Family values constitute a shared network of meaning co-constructed and transmitted through the daily symbols, customs, objects, and communicative practices that bind family members together and evolve alongside technological advancement. Today, with the deep integration of digital technology into everyday life, we increasingly see electronic devices eroding quality family time, algorithms widening generational divides, and immersion in virtual environments dulling sensitivity to the real world. Reaffirming the family as a fundamental social unit is therefore crucial to restoring human agency.

Technological advances transforming carriers of family values

In the era of handicraft workshops, family members worked side by side, engaged in shared technical tasks and production. Collaboration around common goals nurtured a sense of intimacy and forged family values rooted in cohesion and mutual support.

With the onset of the industrial age, modern technology reshaped lifestyles and gradually displaced traditional forms of collective family labor. Opportunities for family members to work toward shared objectives, communicate through collaborative tasks, and cultivate close bonds diminished markedly. Technical operations shifted from everyday, interchangeable activities to specialized ones, limiting flexibility and role exchange within the household. Work became dependent on specialized equipment rather than collaborative effort, unified goals splintered, and traditional values of closeness and cooperation gradually weakened.

The rise of digital technology has once again reshaped family relationships. Building on industrial era technological foundations, digitalization has moved many real-world activities into virtual space, comprehensively altering the modes, functions, and goals of technology. Family members are isolated by electronic devices, each immersed in separate digital environments, resulting in reduced daily interaction. In digital space, the everyday nature of technical operations becomes virtualized, traditional collaboration in technical tasks is replaced by algorithmic coordination, and the unity of goals becomes fragmented and eventually dissipates.

Nurturing family values to counter technological alienation

Despite the profound impact of technology, family values have always served as enduring bonds connecting individuals to one another and to the broader social world, forming a resilient humanistic bulwark against technological alienation. In this respect, China’s traditional family ethics offers a compelling reference point.

In the ancestral craft rules maintained by porcelain-making families in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, for example, the maxims “The 72 steps must not be skipped” and “Making porcelain is like cultivating a person” stand side by side. This pairing of technical precision with moral cultivation illustrates an ethic in which craftsmanship and character development evolve together and principles are conveyed through objects.

In the digital age, traditional family relationships still have the capacity to guide cultural transformation. While digital technology has given rise to new modes of living, it does not inherently conflict with the family. When family values function as intrinsic human needs, technological development can in fact open up new opportunities for their transmission.

Building virtual family connections: Traditional family values are formed through long-term interactions within a shared physical space. Yet virtual space can recreate forms of togetherness across distance, enabling family members to relive emotional memories and pass down family values in new, digitally mediated ways.

Fostering algorithmic family collaboration: In traditional society, collaboration among family members was grounded in shared, practiced skills, with roles both differentiated and interchangeable within a limited physical space. In the boundless digital space, algorithms enable the precise delivery of information, timely reminders, and reasonable planning of tasks. Family members can closely track one another’s well-being, maintain a sense of care and connection, and offer mutual assistance when difficulties arise.

Cultivating intelligent family emotions: With the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence, family members can utilize various smart devices to meet diverse needs and strengthen mutual care and connection.

Deng Xianping is a research fellow from the Institute of Cultural and Ethical Advancement at the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences.