A single robot programmed to do a specific does not seem all that harmless to us, but what happens when we decide to build a whole swarm of them to the same task much more quicker? As the article “The 1,000-robot swarm” points out, when robots work together collectively in organized fashion, they tend to accomplish tasks that no single human nor machine can handle. It would be a little fun to watch artificially intelligent robots navigating their environment trying to reach a goal but having to stop to solve a problem to get there, such as forming a bridge or climbing a high and slippery wall. It would also be handy to have a swarm of robots programmed to clean roaming around the house when it is vacant so they can do their thing while the family is out. Although this does raise the question of how domesticated a swarm should be, particularly if the robots can communicate with each other. What if a glitch possibly existing in their programming might be exploited to the point where when they swarm, they could house potential dangers. Just the idea of a robot swarm coming right at you is scary enough. Although the idea of having a swarm of robots do your bidding seems cool and all, it seems especially attractive to people with malicious intent. Robots do not have to be very large to form a swarm and would be able to easily infiltrate someone’s home for thieves and other criminals to spy on their targets or even sabotage targets. Should something like this be available to the public or not? Personally, I do not think it should. It requires too much money, monitoring and legalities such as privacy and overall potential endangerment. Just imagine if a whole swarm of artificially intelligent robots had gone rogue and imagine the size of it. Personally, it is not worth the risk to me, but in a controlled environment it seems like a cool idea to bring to life.
Wearable technology is no doubt in my opinion one of the most convenient sources of technology in this day and age. The article “All the Things You Can Track With Wearables” addresses the fitness tracking of many activities being done outdoors or indoors and the results of such activities, such as the amount of steps taken during a hike and the amount of calories burned from said hike. The most common form of wearable technology would appear to be the wristwatch when it comes to tracking our movements and bodily functions. This led me to think about all the tracking being done in the first place and how that could be exploited. The article did touch up on GPS location tracking on wearables and given the fact that these devices can also measure number of steps, distance traveled, workout routes, and floors climbed, if such devices were tracked by means other than the companies that provided them, they could risk a real security issue for customers. Even the fact that the companies that produce such devices can also keep the tracking data still provides a risk factor. All it takes is some dedicated low-life criminal to find a way to hack into the devices wirelessly and obtain enough data to figure out the resting place of the customer, or possibly more likely to steal the device itself somehow and gather the data from there. The point being if companies had the capability to access and store the data calculated through the devices worn by their customers, should they do so in the first place? It would definitely be useful for organizing and evaluating health statistics in the general area where customers live. It is only GPS and distance tracking that would raise a few eyebrows such as my own. Companies would face the temptation of exploiting such tracking data for their own benefits to increase sales and some would consider sharing it with other companies without the consent of their customers, if they know that was happening at all. Personally, I support the use of wearable technology to helps customers keep track of their daily routines and improve their lifestyles accordingly to the data their devices provide. It would just be more favorable if such data was not stored permanently by contributing companies and third-parties, particularly the type generated by GPS locations and actual routine tracking. Otherwise, I would personally purchase a smart wearable device myself.
|