A shorter, discussion-style subtopic that asks you to think critically about how new technology affects different groups of people and the environment — not just what the technology does.
For any 'latest technology' (e.g. AI assistants, wearable health tech, foldable phones, VR/AR headsets, autonomous vehicles), you should be able to discuss its possible impact across these lenses:
| Factor | Example consideration |
|---|---|
| Gender | Does the technology or its design/marketing favour one gender, or address needs differently across genders? |
| Race / Culture / Religion / Ethnicity | Does the technology account for different languages, cultural practices, or religious considerations? Could bias in training data (e.g. for AI/facial recognition) disadvantage certain groups? |
| Environmental factors | What is the technology's energy consumption, e-waste footprint, or use of scarce materials (e.g. rare earth metals in batteries)? |
| Economic factors | Is the technology affordable/accessible to lower-income users? Could it displace jobs, or create new economic opportunities? |
Example
Facial recognition software: it can improve security and convenience, but has been shown to have higher error rates for some ethnicities and genders due to biased training data — raising fairness and privacy concerns, and it requires expensive hardware that not everyone can afford.
💡 Exam Tip
This subtopic is almost always tested as a discussion question worth several marks — structure your answer with a short line per factor rather than one long paragraph, so each valid point is easy for a marker to award marks for.