A Tank is a tool, a Gun is a tool, that doesn't tell you anything about the nature of the thing being described. A casino Machine is a tool, a Knife is a tool, a hair brush is a tool, still doesn't tell you anything about what the thing being described, except for that it is an object that a person can use to make an impact somehow.
It drives me crazy that when people are talking about the problems with modern technology, someone will always reply with "Its just a tool"
"AI slop is plaguing the internet"
"Its just a Tool"
"Google search results are becoming unusable" "Its just a Tool"
"Phone are negatively impacting peoples health " "Its just a Tool"
No questions about the design behind those tools, who owns them, who has access to them, should they be regulated, what impact they are making, or how people are using them
It reminds me alot of discussions around equality,(gender, race, Disability etc )
"Women should have Equal Rights " So you think they are no biological differences between Men and Women?
A fact is stated(regardless of whether it related to what's being discussed), such that any arguments that come after it automatically Collapses, Shutting down the discussion.
Or, arguments about Cultural Appropriation
"Black hip-hop culture and music is being exploited by a largely white industry"
"So you think that a white boy can't sing to his favorite Rap song"
Its such an individualist view of the world. No-one talks about phone at that scale, otherwise what you have is just a Dumb Phone. No-one talks about TV in terms of just the hardware in your house. You have a device that is actively and in real-time being shaped by Corporations that are more powerful than entire countries. You access to medical health, your access to Information, your Job prospects, your Data, Your access to education, all are shaped and modeled by forces beyond your power and anyone else in your Community. isn't it worth considering the impact of that.
Those devices and networks, in my opinion, are more complex than any Bureaucratic Government System, operating on a scale, larger than any country. They are not "Just a tool", not a Screwdriver, or a Microwave, or a Jar. Just because you can abstract away the industries behind the app you use, doesn't diminish their size
Those companies have real incentives to keep you on their platforms, regardless of how that effects you. Your interests and their, aren't just misaligned but are at odds with one another
But what does the fact they are tools, add to the conversation?
When people say that "It's just a tool", what they really mean is that it's your responsibility to usr them safely and any failure to do so is a failure of the individual and not the system.