Not long ago I came across this Deflocked comic strip and was amused.
Then I remembered that Non Sequitur had published a multi-day series of strips dealing with much the same idea last February and the whole thing seemed less amusing. Now, I’m not making any accusations, or anything like that, but the suggestion is clearly being made that these “artificial intelligence” devices COULD be up to no good. I try not to think of myself as a “conspiracy theorist nutcase,” but it’s getting harder to really be sure of what’s actually going on. So, with sincere appreciation of Wiley’s work, I present some of his commentary on digital “assistants” and what they have done (and may be doing) to our society and us.
Perhaps I’ve read too much of Isaac Asimov’s science fiction for my own good, but I find myself longing for the (perhaps) naïve universe of Susan Calvin where it was believed that robotic devices would be constructed which could do no harm.
Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case, when even our homes and cars are being created to spy on us in the name of “efficiency and simplicity.” It should be obvious that I really don’t have a lot against technology in general, but I’m simple-minded enough to be concerned about the increasing lack of anything resembling privacy and enhanced dependence on a less than completely secure Internet in our daily lives. I believe that everyone needs a place where they can just be themself; without being forced into a “transparency” which penetrates too deeply and implies some “socially mandated need to share.”
I think that we used to have a place called a “soul” which was personal and private, but that’s probably changed, too, in this techno-dominated world. Still, I think it’s important to protect that place as a place of personal privacy, however crazy that may seem. Everybody really doesn’t need to know everything.
LLAP,
Dr. B
Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case, when even our homes and cars are being created to spy on us in the name of “efficiency and simplicity.” It should be obvious that I really don’t have a lot against technology in general, but I’m simple-minded enough to be concerned about the increasing lack of anything resembling privacy and enhanced dependence on a less than completely secure Internet in our daily lives. I believe that everyone needs a place where they can just be themself; without being forced into a “transparency” which penetrates too deeply and implies some “socially mandated need to share.”
I think that we used to have a place called a “soul” which was personal and private, but that’s probably changed, too, in this techno-dominated world. Still, I think it’s important to protect that place as a place of personal privacy, however crazy that may seem. Everybody really doesn’t need to know everything.
LLAP,
Dr. B
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