，探討人工智慧與聯合國可持續發展目標的關係。