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Progress and technological innovations are topics at the centre of the conservative debate. Especially because of the crucial role they can play in the lives of citizens and families. This subject was a crucial and very important point at the ‘European Congress on Family’ at the ‘ECR Party Culture Weekend’ held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, from 18 to 20 October. On this occasion, congress participants were able to attend and participate in a panel with the very evocative title of ‘Family of the future: new technologies and opportunities for families’.
THE FUTURE AROUND THE CORNER
So, what opportunities do the future and new technologies open up for families? What are the most interesting elements in this debate and what are the issues to keep an eye on, especially for social and material developments that could become central in the coming years? These are questions not easy to answer, especially if we consider that we ourselves, in our contemporary times, are perhaps witnessing the dawn of a real technological revolution. The impact that Artificial Intelligence may have on our lives and those of our families over the next ten years is almost impossible to predict. We are at a moment in history comparable to the years of the beginning of the printing press, or to the period of the industrial revolution. Interpreting the role of the family at this juncture is not easy, even though the values of the conservative world may be leading the way even in these currently unknown shores.
SECURITY AND DIGITAL EDUCATION
For families, today as well as in the future, the issue of security will become increasingly important and cogent; this time, however, declined in the digital sphere. In this sense, it might be useful to consider the differences between the various members of a family, between those who are ‘digital natives’ and those – adults in particular – who have spent a large part of their lives, especially their formative years, in an era that we can define as ‘analogue’. Different periods bring different dangers, but the protection of the new generations must be at the heart of any action taken within the family. That is why the approach of non-digital natives could be useful in shielding the youngest from the dangers of the web, and especially the web without any control or discernment. Social networks and the various declinations that these tools will have in the coming decades can become real traps, especially if considering the digital trace left in youth that will never be forgotten. At the same time, the protection of minors from dysfunctional and even criminal practices coming from the web must be at the centre of the debate. For this reason, families must be able to have basic tools, a ‘digital toolbox’, necessary to cope with all the problems they might encounter.
UNITED BEYOND DIVISIONS
Of course, the tools that could change our lives for the better in the coming decades will also have their dark sides. Like, for example, the possibility of becoming estranged from one another. The same problem that, in some cases, is encountered even today with families united but distant because they are lost behind various screens and new media. It is easy to think that we can rely on the development of technology, but more difficult in this case is to ensure that it does not cause irreversible damage to relationships between human beings. The correct use of these tools and the right time to devote to normal human relationships, especially within the family perimeter, are perhaps the real big challenges for the near future. The theme is, therefore, to generate among the members of a family the awareness that the human and moral growth of each individual cannot be realised and mediated only within the digital universe, but rather always through interpersonal contact and exchange.