The last chapter of your textbook investigates the search and advertising functions of Google. For your final case study, you need to write at least 2500 word essay about Google and the future of computing.

While Google is best known for their search and advertising features, they actually have a multi-billion dollar research and development department that works on technologies ranging from self-guided cars to renewable energy.

Your task is to research Google and discover at least 5 technologies Google is currently developing, other than the search, advertising, and Gmail features that we are already familiar with.

You need to write at least 500 words (approximately 1 – 1 1/2 pages) each about 5 different Google technologies, for a total of a 2500 word essay. You also need to write an introduction and conclusion to this essay.

Make sure you write in your own words, while also listing your references in APA format at the end of your essay. This essay will automatically be checked for plagiarism by TurnItIn. There must be no plagiarism similarity to any sources to receive credit for this assignment.

For each technology, summarize the technology and discuss the impacts (both positive and negative) that the technology is likely to have on society. If there are any ethical issues or dilemmas related to the technology, be sure to discuss those, as well.

Since this is an essay, make sure you write in full sentences and in complete paragraphs, and not in lists or phrases. Thank you!

Here are some links to get you started in your research into Google —

Google’s Self-Driving Cars:

http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-this-blind-man-take-a-trip-in-one-of-googles-self-driving-cars-2012-3

Google’s Renewable Energy Engineering Team:

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1678104/new-google-rd-team-charged-with-making-renewable-energy-work-for-the-market

Research at Google:

http://research.google.com/

Google Products:

http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/index.html

Google Options:

http://www.google.com/options/

ANSWER

Google LLC Technologies

Google LLC is a globally known American multinational technology company founded in 1998, specializing in internet-based services and products with a diversification due to the technological advancements and changing trends. The company’s mission is to organize the world’s information making it globally accessible and usable. It is described as one of the Big Five technology companies in the IT industry with Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft (Google, 2021). In meeting the company’s commitment, which is improving people’s lives through technological development, this case study explores and describes five different Google technologies: Self-Driving Vehicles, Renewable Energy Engineering, and Sustainability Solutions, Google Project Wing, a drone delivery project, Google Nest Home Automation, a smart home automation technology, and Google Glass.

Self-Driving Vehicles

Self-driving vehicles are vehicles designed robotically to fulfill transportation capabilities without requiring human operators or drivers. Google introduced the robotic Toyota Cruises operating on busy highways, and they believe that this is the new future for transportation services (Dethe, Shevatkar, & Bijwe, 2016). Google driverless or autonomous vehicles would be steering by themselves, imitating the traditional manual driving of an individual, ensuring to avoid obstacles and accidents. These self-driving cars are developed by Waymo LLC, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company (Waymo, 2018). The vehicle can accelerate and decelerate speed by itself and, during traffic or, when needed, can stop or go as programmed. Google self-driving cars have three main elements: Google maps, hardware sensors, and AI (Artificial Intelligence). Other enabling technologies integrated into autonomous vehicles include self-steering technology, LIDAR, an optical sensor technology; GPS for navigation purposes; DGPS to enhance the GPS system and finally, the digital maps (Waymo, 2018).

Self-driving vehicles present both benefits and adverse impacts in the transportation and environmental industries, influencing political, economic, social, and ecological life spheres in society. Some of the positive impacts include greening the transportation and energy industries, maximizing environmental sustainability, and a significant step in addressing the global climate crisis. The transportation industry is the principal contributor or source of GHG emissions, accounting for 28%, followed by electricity (27%) (EPA, 2020). Self-driving vehicles present maximum efficiency, operating on clean energy, minimizing GHG emissions, and providing fuel efficiency. Unlike internal combustion engine cars, self-driving cars are mostly powered by electricity or hybrids, providing a cleaner energy source that can help save human lives and the climate. The GHG emissions emitted from internal combustion cars have been associated with increased health problems due to air pollution. Hence, with autonomous vehicles that will be mostly powered by electricity, zero exhaust provides for an eco-friendly transportation experience, saving human lives and the climate.

