“Should you trust your love life to algorithms and dating apps?” was the question posed by a group of students that evening at the Dominican Center in Montreal. The Dominican Student Center – Universtité de Montréal (CéDum), run by the friars under the direction of Gustavo Ortega, offers a wide range of activities. Since last year, the liturgies and traditional prayer and adoration groups have been joined by more surprising activities: encouraged by the prior of the Saint Albert convent and the Prior Provincial, the CéDum has become an OPTIC Lab. It has joined the network of places where students and young professionals reflect together on their relationship with technology, ethical issues and the impact on society.
The evenings they organize are part of an activity developed by the OPTIC network, which consists of debating around a film or an episode of a TV series. The project, entitled Bright Mirror, refers to the Netflix series Black Mirror, which is very popular with young people, and features universes that are both very realistic and highly dystopian. With the help of OPTIC, students themselves host debates for other young people.
And that evening, the conversation was animated around the subject of the dating apps that most students use. “Do they make it easier to find the one you’re looking for? Or, on the contrary, do they lock us into an endless quest for perfection, for a person who should meet a multitude of criteria, and whom we choose from an infinite network? How are these algorithms parameterized? Do they help you find the right person, or do they encourage you to remain a customer for as long as possible?” These were just some of the questions posed by Clément Augustin and Marc de Preaumont, the evening’s hosts. Both students at HEC Montréal, they are keen to stimulate reflection among their friends and chaplaincy members, so that technology is always used for the common good and with respect for human dignity.
Network OPTIC is offering an animation kit to help brothers and sisters or lay people leading groups of students or young professionals to raise their awareness of the challenges posed by these digital technologies, which have infiltrated every aspect of our lives: getting information, working, consuming, meeting people, exchanging news… The kit includes suggestions for videos to watch together and, for each one, questions to guide the debate.
Such an approach is extremely important to make young people aware of the benefits, but also the risks, of these technologies, to enable the new generation to be more mature and responsible in their choices. In this way, we can make full use of digital technology for our personal, human and spiritual development, but also to build a society in line with Gospel values.
Far from being pessimistic, the OPTIC network wants to ensure that technology brings the best to the greatest number. It’s a way of preaching to the frontiers, even if they’re not physical or social, but digital.
If you’d like to set up your own OPTIC Lab, ask for the OPTIC network’s animation kit and support at contact@optictechnology.org.
OPTIC is an international network initiated by the Order and at the service of the Dominican family. It is a project under the direct supervision of the Master of the Order. For further information, visit optictechnology.org.
By Yves Bériault
By Laurent Fortin