Section
Society
Connectivity, environment, money, and what is honestly known about long-run effects.
The largest questions have the weakest evidence. Connectivity and e-waste are measured reasonably well; emissions estimates rest on modelling with acknowledged gaps; the long-run social effects of these technologies have not been measured at all, because they have not happened yet. This section says which is which rather than smoothing them into one confident account. For a workplace-oriented example of technology measurement in practice, see productivity vs efficiency.
The long-run social effects of these technologies have not been measured, because they have not happened yet.
| Article | Findings | Strong / mixed / weak |
|---|---|---|
| Who is still offline Three-quarters of the world is online, the remaining quarter is overwhelmingly poor and rural, and the headline count is a model output rather than a headcount. |
6 | |
| The environmental cost of digital technology The sector-level numbers are real and rising, but the per-activity figures that circulate most widely are modelled, and the most famous one was a unit-conversion error. |
5 | |
| Shopping and money online Online retail shares are measured well but not comparably between countries, while the evidence on manipulation and credit is strong on mechanism and thin on population-scale harm. |
6 | |
| Technology and society, honestly assessed Attitudes are measured shakily, the labour-market evidence describes robots rather than AI, and every forward-looking number in this subject is a model output. |
5 |
Who is still offline
About 2.2 billion people were offline in 2025 and 96% of them lived in low- or middle-income countries. What that number can and cannot tell you.
6 sourced findings · 1388 words · updated 2026-08-09
The environmental cost of digital technology
Data centres used about 2% of global electricity in 2025, the famous 1.6 kg Netflix figure was 90 times too high, and e-waste is outrunning recycling.
5 sourced findings · 1388 words · updated 2026-08-09
Shopping and money online
E-commerce shares, dark patterns that double acceptance rates, buy-now-pay-later borrowers and fraud losses, with the numbers that cannot be compared.
6 sourced findings · 1392 words · updated 2026-08-09
Technology and society, honestly assessed
Public attitudes to AI, expert disagreement, wage inequality and productivity estimates, and why almost nothing is known about long-run social effects.
5 sourced findings · 1394 words · updated 2026-08-09