Digital technology moving too fast for scientific research into its health impact to keep up

Image credit: University of Cambridge

Digital technologies are proliferating at such a rate that the scientific systems designed to evaluate their impact on public health cannot keep up, two leading researchers have said.

According to Dr Amy Orben from the University of Cambridge and Dr J Nathan Matias from Cornell University, scientific research on the harms of digital technology is stuck in a “failing cycle” that moves too slowly to allow governments and society to hold tech companies to account.

From social media to AI, digital technologies can be deployed to billions of people at the touch of a button. But it’s a reality that is putting a huge strain on the scientific systems trying to evaluate its effects.

Orben and Matias say that tech giants effectively outsource research relating to the safety of their products to independent scientists at universities and charities. But these teams have a fraction of the resources of the companies behind the solutions. Moreover, tech firms also obstruct access to essential data and information. This is in contrast to other industries where safety testing is largely done ‘in house’.

“Big technology companies increasingly act with perceived impunity, while trust in their regard for public safety is fading,” said Orben, of Cambridge’s MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. “Policymakers and the public are turning to independent scientists as arbiters of technology safety.”

“Scientists like ourselves are committed to the public good, but we are asked to hold to account a billion-dollar industry without appropriate support for our research or the basic tools to produce good quality evidence quickly.”

“We must urgently fix this science and policy ecosystem so we can better understand and manage the potential risks posed by our evolving digital society,” said Orben.

The researcher’s report is published in the journal Science.

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