Letters: Becoming 'redundant'

Datta has elegantly portrayed growing disconnect between writer and reader, teacher and student etc

In the article, “Situations vacant” (March 11), Kanika Datta has elegantly portrayed the growing disconnect between writer and reader, teacher and student, everyone on social media who interacts with an unknown person, employer and employee, master and servant, commandant and soldiers and so on — where “meaningful communication” is relevant for achieving desired results — using LinkedIn as a peg to hang her hat.

The debate the short article brings to the fore is relevant in several other contexts, too, where technology is being brought in to replace human brains and hands. We are talking about driverless cars and doctorless surgeries. While lamenting about the adverse impact of even the abuse of science is not fashionable, I, who spent a major portion of my life in the 20th century, feel heavy in my chest when I find science and technology offering apps, cookies, robots and algorithms capable of taking over functions traditionally done by human beings. 

Of course, some software installed in a computer in a super-speciality hospital in some corner of the world is waiting for a soft touch on our android screens to handle our chest pain, too.

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