Self-driving vehicles are powered by electricity or clean energy, including having batteries being developed to keep them charged. These are the support charging systems required for this new technology, being disruptive; hence, the regular fuel filling or petrol stations cannot power the vehicles. However, what are the hidden costs associated with the extraction of the necessary minerals such as cobalt, nickel, and uranium to make the EV batteries. This issue presents an ethical dilemma: child labor cases, exploitation, and human rights violations have been recorded in developing countries rich with these minerals. EV batteries are powered and tainted by human rights violations and abuses (WEF, 2019). Moreover, the toxicities and GHG emissions seen while extracting these minerals in developing economies show the disproportional impacts of climate change. It seems it is right that GHG emissions be allowed in countries rich with minerals (developing economies) while cleaning the atmosphere and environment for developed economies.

Self-driving vehicles provide high safety, as they partially solve the issue of human errors. Many accidents have been associated with human tolls, such as being un-sober or tired, among other human errors resulting in preventable accidents and deaths. With driverless cars, these issues can be reduced, and other people such as people with disabilities can have the ability to ‘drive’ and own vehicles as they ‘self-drive.’ In as much as this is a positive impact, some feel it is a negative impact, a source of ethical dilemma and legal uncertainties. Legal policies specifying the accountability and responsibility when self-driving vehicles are involved in accidents are not clarified.

Google Project Wing

Google Project Wing is a drone delivery project developed to deliver a wide range of products and items acquired through mobile applications directly to customers’ homes or assigned destinations. The envisioning of this project was to ensure rapid delivery of defibrillator kits for patients suffering from a heart attack and expand into humanitarian and relief services to enable immediate humanitarian and disaster relief roles. This project was announced in 2014 having been developed in Google; however, run by its parent company Alphabet Inc. Project Wing focuses on revolutionizing, digitalizing, and transforming the shipping and delivery of products (Heath, 2018). Major technology and manufacturing companies have adopted the autonomous drone delivery technology for commercial and noncommercial purposes. Noncommercial services include buying drones for inhouse use, pleasure, leisure, and entertainment, while commercial purposes include drones working as a delivery system. Google and Alphabet Inc. have already tested Project Wing across Australia, Queensland, and California with ongoing research, developments, engineering, and business strategizing to effectively enter the market and position itself uniquely among the industry’s fierce competition.

Project Wing provides both positive and negative impacts on society as it influences life’s political, environmental, economic, and social spheres. Through the delivery system, customer service, satisfaction, and experience will rise as the project provides for speedy deliveries. This is a win-win strategy and value proportion for customers and businesses. The drone delivery system shortens the conventional delivery time where people could wait for at least three business days. With this project, a package can be delivered instantly within three hours or the same day. Organizations or businesses in all sectors offering drone deliveries have the potential to increase their sales, maximize their competitive advantage, expand the customer base, and enhance brand loyalty (Garcia, Santoso, & Javadi, 2019). Hence, economically, Google’s Project Wing provides an innovative and viable business solution to brick and mortar and e-commerce companies and maximizes customer experience, satisfaction, and service faster due to lack of traffic congestion and cheaper. Environmentally, this is a positive impact as the project is eco-friendly. Unlike trucks use to distribute and deliver packages, where they contribute highly to GHG emissions unless the trucks are autonomous and electric-powered, the drone system provides lesser carbon dioxide emissions. Concisely, the notable positive impacts of Project Wing include increased delivery of products, time management enhancement, energy conservation, increased accuracy and efficiency of product delivery, and safety promotion.

On the negative side, the drone delivery project is subject to technical malfunctions and defects that can cause inefficiency and insecurities in the delivery process. For instance, if a drone’s battery malfunctions or dies, it means the delivery is failed or delayed, which will result in complaints and anger among customers. Moreover, drones can be hijacked and easily stolen as they are freely and independently powered into the atmosphere. A significant negative impact would involve the labor disruption it would cause. Like the self-driving vehicles (personal or commercial), where human input and labor are not required, many people will lose their employment through the project. People employed in the logistics departments, including distributors and transporters, will be ‘replaced’ by the drones in the delivery functions. Packaging and IT jobs will be more available to coordinate and ensure the accuracy of items to be delivered. A source of an ethical dilemma is the privacy breach where drones use cameras when delivering packages, recording the actual locations, properties, and people without their consent. In cases where drones are misused, customer personal information can be collected and used inappropriately.

