“Everywhere in the world they wanted to have their robots, and all we did was respond to the flood of orders. And all the time we were talking nonsense about technology, sociology, progress, and all sorts of interesting matters. How could talk of this sort of chit-chat decide how things were going to turn out? Meanwhile, things gathered their own momentum, getting faster and faster and faster,” laments Commercial Director Busman in the second act of Karel Čapek’s play R. U. R.
A hundred years after the publication of R. U. R., the questions raised by the play are particularly relevant. There is talk of digitalization in all fields of human activity, yet humanity is playing second fiddle in that conversation. Čapek’s warning against technology getting out of hand is all the more pressing in an era of technology’s rapid development.
A global epidemic has given us a blunt reminder of how important and essential human nature and in-person contacts are. Technology has enabled us to communicate but we remain apart, with “a gap filled with the internet” between us. That is why we have decided, a hundred years after the premiere of R. U. R., to reiterate that all of society’s activities must have people at the centre of their attention. Our manifesto brings forth the following four tenets:
A human and their being is the fundamental measuring unit of everything. Our planet without people is not the Earth. Rules, regulations, services and products must be designed for people, bearing in mind that people are an integral part of nature.
Every person is unique. When not in touch with their nature, people become machines. Let us take into account people’s physical and mental side and look for the sweet spot between the perfect, the possible and the sustainable.
Technology can help but it doesn’t have a soul or emotional memory. Let‘s not neglect things that make us strong and unique as people.
We don’t stop at the HOW, we also ask WHY. Digitalization must not be an end in itself. It must be beneficial for people in the first place.
We believe these tenets will continue to be relevant a hundred years from now, which is why we have decided to call this document The 121 Manifesto. The number also refers to in-person contact (one-to-one) as well as to Čapek’s play. We are not claiming to have the answers to Čapek’s difficult questions but we are convinced we have to ask them every day.