Technology and Human Communication: Altering How We Connect

By Dr. Matthew Loux and Bryce Loux  |  12/11/2025

Through technology and communication, we build societies, form relationships, and advance as human beings in our daily lives. Every advancement in communication technology has allowed human beings to connect in new and innovative ways.

Over time, these technologies have certainly enhanced communication for many individuals. From smartphones and social media to artificial intelligence and virtual reality, technology plays a strong role in the ways people share information and interact with each other. 

Modern Communication Technologies

There are numerous technology tools that have transformed how we interact with each other on a global scale. These technologies include:

• The internet
• Mobile communication
• Social media
• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)
• Cloud computing and collaboration tools

The Internet 

Currently, the Internet is the most important and primary tool for communication. It allows international communication and global collaboration through emails, social media, and streaming. The Internet democratizes resources and information in our daily lives, but it also poses the problems of misinformation and information overload. 

Mobile Communication  

The mobile phone has evolved from being a tool merely used for voice communication to an all-in-one communication and computing device. It performs incorporates tools to enhance communication and sharing, such as:

• Text and instant messaging
• Video calling or video conferencing
• Taking photos or videos
• Playing games
• Streaming movies

Mobile technology is especially useful for staying connected in the workplace. Online interactions can promote a culture of constant communication and forge human connections between coworkers. Mobile technologies also give employers and employees useful tools to improve productivity and reduce the time spent on routine tasks.

Social Media 

Social media apps such as Facebook®, X®, Instagram®, and TikTok® all enable users to communicate and interact freely to build social connections throughout their daily lives. These platforms allow users to communicate their everyday thoughts and identity.

Social media has become a platform for activism, self-expression, and community building. However, promoting social discourse and sponsored communication has also made it easier to diffuse disinformation, which has altered public norms, others' emotional responses, and expectations of privacy. 

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence technology has the potential to change communication and how people interact with it through its AI chatbots and recommendation systems, as well as other translation and generative tools. AI can also simulate conversation and offer empathy through digital companions.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies allow new forms of interaction. For example, they allow virtual meetings and online classrooms that replace traditional face-to-face meetings. These technologies promise more engaging and immersive social experiences.

Cloud Computing and Collaboration Tools 

With the introduction of Zoom®, Microsoft Teams®, Slack® and the Google® suite of applications, cloud computing collaboration tools have significantly altered our communication. In business culture, new collaboration software has set new expectations for human presence and productivity.

How Technology Affects Today's Communication

Although the use of technology for communication has been useful for many societies, it also has its drawbacks. These drawbacks include:

• Social isolation – Digital systems enable interpersonal communication with people separated by great distances, but they can also promote isolation through decreased social interactions. Online communications, especially social media, may enhance a sense of belonging but they can also lead to negative social comparisons, anxiety, and depression. 
• Decreased attention spans and information overload – The digital environment consists of excessive messages, notifications, and media formats. All of this information can result in an over-reliance on phones, tablets, and computers, which lead to diminished focus, reduced concentration and decreased social skills.
• The need to maintain identity and self-presentation – Users on various social media sites get the opportunity to create and curate their ideal identities. They can create avatars, profiles, and posts and experiment with different self-images. However, there is also an unspoken pressure to forge emotional connections and demonstrate perfection, which can cause authenticity problems.
• Reduced language and expression – The digital world is filled with abbreviations, emojis, and internet slang, which can be easily misinterpreted on occasion. As a result, online tools are rapidly changing the ways people express their emotions without face-to-face communication. While human creativity and messages to loved ones can be positively enhanced through the use of technologies such as instant messaging, there is a loss of precise language, effective communication, and understanding between generations. 
• A reduction in cognitive and emotional development – Digital technologies have shifted the normal communication patterns of younger generations. Spending time with multiple online activities, creating short-form content, and seeking instant gratification have undermined people's attention span and empathy. Digital tools also reduce users' ability to understand nonverbal cues in social interactions, such as changes in body language, vocal tones, and facial expressions.

The Benefits of Technological Communication Systems

While the change of communication technologies over the years has had its disadvantages, there have been other benefits:

• Improved accessibility and inclusion – Technology has had a positive impact for people who have long been silenced and excluded from the public domain. For instance, people with disabilities use assistive technology such as speech-to-text software and screen readers, which play a crucial role in face-to-face communication and other interactions. Social platforms can also be used by marginalized people and communities to support their activism. 
• Faster speed and efficiency – Digital communication allows information to cross the globe in a matter of seconds. Emergencies, disasters, and social movements are communicated quickly, leading to rapid and explosive worldwide attention.
• Improved education and knowledge sharing – Learning through online resources, online educational materials, and worldwide partnerships allows people to pursue their academic goals throughout their lives. Knowledge no longer exists behind closed doors in schools and libraries. 
• Better economic opportunities – Cross-border commerce, distance work, and digital business initiatives are the products of technology. For instance, modern activities like freelancing and telemedicine depend on communication technology. 
• Cultural exchange – Cross-cultural appreciation is easier through digital products. Films, music, art, and thoughts can move from one society to another more freely.

