Any new technology or ability is usually a force multiplier, it makes you more efficient. The bad thing is that you can begin to rely on this, and then it becomes a crutch. Swipe the crutch and you become far worse off than you were back when you had never heard of the technology.
In the martial arts I've hacked around with (shaolin kempo, swordfighting according to Musashi Miyamoto, and isshinryu karate), the pinnacle of understanding appears to be that all encounters are avoidable. You have the power to choose, so you just choose the safe path in life. The core question then appears to be whether that safe life is worth living. FYI, Musashi Miyamoto apparently spent the last years of his life living in a mountain cave practicing his penmanship.