Google Nest Home Automation

Google Nest Home Automation is a smart home automation technology developed by Nest company; a smart home device company acquired by Google in 2014. The learning thermostat is used at home, at times, defined as a home décor that automatically regulates the heating in one’s house, including hot water usage (Grano, 2020). Within the first week of installation, the technology learns, masters, and records temperature preferences, whether cold or warm, while in the house hence raising or lowering the temperature when in and out of the house, respectively. It is an eco-friendly technology that monitors and collects one’s data creating a schedule (Grano, 2020). For instance, at night, when one sleeps, it lowers the heating and temperature and, in the morning, it raises the temperature to warm the house. When one leaves their home, which it detects through its sensors connected through a mobile application, it completely turns down the temperature, saving energy. The learning thermostat is powered by advanced technologies, including being linked to one’s smartphone; therefore, in case you forgot to turn off hot water in the house, it can be done automatically by the thermostat. A primary and most notable positive impact presented by this technology is that it supports the green economy and environmental sustainability. According to a report conducted on its energy history and monthly home records, one uses lesser energy when setting the preferred temperature at the energy-saving level (Grano, 2020). It reduces home costs such as extra electricity bills by regulating the temperature providing energy efficiency.

Another Google Nest Home Automation technology is the smoke and carbon monoxide detector. Like the Learning thermostat, the smoke and carbon monoxide detector is a smart detector that communicates through the smartphone when a problem is detected. The technology can detect any form of smoke, including flaming fires, and uses an alarm to signal or communicate the warning (Grano, 2020). This technology enhances security in the house, and to some extent, harmful smoke from third parties that can cause health problems to children can be detected and rectified immediately.

The primary adverse impact that also presents an ethical issue revolves around users’ privacy within the automated devices. According to Chung et al. (2016), when smart home technology is adopted appropriately, it can improve quality of life and maximize security and vice versa (Chung, Demiris, & Thompson, 2016). Moreover, in the news, Google shared privacy problems associated with the smart devices in home automation. For instance, the indoor and outdoor cameras and Google home mini speakers have been reported to secretly spy and record secret conversations among users unknowingly (Burke, 2017). Ethically, it violates privacy rights among users, and accessing their information can result in higher susceptibility to cyber insecurities and attacks. Therefore, despite the main positive impacts presented by Google Nest Home automation devices, the issue of information protection and privacy remains unsettling in the wake of cyber insecurities and attacks by data acquisition of users (Chung, Demiris, & Thompson, 2016).

Google Glass

Google glass can be described as a smart small wearable optical ‘head-mounted’ display similar to the regular optical eyeglasses; however, the Google Glass is a light wearable computer with transparent displays to enable customers in their daily hands-free jobs. Google glass helps users to remain focused on their work by eliminating possible distractions and has voice commands that can be activated as preferred. It also improves accuracy in the workflow as one can easily access training or tutorial videos and instructions on the job they are handling, hence providing safe, quick, and high-quality job accomplishment. Most importantly, Google glass enables real-time connection and collaboration whereby the glass allows the user to connect with colleagues instantly where they can share advice, expertise and even stream instructions or videos for high-quality work (Google, 2020). These Google Smart Glasses are used and applied in job settings in task-related professionalism and lifestyle application users such as the trackers. Google glasses, other than being hands-free and convenient, as described above, they have four significant positive impacts, especially in the corporate world setting: improving accuracy, maximizing quality and standards of work outputs, reducing distractions, and creating a connecting and collaboration platform.

Google glasses present cognitive, technological, social, and psychological issues. According to Due (2014), smart glasses affect the user’s eyes and body (Due, 2014). The Google Glass can easily detect eye movements being a wearable computer, and the ability to use the eyes to control and manage a computer can be enormous, exposing one to possible eye problems such as disturbed or impaired vision. The prolonged use of the smart glass becomes eye-sensitive affecting not only the eyes but also the brain and one’s behavior. Secondly, the technology presents the law and data security challenges. As seen even with the previous technologies, it becomes difficult to monitor legally and effectively as they develop and advance. Legislation and regulations regarding constant surveillance using smart glasses are unclear and undefined, presenting a similar and possible ethical issue. The user’s data collection makes available big data and information that can be detrimental when it lands in the wrong hands and can perpetuate illegal behaviors and actions such as cyber-attacks (Due, 2014).

