A bit of girl-on-girl action in the tech section…
By Claire Dukes
It’s 2017, and much to my dismay the view outside my window doesn’t quite resemble Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (maybe Denis Villeneuve will be more on track for 2049). But one thing Scott did get pretty bang on is that we would have machines we could control by voice command. One of them is called Alexa.
Alexa’s been around in the UK since 2016, and has become like part of the family for some people (but really she’s a voice control system).
Connected to Amazon Echo, she sits in your home, will play music you like, order a take-out or Uber, send texts, and make a note of things you need/intend to do. Sounds great! Right?
So far I’m doing just fine without Alexa.
I mean, I’m pretty capable of doing most of what she can (independent woman and all), although I’ll admit not as quickly or submissively… So, what’s the deal with this chick?
From a male perspective, maybe it’s nice to know you have a woman around who will do as you command all day long? Although, I don’t think Alexa’s making sandwiches just yet but I’m sure she could recommend a great place to get one (winning)!
Then again, I’m sure the majority of people are familiar with that Facebook fiasco with the robots?
If not, basically they went rogue, or off script, and just made up their own language to chit chat in.
A modern outlook on Amazon’s Echo could prove quite convenient, especially if you’re juggling children, or simply can’t be asked to cook, or reach for the remote, because luckily day or night “Alexa is always listening”.
I’m sorry, does this not freak anyone else out?
Give it a few years and I predict a horror film will be made about Alexa. “Alexa is always listening” is a great working title (and to be fair, if executed well, it could actually be quite a good film, maybe because it’s drawing on modern day technology that we now have in our homes - the horror! The horror!)
Another theory of mine is that Amazon’s Echo is the closest thing to telekinesis us mere mortals have reached so far (I mean being Dr Jean Grey is the dream, before she goes full Phoenix). Or are we really just breeding laziness?
You say “Alexa” and my mind agressively plays back that scene in Wall-E where we find out where all the humans have gone.
Spoiler alert: they’re up in space, riding around on hoverchairs, morbidly obese, and never having to lift a finger because technology does it all for them.
Needless to say Wall-E took quite a dystopian approach towards the years to come, but it’s probably a wake up call, and reality check, we really need.
I like to think the future’s bright, because it’s certainly not Orange, and I also hope it’s not Alexa.