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Smart home device manufacturers are competing to see which is more well-aligned with the scifi surveillance state dystopian future - a home studded with fisheye security cams, or a home punctuated with a thousand ears.
Most of us have been hearing about the Internet of Things (IoT) for quite sometime now. It had a modest peak in its hype cycle less than ten years ago. In fact, IoT was one of the less-hyped segments of the digital revolution, which is unfortunate because it is so related to security concerns. Had we seen this coming we could have been more vigilant about certain aspects of our digital vulnerabilities.
Now it's here. Actually, I'll say that it was here last year just about this time - when every home I visited after the holidays had a new "digital home assistant." It was a very popular gift.
Take this to the next level and you can imagine a not too distant future that combines the sensory system provided by an IoT, and the artificially-intelligent ability to integrate these disparate data channels into a coherent entity and a self like none other.
All these ears and eyes, as well as all the other sensors that we don't even notice so readily, such as temperature or footstep pressure or even our electrical field, will combine into one thing. A planet, a body, hard to categorize, it will see, hear, and feel everything - our entire anthroposphere will be aware.
Meanwhile, the thought of a building listening to me is way creepier than the thought of it looking at me. And I'm less creeped out about a building that can tell if I'm angry by measuring my body temperature and pulserate, because I just have nothing to compare that to. It's not as invasive only because I have nothing to associate it with.
Notes:
What's next for smart homes: An 'Internet of Ears?'
Nov 2018, phys.org
FBI tells router users to reboot now to kill malware infecting 500k devices
May 2018, Ars Technica
Biohacking
anything that gets implanted into our bodies now has an RFID chip in it, which means it's part of the IoT, which means we're part of the IoT.
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