On our way to Smart Cities
Our cities will be controlled by robots… Some cities already are, and some others now are paving the path to that goal...
We are living exciting times today, as Mr. Robot would say. Some years ago I started learning about the immense AI possibilities: from the management of your music playlist to the intelligent control of your whole house, and even the control of a whole city (and soon, I know… the control of the whole world).
My cousin came back to the country for Christmas and brought a little Alexa device. We were amazed at the little object fulfilling orders, searching products on internet, playing music and even answering questions.
But you could use Alexa to manage your own house. Do you want to store guns safely in your room? Maybe you could put Alexa on charge, and if you need to use them someday, a brief order could make your gun cabinet to open for you. I found this on YouTube:
Yeah, that’s it:
— Alexa, I need guns.
— Alexa, close the door.
— Alexa, I need rifles!
I would prefer the cabinet to open a bit faster, because in an urgent situation such slowness could literally kill you; but it’s a beginning.
We are moving at an accelerating pace to a completely digital world, and the only thing that could stop such movement is an absolute social collapse… which is unlikely to happen. It should be global to really stop this process (as Primitivist Luddites would like), but I’m pretty sure it is almost impossible to happen to that extent.
Our cities will be controlled by robots… Some cities already are, and some others now are paving the path to that goal.
Some days ago the BBC showed such process in London:
“Computers are scanning London’s roads, with a 98% accuracy rate in identifying vehicles and people. And they are are learning all the time.”
—BBC News, 7 Feb 2020
So, yes, it is pretty inevitable. The only question now is whether the citizens will be smart enough to control the city or the city will be the one in control… with a tiny elite behind, as always.
Posted from my website:
https://folioj.spirajn.com/en/technology/way-smart-cities/4/
Hong Kong image from: Pixabay
You can share my writings on your social networks and websites; but be so kind as to inform my authorship, as well as the source of the text with a link to my blog.
~Spirajn Senpretend~
Website
Patreon
FloteApp
Minds
Steemit
Weku
Busy
DTube
Facebook SS
Twitter SS
[email protected]
If you want to support my work but this post got beyond 7 days old, please go to my most recent publication, so that your upvote could really reward my efforts.
You could also send a little tip to my wallet.
In any case, I will be grateful for your kind support.
This post earned a total payout of 0.162$ and 0.081$ worth of author reward that was liquified using @likwid.
Learn more.
Hi @spirajn
Technology is the order of the day and currently dominates our lives. I am afraid to put in the hands of Alexa such dangerous things as weapons or support of vital systems, I still do not have enough confidence to leave such vital decisions in their hands. I feel more comfortable delegating things like knowing when to buy food or household items, and I have my doubts about it, because that information of knowing when and what things you are going to buy, can be used in prejudice of anyone, such as to know When will you not be home?
Posted using Partiko Android
Hello friend. You tell things that are very important for the transhumanist thinking, for the understanding of our newest problems in high-tech societies.
This new digital reality, intertwined with our physical one, brings many difficulties that seem completely new (or to be a new version of the old human problems).
Smart cities require the citizens to be completely monitored as dynamic parts of a system whose movements should be organized in the smartest way. But that also implies very serious threats to everyone's privacy.
These are profound and complex issues, and we don't have the answers yet. But we keep thinking about all of this. Perhaps soon we'll arrive at healthy solutions.
But one thing is pretty certain to me: this digitization of the whole human life won't stop.
You have to view this episode of The X-Files if you didn't already:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rm9sbG93ZXJz
Season 11
Episode 7
Amazing. Scary and funny at the same time.
Rm9sbG93ZXJz
"Rm9sbG93ZXJz" is the seventh episode of the eleventh season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode was written by Shannon Hamblin and Kristen Cloke, and directed by Glen Morgan. It aired on February 28, 2018, on Fox. The episode's title is base64 code for "Followers" and the tagline for this episode is "VGhlIFRydXRoIGlzIE91dCBUaGVyZQ==", which translates to "The Truth Is Out There" in Base64.The show centers on FBI special agents who work on unsolved paranormal cases called X-Files; focusing on the investigations of Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) after their reinstatement in the FBI. In this episode, Mulder and Scully deal with various forms of artificial intelligence; and the episode is told with minimal use of dialog.
Oh I will get it now. I loved that series when I was a child (I was very enthusiastic about the UFO affair).
As a filmmaker, it's always amazing for me how one can explore deep questions about reality through fictional stories. That's what the cyberpunk movement is for me: an exploration about our future conditions in a high-tech world.
Cyberpunk was just an art (literary, cinematographic) movement, but the more we face these new conditions, the more it becomes a social movement that describes our human situation.
Distopy (anti-utopy) is important, to know what we have to avoid. Orwell, Huxley...
I like cyberpunk-style drawings.
May find this episode on pahe.in
I got it today by torrent. It was amazing! I completely loved it.
Now I want to research whether that first part (the story about the Twitter bot) is real or not. Maybe it's funny, but I noticed a kind of political SJW speech in that introduction of the chapter. Perhaps that's the stand of the director and writers.
I visited your Minds page (as "Turboyield"). Nice pictures, nice thoughts.
Thank you very much, my friend. I have to come back there and at FloteApp to resume my work, after this month of absence. I'll try to do that today, and add you to my contacts.
I'd written a brief article for a client about smart cities just last week. Did not expect such development to already be taking place in Mexico.
Oh I want to read that. I'll look into your blog!
I know that the majority of people in Steemit don't feel interest in posts that already passed the deadline of rewards, but I do like to gather knowledge about these issues (it's another kind of wealth, cultural wealth).
Unfortunately, I wrote it for a client so it's not here on Steemit. Neither do I own the content anymore.
Oops, I didn't notice the part "for a client". Are you also a journalist/researcher?
More of a researcher or content writer but I prefer to do the journalism thing.
Congratulations @spirajn! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP