Chapter 7.3: The End is Nigh

We love our technology, and believe me, I love my laptop far far more that I should love any inanimate object. I can understand wanting things to run more efficiently, more smoothly. But I think at some point we need to step back from our drive towards making something better and worry about whether or not we've given it the ability to kill us in our sleep.

For my PK Dick class, we recently read the short story "Second Variety" which talks about these robots called claws that have developed to the point where they imitate people to get close enough to chop you to pieces. At the end you see that one variety of robot even has weapons to use against the other varieties, which sometime in the near future will mean all out robot war. But all the humans will be dead by that time. Oh, and the robots are made in automated factories buried beneath the surface. To quote Will Smith "Robots making robots? Now that's just stupid."

Anyone who has seen a movie about robots or the uprising of the machines knows just what a bad idea this production of robots is. In I, Robot you get the master robot overpowering the three laws that keep people safe from rogue robots and turn them against humanity. Now who wants to own a robot? In Eagle Eye you have a program meant to identify threats using all kind of technology that is against our basic rights to privacy. It hacks in to any technology (traffic cams, cell phones, digital ticker tape, the TVs that play in storefronts) to gather information and make sure that it's dastardly plan comes to fruition, via blackmail of Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. And who's been living under a rock so long they've never heard of Skynet?

Well sure, you say, anyone can write a story or make a movie about robots and machines taking over the world. But it's fiction; that'll never actually happen. We're smarter than the people in books and movies. We can learn from their fictional mistakes.

Yeah, sadly, this is kind of not true. Exhibit A: the Pentagon commissioned a robotics company to develop robots who are able to exist by eating organic matter. Doesn't sound so terrifying right? Well organic matter includes grass, broken wood, and dead bodies. Yes, that's right, our own government has asked for a a robot that can live off of the fallen in the field. I ask you, what special programming makes sure that your robot only eats corpses, as opposed to eating people while they sleep? Don't believe me? You can read about the robots here, here and here

Still not convinced that humans just don't know how to quit when they're ahead? Check out the newest incarnation of Monopoly:

This coming fall, you can purchase Monopoly Live, a version that has an omnipotent tower in the middle of the board. The board watches your game piece, automatically adding money to your bank card when you pass go, calculating rent prices, and always remembering exactly how much money you have. When the designers were asked what's missing from the game, one responded "The disputes. The tower never makes a mistake."

You know what else is missing? The common sense that tells you not to make a machine who remembers your every move. Also, doesn't that thing look like it could coordinate an attack between your appliances and cell phone? I think I'd be installing a lock on my door if this game ever entered my house.