Balancing Digitisation with Human Touch

There was a time when Literacy only meant the ability to read and write. We would discriminate between literate and illiterate people on that yardstick. Today digital literacy seems to have redefined the parameters of literacy. People with expertise in handling digital applications through laptops, mobiles and other gadgets are always one step ahead of others, particularly those who are not so well conversant with machine learning and other forms of similar studies.

The approach to learning keeps on changing; in an era where skills, with special emphasis on vocational skills are considered paramount, the process of learning itself gets directed towards accomplishing the ability of handling the use of Artificial Intelligence and similar other learning tools .Post-covid era saw a revolution in methodology of learning. Conventional classroom teaching was matched, if not replaced by digital mode of learning. Through the platform of You-tube, Face-Book and so many other portals, learning and education reached the remotest corners.

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Learners got glued to digital screens for their lessons. Amidst this development, unfortunately, a disposition developed, both to the students as well as to the working professionals. The students, in majority, regard the on-line platform as the be-all and end-all. Somehow they seem to get trapped between Face-book College and Whatsapp University.While spending substantial time over the mechanical gadgets, their minds are turning mechanical. This is not desirable, neither for the individuals, nor for the community at large. Recent critical opinions are suggestive of maintaining a balance between artificial intelligence and emotional intelligence.

There are a lot of incidents occurring where the young generation, particularly the students and vocation- pursuers are subject to acts of psychological deformities. They tend to suffer from behavioural issues. In their pursuit of a career they fail to realise that to remain physically fit, is of utmost importance. But to remain sound in body one has to remain sound in mind. So the natural humane reactions of the mind are never to be ignored. Narratives about suicidal acts or such attempts are featured in alarming numbers; with even students from institutions like I.I.Ts are not exceptions to such examples.

Why are such incidents occurring? What is creating such restless intolerance in the young minds? Answers to such questions have to be sought for the greater benevolence of the budding minds. Neuro-psychiatric studies have categorically revealed how digital dependence, almost to the form of intoxication, spoils sleep and sense of fellow-feeling. Remaining cocooned within the corridors of digital screen, the emotional sensibilities of life are thwarted. Social interaction is gradually withdrawn, leading to decline in feelings of caring and sharing.

This creates a vulnerable situation in which teenagers bottle up their thoughts and feelings, refusing to share them even with their parents. In course of time they are often misled by certain ideas, many of which are spread through the digital media itself. Everyone has to realise that the tender, sprouting minds of the young ones need empathetic support. They must learn to connect artificial intelligence and emotional intelligence. In an academic world driven by percentage of score, the students try to achieve the highest. There is hardly anything wrong about it. But education cannot be marks driven alone. It should also foster a sense of social -living. Today social-skills like problem solving, decision making and interpersonal skills are determinants of future professional success for any student of any discipline.

How would these abilities flourish, if there is no social communication? So the factor of human connection is not a compulsion but a pre- condition for proper psychic development. Success has various dimensions; similarly achievement in one vertical may not ultimately define success for an individual. To maintain mental equilibrium is the real challenge that one needs to master. Emotional alienation is considered as the biggest malady of the modern era. Coupled with it is a tendency of insomnia resulting mostly from disturbance of the biological clock.

Medical professionals are predicting dangers of ill -health among teenagers. Metabolic disorders are one of the earliest manifestations of physical disorder. This is largely triggered by too much addiction to digital domain and psychological segregation from life, based on simple pleasures and natural instincts. Daniel Goleman in his path-breaking work on Emotional Intelligence delineates E.I into five interlinked parameters: self awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. Now, it is clearly understood that all these five parameters are indispensable for anyone trying for success and wanting to sustain it.

Unlike IQ, which binds modestly with professional success, E.I emerges as the superior predictor. Thinkers like Richard Branson assert that for maintaining success in academics and vocation, Emotional Quotient is more important than Intelligence Quotient. It is simply because academic efforts can be translated into vocational attainments through trials and tribulations. For this one may encounter occasional or initial failure as well. With proper emotional strength and mental fortitude one can overcome the impediments and sail in the tide of excellence.

Synthesis is the ultimate competency: the art of being profoundly human in an age of intelligent machines. Let us apply robotics without being robot; let us utilize machine learning without being machines; let us apply artificial intelligence without being psychologically artificial;let us explore the digital world without being digitized in thought, for even today and perhaps for all times to come , the words of Charles Chaplin resound meaningful- ‘More than the machinery we need Humanity’.