Does the Technological Determinism vs. Social Shaping debate accurately describe the relationship between Technology and Society?

In today’s complex world it is extremely difficult to describe all changes using only one of the mentioned theories. It is the technology that shapes and affects our behaviour as the only force in the universe or is it opposite as stated by the Social Shaping theory? Are we still in control of the technology or we are merely puppets in hands computers and AI?

The advent of Internet increased the speed of information flow, the world is changing at the pace never seen before and it’s constantly accelerating. At the foundation of many of the inventions that changed our world was necessity. Necessity to solve problems, make our lives easier, safer, longer. It was the human factor that was the force driving to look for new solutions, not the technology itself. There would be no technology without humans, so it is, in my opinion, not true to state that the technology is the only factor that shapes the society. In fact those two are in constant relationship and they are continuously affecting each other.
Newly introduced technology, whether it is a mobile phone, a new feature in the car, was designed by humans, but as the time goes by, the technology is changing our behaviour – nowadays almost everyone has mobile phone and we can’t imagine how we could have lived without it. Our needs are changing, we now want to send videos, see each other while talking on the phone so the mobile phones are modified to suit our needs. Evolution?

Evolution towards what goal? In my opinion, there will be a shift towards technology, however still with a strong social factor, even if the product is invented or designed with the aim to create a need or desire within society. It was created to be used by humans. The current pace of technological development is so quick that human might become the unnecessary link in that process. Virtual life, perfect employees, development of AI and robotics might become the obvious thing. Are we going to live in the matrix or as just memories encapsulated in the machines – ghost in the shell*?

In the end, it is, it was and it will be the society that influences and steer the technology. The only difference is its input to that process. The role of the society as the leading factor may be decreasing over time. Can technology become a society itself, without us – humans? Evolution.

*Ghost in the Shell is a Japanese cyberpunk manga created by Masamune Shirow. The main character, Motoko Kusanagi, is almost completely mechanized; only her brain and a segment of her spinal cord remain organic.