Amid the negative headlines, it’s easy to forget the tech industry can still amaze and do good too

It’s easy as a journalist to become jaded about the tech industry. We usually focus on its many troubles: rampant misinformation and racism on social media, artificial intelligence run amok , and Big Tech allegedly using its market dominance to abuse users and customers.

And those are just a few of the problems.

But there are also many bright spots, which is what I want to focus on today. You see, I could use a pick-me-up going into the weekend.

Oddly, I was reminded of the bright spots recently when I used a smartphone app to scan paper documents and turn them into digital PDFs in order to accomplish some bureaucratic task. Every time I use the app, I’m intrigued. Admittedly, it’s far from cutting-edge technology. Maybe I’m fascinated by the app because it’s so useful—I don’t have a printer or scanner at home to do the job—and it saves me time and money, without much technical fuss required on my end.

Yesterday, I felt amazement again when I saw a video from Google DeepMind showing an AI-powered robot playing table tennis against a human . The robot may not be ready to win an Olympic gold medal , but it could keep a credible rally—despite all the randomness involved in the game—and win 13 of 29 matches .

Table tennis isn’t the end game for the technology, of course. A robot that is nimble enough and can quickly think on its feet could eventually be useful in manufacturing, for example.

Tech is, of course, also saving lives in hospitals —more with every innovation—and saving doctors time so they can focus more on patients instead of paperwork . And it’s helping fight fires plaguing the West Coast every summer.

I’m writing this while occasionally toggling to the latest tech news headlines this morning. It’s not pretty out there: More than 4,000 layoffs are expected at Cisco , Intel is delaying one of its biggest events because of its broader business troubles, and critics are accusing Apple of defying European regulators .

Clearly, the tech industry—i.e. tech executives—must do better. But, being that jaded journalist, I'm not holding my breath.

So sometimes we all need a reminder that tech, despite it all, can still amaze and do good. I know I do.

Verne Kopytoff

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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com