If you constantly watch TV shows and movies, like me, then you might have noticed the sudden surge of cautionary tales concerning technology like Westworld, Black Mirror, Mr. Robot, and the upcoming film The Circle. Sure we have had disaster-ridden technology in the past with Terminator and Back to the Future and other entertainments of the like; however, with all of those, the technology seemed so outlandishly out of our reach that even if they were to become problems, we would not encounter them until much further down the line. In this new string of technology cautionary, the tech is already here or on the cusp of tomorrow.
I know what you might say, “The realistic robots in Westworld are no-where close to real.” Although robotics still has a ways to go, artificial intelligence has become increasingly complex and to some degree has already been applied to the gaming world as well as to Apple’s Siri and IBM’s Watson. I could go through each movie and show and nitpick, but the brunt of my argument is this: while technology has long been associated with the narrative of the future, it has transitioned to the narrative of today. Technology has become so interwoven with today’s society that we have formed a symbiotic relationship with it. The advancing of technology will continue to share a connection with futuristic narratives, but it is now common and almost necessary to feature technology throughout entertainment in order to accurately reflect our norms.
If you have not watched any of the shows listed above, I highly recommend them, as well as seeing The Circle when it comes out (the book was very good and it stars Tom Hanks and Emma Watson). Attached is an article from Ringer listing the technologies featured in Black Mirror, and how far away we are from achieving them.
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