The Challenges of Today’s Technology

While there are positive and negative consequences to modern technological tools, there are risks to them as well, including:

• Misinformation – The rapid dissemination of false information is a byproduct of the tools that facilitate the free, democratic circulation of ideas. Algorithm-driven communication focuses a user’s feeds to a point where they only reflect personal opinions, which can result in the polarization of a society. 
• Decreased privacy and increased surveillance – The digital trail created by a person is constantly subject to observation and tracking. The collection of personal data on a massive scale by the government and private businesses poses unprecedented threats of control and the weakening of personal autonomy. 
• A decline of face-to-face interaction and communication skills – In the digital world, an online presence can easily be substituted for face-to-face communication. As a result, empathy, personal communication skills, nonverbal communication, and the sense of a community can be weakened. 
• Inequality and the digital divide – When people lack internet access, digital devices, and the skills to navigate technology, that creates socioeconomic gaps.
• A decline in emotional and mental health – Burnout, anxiety, and stress are all products of constantly being online and avoiding social interactions. Young people are most susceptible to mental health complications from cyberbullying, harassment, and exposure to negative content.
• Decreased cultural homogenization – Today’s global media tends to highlight more dominant languages and cultures. As a result, today’s societies are less likely to understand traditions from lesser and underrepresented cultures.

The Use of Technology and Communication in the Workplace

Communication technology has transformed modern workplaces in many ways, such as:

• Remote and hybrid work – Zoom®, Slack®, and Microsoft Teams® offer new ways for employees to collaborate and communicate, no matter where they are around the world. Although flexible schedules and remote work options tend to provide greater employee satisfaction, informal socialization and community cohesion may be lost with remote teamwork. There is still a need for employers to find that appropriate level of remote work efficiency and employee engagement. 
• Artificial intelligence in business communication – AI tools that provide automated customer service, meeting summarization, and even sentiment analysis bolster productivity in the workplace. However, the use of AI tools in written communication can depersonalize communication interactions, and the misuse of AI communication tools may introduce bias. 
• Knowledge sharing and collaboration – Closed digital workspaces foster a greater sense of control over employees, facilitate tracking, and reduce idea sharing. However, constant work connectivity and reduced social interactions is a surefire way to contribute to employee burnout. 

Future Trends in Communication 

With constantly evolving technological tools, future trends in communication could include:

• The rise of immersive communication – Future advancements in virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality technologies promise fully immersive digital environments for human interaction. Future virtual meetings may allow participants to “attend” in the form of holograms, eliminating the need to choose between physical and digital worlds. 
• Emotionally intelligent AI – AI technologies are evolving to read human tones, feelings and intent. Future communication aids will offer empathy and support, but the risks of emotional manipulation and deceit will be unprecedented. 
• Neural interfaces – Nonverbal communication may become a reality with the development of brain-computer interfaces that facilitate the transmission of thoughts and feelings. This technology will radically shift the world’s perception of privacy, personal autonomy, and individuality.
• Decentralization – Blockchain technologies could lead to decentralized networks for user-controlled communication and data technologies. This innovation could result in digital space governance democracy, but also possible governance and accountability nightmares. 
• Sustainability and digital responsibility – The growth of digital communication also requires responsibility toward its environmental costs, such as data and communication center wastes. The next stage of communication will incorporate human-ethical design and digital practices to sustainable design principles. 

Balancing Technology, Humanity, and Effective Communication

Communication technologies should foster empathy, understanding, and cooperation. The creation of future technology should follow these principles to create the desired balance between improved technology and effective communication:

• Digital literacy – The ability to find, evaluate, and create information and communicate it responsibly 
• Ethical design – The construction of technologies that protect users’ privacy, inclusivity, and mental health 
• Mindful communication – The conscious, intentional use of communication channels with an emphasis on the quality and not the quantity of digital interactions 
• Policy and regulation – The responsibility of tech platforms for accountability, including transparency in the use of algorithms and data governance 
• Reclaiming face-to-face communication skills – The value of a live human presence and interaction will foster empathy and trust between people 

Communication technology has improved the human ability to communicate. It has also become a powerful tool for connecting remote communities, democratizing access to information, and driving innovation. On the other hand, technology is also an enormous distraction that has reduced human attention spans and blurred the genuineness of human interaction.

So how do we keep our humanity when our technology is in overabundance and there are negative effects to using it? The answer is to practice digital wisdom. We must keep oral and written communication as a human art that is grounded in empathy, understanding, and respect.

Technology must aid and not replace the human connection. Ultimately, technology does not dictate the terms of communication; humanity does.

The Bachelor of Arts in Communication at AMU

For students who wish to improve their oral and written communication skills, American Military University (AMU) offers an online Bachelor of Arts in Communication. This bachelor’s degree program features courses in public speaking, social media and society, and intercultural communication, taught by expert instructors. Other topics include mass communication, communication theory, and digital tools and media in communication.

This degree also offers two concentrations to allow students to choose the concentration best suited to their professional goals:

• Digital communication and media design
• Strategic communication

For more information about this degree, visit AMU’s arts and humanities degree program page.

Facebook is a registered trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc.
X is a registered trademark of the X Corporation.
Instagram is a registered trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc.
TikTok is a registered trademark of TikTok, Ltd.
Zoom is a registered trademark of Zoom Video Communications, Inc.
Microsoft Teams is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation.
Slack is a registered trademark of Salesforce, Inc.
Google is a registered trademark of Google, LLC.