Technology is progressing at an ever faster rate, I think we can all agree to that. And there is nothing necessarily wrong with it. But we do need to be cautious and careful…we need to make sure we are fully in control of all this technology. Yes, perhaps I’m being a bit overly dramatic…but take a look at this…
Boston Dynamics “Spot” (Youtube) – Note…Google purchased Boston Dynamics back in 2013.
Isn’t that AMAZING??!! Incredible!! Didn’t you flinch just a bit when Spot was kicked? And the potential uses for Spot is huge…carrying supplies to soldiers in the battle field, searching for bad guys inside buildings, etc…endless possibilities. And it will not be long before there will be a Spot that can run much faster than a human. (Edit: They already do…I just came across this.) And in the wrong hands, Spot could be very deadly too. Just think about 2 or 3 Spots working together.
Edit: Take a look at this video, also by Boston Dynamics. I sure hope they don’t change their name to Cyberdyne Systems.
What about other disruptive technologies coming our way? How about driverless cars. Seriously, it will not be long before they will be on the roads in large numbers. What’s wrong with that? Perhaps nothing. But what if you are a taxi driver? Don’t you just know that a lot of taxi companies are just looking to the day when they can have a fleet of cars, and not have to pay a single driver.
How about airline pilots? Right now, planes can take off, fly to their destinations, and land themselves. Pilots are there to do a bit of taxiing and to take over should something go wrong. In fact, we have an issue now in which some pilot’s flight skills are “rusty” due to the constant use of the autopilot. And, when all of the planes are controlled by computers, guess what happens next? We don’t need all of those flight controllers on the ground….a computer can easily replace them too.
Ok…just one more example…drones…those small remote controlled copters flying everywhere holding a camera. Just an annoyance now, but drone technology is rapidly advancing. In fact, software is being developed that will allow many drones to operate together, in a “hive”, with a single purpose. So lots of cameras flying around? I don’t think so. What if each drone had a small firearm of some type? Ugh…I don’t want to think about this.
Am I being too alarmist? I sure hope so…I really do. And I will keep telling myself that.
Great post! I agree that this is something we need to pay attention too. A main security problem with technology is that it is created by humans and thus it can be broken. Look at Apple with its closed ecosystem, arguably the most secure mobile OS in the world and every month or so, developers in the general public are finding exploits that they can use to jailbreak the OS. That’s nothing against Apple. It just shows that given enough time, energy and resources, anything can be hacked. (Sony, Target, HomeDepot, Anthem, etc…) We write code that we hope is secure enough to thwart hackers but in reality, we need something that is actively defending itself from hackers in real time. Once we get to quantum computing, which isn’t that far off (relatively speaking), our modern security protocols & data encryption will be rendered useless should someone use a quantum computer against any system.
Resistance is Futile.
This reminds me of ‘paranoid Shane’ that has decided to one day hide out in the woods and live off the land. š