The future of science and technology sounds so promising . Unprecedented advances in computing , robotics , artificial intelligence , genetics , neuroscience and biotechnology hold the potential to radically transform our world for the better and create mass abundance for all . I sincerely want to believe in this techno-utopian vision of things to come , but my work as a police officer and global security strategist working in more than 70 countries around the world has taught me that there is a darker side to these emerging technologies . The criminal underground is highly innovative and often acts as an early adopter of emerging technologies . As a young police officer , I observed gang members and drug dealers using beepers and mobile phones , long before they were in common use by the general public . Today , criminals are even building their own encrypted radio communications networks , such as the nationwide system developed by narco cartels in Mexico . Watch Marc Goodman 's TED Talk . Technology has made our world increasingly open , and for the most part that has huge benefits for society . Nevertheless , all of this openness may have unintended consequences . Take , for example , the 2008 terrorist assault on Mumbai , India . The perpetrators were armed with AK-47s , explosives and hand grenades . But heavy artillery is nothing new in terrorist operations . The lethal innovation was the way that the terrorists used modern information communications technologies , including smartphones , satellite imagery and night-vision goggles to locate additional victims and slaughter them . Moreover , the terrorists created their own operations center across the border in Pakistan , where they monitored global news broadcasts , online reporting and social media in real time , leveraging the public 's photos , videos and social network updates to kill more people . TED.com : All your devices can be hacked . The terrorists in the Mumbai incident even used search engines during their attack to identify individual hostages and to determine , based upon their backgrounds , who should live or and who should die . These innovations gave terrorists unprecedented situational awareness and tactical advantage over the police and the government . Newer forms of technology are also subject to criminal misuse . Robots are becoming more commonplace , and international organized crime groups and terrorists have lost no time in deploying these technologies as part of their field operations . For example , drug traffickers in Latin America are using robotic submarines to deliver thousands of tons of cocaine annually to the United States . Last year , the FBI arrested a man in Boston who planned to use remote-controlled robotic aircraft packed with explosives to attack both the U.S. Pentagon and Capitol building . In the future , as robots become more widely deployed , so too could their criminal use and exploitation . TED.com : How cyberattacks threaten real-world peace . Advances in the life sciences means it is now possible to design DNA on a computer screen and send the DNA code to a `` bio printer '' for assembly . Our ability to reprogram DNA itself will undoubtedly lead to great advances in medicine , but the danger is that these same techniques can be used to modify viruses , like H5N1 influenza , to become more and more lethal , potentially affecting millions around the globe . To hackers , DNA is just another operating system waiting to be hacked . We are at the dawn of an exponentially advancing technological arms race between people who are using technology for good and those who are using it for ill . Though such battles have gone on since the beginning of time , what has changed is the pace of innovation . New technologies and capabilities are emerging so quickly , it becomes increasingly likely they will outpace the capabilities of public safety officials to respond . The threat is serious , and the time to prepare for it is now . I can assure you that the terrorists and criminals are . TED.com : A 21st century cyber-weapon . Technology is proliferating at an exponential pace and despite law enforcement 's best efforts , cybercrime grows unabated . In coming years , we will witness an explosion in the use of robotics , artificial intelligence , nanotechnology and synthetic biology . There is little to suggest police will be any more prepared for these emerging threats than they were for basic cyber crimes . Our current nation-based legal and policing paradigms have clearly not kept pace with the global threat . The paradigm shifts in crime and terrorism call for a shift to a more open and participatory form of law enforcement . Given the rapid acceleration of technological development , any system that relies on a small , elite force of highly trained government agents may be doomed to failure . Good people in the world far outnumber those with ill intentions . But criminals and terrorists have shown their ability to take up technological arms to harm the general populace . This calls for increased vigilance on the part of ordinary citizens . The tools to change the world are in everybody 's hands . How we use them is not just up to me , it 's up to all of us . Follow @ CNNOpinion on Twitter .
Marc Goodman : It 's tempting to think technology will create a future paradise . He warns that all advances can be exploited by criminals , terrorists . Goodman : Criminals have kept a step ahead of police in using some technologies . He says law enforcement can keep pace by seeking help from vigilant citizens .