Tech You Thought Black Mirror Was Making Up
Charlie Brooker’s television series, Black Mirror, is well known for its ability to showcase a world enriched with technology – then turning everything around and showing how bad said technology can be. From the neural implants showcased in “The Entire History of You” that allow you to record everything you see and hear, to the dating app in “Hang the DJ” that pairs you with someone and designates a required amount time you have to spend together, Brooker has warned us how easily technological advancement can go wrong if we aren’t careful. What if some of these science fiction-esque inventions were real, though?
Or at least, in development to be real. While not as widespread or easily accessible as anything in the series, some of the technology in Brooker’s series is becoming a reality. Sadly, nothing can connect your consciousness to a computer system just yet, but robot bees and social credit scores are on the table.
While it may not be as radical or outlandish as the others, the invention of augmented reality, or AR, is the closest to being implemented into society. While virtual reality, or VR, immerses you in a completely virtual world of your choice, AR simply augments the world you currently see, as demonstrated in the episode, “Playtest”. Inventions like Google Glass and Pokemon Go exemplify two points on the spectrum as to how AR can be used, whether it be for productivity or for recreation, respectively.
Though there are no methods of scanning your mind in order to tailor a game to you (luckily), Microsoft’s new HoloLens is making its way into the video game industry. Both the current and perspective games are relatively simple but by the time the HoloLens hits the market for consumers, it could be capable of a game as eerie and realistic as Shou Saito’s project in “Playtest”.
Next on the list are computer programs capable of imitating people by reading their social media. Now it doesn’t completely replicate you as it does Ash in “Be Right Back”, but a program titled “Tofu”, or @tofu_product, has the ability to begin to mimic your personal speech patterns on Twitter. At this point, Tofu is relatively simple; a speech-bot (which have been around for years now) is programmed, but scans your social media feed (in this case, Twitter) and picks up key words and terms that you commonly use. Tofu then replaces words in its response with the key words and terms it found in order to mimic you.
Luckily for us, the bot’s creator, Joe Toscano, would rather Tofu remain a side project with the limitations and simplicity is currently has. That being said, a bot who can scan through all of your social feeds and text messages to imitate your way of speaking is one insane computer programmer away.
Now is when we start getting really similar to Black Mirror. AR and speech-bots have been around for a while so it isn’t that surprising that they are starting to become more advanced. Robotic bees, though?
Eijiro Miyako of Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology must have been watching Black Mirror, because this is right out of “Hated in the Nation”. As honeybees neared extinction due to colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon in which beehives die out due to the sudden disappearance of worker bees, an independent company began developing robotic bees that would be able to cross-pollinate plants themselves. The only difference between Black Mirror and reality is that Brooker’s idea looked like a bee, while Miyako’s “bees” are small drones covered in pollen-attracting horsehair. While they are still in trail phases, Miyako is looking to automate the drones in order to truly emulate the nature of our endangered, yellow-clad friends.
Finally, we have something truly eerie. Robotic bees? Crazy, but disappearing bees have been an issue for years now so it isn’t surprising that someone is doing something. Social credit scores? That’s borderline infringing on copyright.
Yes, asocial program that is quite similar to the social score seen in “Nosedive” is beginning to be introduced in China. While individuals won’t be able to rate others in an “out-of-five-stars” manner, you can and will be rated by the government with a score that reflects the kind of citizen you are. Everyone begins with 1000 “points”, and an individual’s score changes depending on things such as getting traffic tickets (lowering your score), or donating to charities (raising your score). Those with high scores receive benefits such as renting things without having to pay a deposit, discounts on their bills, and getting better terms for bank loans. Even when buying a house, your social score will come in to play. While the trial tests have appeared to make people more cautious of how they function and appear within society, this seems like slippery slope that could easily turn sour.
I want to be clear: I am not saying that humanity is on a crash course to destruction because of the technology we develop. Every day humanity takes steps to being more bad-ass through technological advancement. Things like VR, personality-replicating AI, robot bees, and even social credit scores can and will probably be incredible inventions. With every step we take though, we must be aware of the dangers that lurk in carelessness, and Black Mirror is a perfect piece of art that makes us consider these possibilities.
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