Human beings are witnessing a new
revolution in the digital age where the world is gradually experiencing its digital
modes of doing things rather than its real being which is consequently
introducing a new breed of intellectuals, teachers, classrooms, and mode of
living. What H.G. Wells saw in his visionary work; the Invisible is becoming
visible. Another world order is in the offing where nature and nurture would
happily marry into a world called Cybertures. Willingly or not. everyone is a
beneficiary as well as affected by this cybernetic revolution because of its singular
characteristic of fastest and easiest communication. In the wink of an eye, the
message is carried across the globe and the information can be accessed,
exchanged, and disseminated. This has developed a new breed of artisans related
to digital work functioning and paved the way for a skill-based economy rather
than a degree-based economy. More and more students are opting to go online for
their livelihood through social media apps, digital content, and audio, video,
or pictorial content. The significant thing about all this is that these young
men and women are successful so far.
The same communication speed when used
in the classroom brought a wealth of knowledge and opened new avenues of
information transfer. The act of classroom teaching is no longer restricted to the
walls of the same, rather it is accessible at any time, from any place, and
through any platform. One professor employed at any university in America can be
made available to the learners of South Asia in the wink of an eye. The
traditional knowledge transfer is now in the hands of Google and Bing. Very few
people visit the library to access the books in physical shape because they can
be accessed and utilized from the comfort of the home and information and
knowledge can be gleaned from them.
Social media platforms have created a
new shape of community with a hallmark of existence online only. The popularity
and impact level of these platforms reflect the virtual mode of life as a new
living mode of humanity. The connectivity at multiple levels and
democratization for all have made them much cherished the virtual presence of
these social media platforms.
The major shift from nature or nurture
is being experienced through artificial intelligence which is doing wonders
from writing small essays to making videos and writing books. The introduction
of AI is gradually replacing the burden and labor of production and manufacturing.
Humanoid robots are ready to serve humanity from the medicinal to the agricultural
field. It has secretly but very successfully entered the educational area also
where instructions are available in virtual shape and their performance is much
more precise, calculated, and efficient than that of human beings. Ngugi shares
his part of the opinion in Globalectic humanism, “The fact is the virtual
learning system an institution of the publishing house, the bookshop, and the
classroom have arrived and are molding the global intellectual climate. Goethe
and Marx foresaw a reality that is now unfolding. The Invisible World dreamt up
by H. G. Wells in his Invisible Man is here. This virtual world is producing the third order
of Adam, cyberture, after nurture and nature, which can cross the barriers of time
and space in seconds. Most affected is the movement of ideas”.
The next revolution of AI is in
transportation where almost every vehicle is equipped with intelligent gadgets
to control music, breaks, parking, and fueling. The cars are gradually moving
to the level of auto-driven cars and even larger vehicles. Though the system is yet in an experimental
state, very soon, we shall see driverless vehicles prowling the roads. Instead
of talking with the drivers of these vehicles, we shall be talking to the cars
of the future. Already, the airplanes are flying on autopilot and the ships are
navigating through the dangerous waters even very successfully. On the ground,
Google and Apple maps and navigation services can take us safely to our
destination and can provide complete information available on the route.
3D printing is another miracle of the
machine miracles. The computers are capable of printing small non-living
objects. Shortly, who knows, these may be capable of printing more complex objects
with a life of their own. Some people are planning to develop extremely complex
products to be developed through 3-D printing technology. At home also cyber
world is also playing its part by automating the home appliances that these
intelligently working on their own. In summary, it is the new age of cyberture that
humanity is going through as it has already from nature to nurture. It is up to
humanity if it can employ this techno-wonder for its security, comfort, and survival
or allow itself to be manipulated by the machine wonders!
Brief
Bio
Dr. Zia Ahmed is working as principal of GGCCL Multan and has,
recently, been a professor and chair of the English department, along with
additional responsibility of the Registrar at Emerson University Multan,
Pakistan. He is attached to NUML, Multan, ISP, Multan, and WUM for academic
purposes. Besides academic and administrative duties, he is a regular columnist
to the print media as a freelance writer and a YouTube blogger for students'
pre/post-class teaching. After his Ph.D. in 2012, he supervised 50 MPhil and
Two Ph.D. candidates and published 30 (HEC Approved) articles and is an
HEC-approved supervisor for PhD studies. He teaches, gives expert advice, and
writes on postcolonial and postmodern fiction and ELT for many Journals and universities
in Pakistan and abroad. He visited the University of North Texas in 2015 for
his postdoctoral research and has spoken frequently nationally and
internationally at IIU, Malaysia, La Rochelle, France, Khadar, Azerbaijan, and Parul
University, Gujarat, India, conferences.
Phone:
03216301091, 03145135897
Email: zia.ahmed@eum.edu.pk
It is a well written and precise contemporary piece of writing having previous background knowledge along with future predictions.
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