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Amazing video. Dystopian, yes, but dystopian visions are a useful counterbalance to the optimism and short-term thinking of most day-to-day tech news and discus

Amazing video. Dystopian, yes, but dystopian visions are a useful counterbalance to the optimism and short-term thinking of most day-to-day tech news and discussion. It outlines the negatives of what could develop in the future, and it gives us all a jolt - shit, we realise, this stuff needs to be taken seriously. The imperative now is for us to monitor the development of these technologies and see that the negatives are minimised and the positives optimised. Because of course there are plenty of positives. This technology could have absolutely amazing applications - just like all of the technologies we are haphazardly developing, there is awesome potential for both good and bad. The difference in outcomes will derive from the choices we all make as they emerge and mature. Summary: a bit of fear is healthy here. Now it's time to start imagining the opposite of this video: how could such technologies make our lives and planet amazing?

graue 14y ago
There are plenty of positives in the film — the cool flightsim, the lack of need for a physical TV, help with cooking... heck, the dating app was even helping improve the dude's love life up until he revealed he used it at the end. I think the point is that these helpful augmentations, taken too far, become harmful. But if we really want to improve the world, I like the counter in the fridge telling you how many days each food will stay good. That could be enhanced. What if, when you know you have too many zucchinis, you could click a 'share' button and instantly offer them to friends in your apartment building, so they end up in a neighbor's stir-fry and not the trash? Or let Sight predict your cooking habits for the next week based on past behavior, so when you're shopping, it can beep, put a red outline around the zucchini and say "recommend not buying - likely to rot before use." This kind of tech could seriously reduce food waste, which is a big deal in the developed world. I don't have a citation on hand for how much food gets thrown away in the US, but I believe it's over 25 percent.

graue 14y ago

There are plenty of positives in the film — the cool flightsim, the lack of need for a physical TV, help with cooking... heck, the dating app was even helping improve the dude's love life up until he revealed he used it at the end. I think the point is that these helpful augmentations, taken too far, become harmful. But if we really want to improve the world, I like the counter in the fridge telling you how many days each food will stay good. That could be enhanced. What if, when you know you have too many zucchinis, you could click a 'share' button and instantly offer them to friends in your apartment building, so they end up in a neighbor's stir-fry and not the trash? Or let Sight predict your cooking habits for the next week based on past behavior, so when you're shopping, it can beep, put a red outline around the zucchini and say "recommend not buying - likely to rot before use." This kind of tech could seriously reduce food waste, which is a big deal in the developed world. I don't have a citation on hand for how much food gets thrown away in the US, but I believe it's over 25 percent.