Psychologically and socially, these glasses act like smartphones where one can be on the phone while listening to music in a single bud or earphone and still interacting with friends. It may seem easy, but in reality, the social interaction aspect is severely interrupted and obstructed. Constantly a person will keep asking pardon or laughing out something they never heard and later on ask to be reminded what they talked about. This can be a similar aspect for smart glasses users who may be so engaged in the virtual sphere and lost in reality affecting their social skills and etiquette (Due, 2014). In a nutshell, Google smart glasses create a win-win-loss situation, whereby through virtual assistance, companies and businesses win due to high-quality standards and job deliverables. Secondly, users experience the win-loss situation where they win by succeeding in providing excellent services but risk facing cognitive, social, and psychological problems in the long run.

Renewable Energy Engineering and Sustainability Solutions

In the modern world, with the changing consumer trends, rapid technological advancements, and ecological sustainability, industries have aligned and shifted with these changes to develop technological developments such as self-driving vehicles, renewable energy engineering and provide sustainability solutions (Memon, Ahmed, Ali, & Rafique, 2016). Google has invested enormously in green energy companies ensuring that they provide their customers an all-around internet using carbon-free processes and systems. In the company’s corporate social responsibility, sustainability is critical and has been achieved by integrating carbon-free clean energy in data centers to provide internet to billions of people. Google facilities operate in carbon-based power, including procuring billions of electricity kilowatts. Renewable energy engineering and sustainability solutions are geared toward acquiring a carbon-free energy framework, including solar, wind, biomass, hydropower, and nuclear renewables (Google, 2019).

According to Koksal (2019), Google announced 18 renewable energy deals in the USA, Europe, and Chile worth 1,600 megawatts, and wind/solar agreements worth 5,500 megawatts. Moreover, the company is actively involved in 52 renewable energy projects (Koksal, 2019). The world is currently faced with a common problem, global climate crisis, that requires the collaboration and cooperation of nations and organizations developing effective and sustainable solutions at international, regional, national, local, and individual levels to maximize responsibility. Google expanding and massively investing in renewable energy becomes a pacesetter for other corporations to embrace sustainability and better impact the environment while still achieving their MVGOs (Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives). Primary benefits and positive impacts of renewable energy include providing clean energy forms acquired from natural and sustainable sources, unlike fossil fuels that have resulted in detrimental effects on the environment through high GHG emissions and contributing to global warming.

The immediate impact is promoting environmental preservation, protection, and sustainability due to reduced emissions, reduced exposure to harmful chemicals or particulate matter, and better air and water quality. Other impacts include enabling financial and money-saving as production is efficient. Economically, renewable energy will reduce production costs, which means products and services will be offered at affordable and cheaper prices, helping consumers save more (Kumar, 2020). Socially, renewable energy will provide social benefits, including improving public health, as the GHG emissions and toxic particulate matter emitted from nonrenewable energy sources are eliminated, reducing cases of air-borne diseases. Moreover, employment creation will increase, such as biofuel projects. The cost of life may become more manageable as low production costs will result in low costs of products and low electricity prices.

Conclusion

The technological diversification seen in Google LLC is recommendable as it is mostly geared to a sustainable and greener economy and world where the environment is preserved while serving human needs in the capitalist world. However, the technology is primarily disruptive, presenting numerous technological, legal, social, and ethical issues, including data and privacy aspects being central challenges.

References

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Heath, N. (2018). Project Wing: A cheat sheet on Alphabet’s drone delivery project. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/project-wing-a-cheat-sheet/: TechRepublic.

Koksal, I. (2019, October 2). A Massive Investment: Google Announces 18 New Renewable Energy Deals. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilkerkoksal/2019/10/02/a-massive-investment-google-announces-18-new-renewable-energy-deals/?sh=495624975024

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