Age of AI

Ray Bradbury Knew What He Was Writing About

The Internet is Kinda Whack and It Can Be Dangerous

Ray Bradbury has long been one of my favorite authors. I don't read much by him; to be honest, I haven't been reading much at all in the past few years. In any case, he writes captivating anti-technology short stories, novels, and screenplays (he wrote one for the twilight zone, with the episode titled: I Sing the Body Electric).  Like Ray Bradbury, there are many voices out there --there have been, there are, and there will be-- who oppose, perhaps not the advancement of technology itself, but the technology that can be a danger to out privacy, safety, and the special thing that sets us apart from other things, the thing that makes us human.

In our current technological state, the most concerned-about thing is privacy. Will our information be sold to foreign countries? To our government? Will it be hacked by people wanting to steal and sell our identities? Will the government have access to everything we say and do in the presence of a laptop, phone, or an Alexa? 

Naïve as ever, it is my hope that our government will not invade our privacy unless necessary. I even think there are many benefits to the government having access to our texts, emails, and searches. Without access to these things, it would be so much harder to catch murderers, thieves, kidnappers, and other such rogues, ruffians, and law-breakers. 

On the other hand, it's perfectly reasonable as to why one would be afraid, timid, or hesitant to share their intimate online personhood and offline conversations with the government and the whole of the internet. There's so much that can go wrong, and there's such a tempting opportunity to abuse the power of information. Every person must come to their own conclusion, where they stand on technology, and what they choose do to. Even so, technology will continue to advance, and there's seldom we can do about it.

Stay Spicy, Drink Water, Eat a Hershey's Chocolate Bar