Tim Ajmani
The Corsair
When is too much of a good thing a bad thing? Sometimes too much easy is dangerous and detrimental to us. For example, look at technological advances made in the automobile industry. Ten years ago, having cars “park” themselves was unthinkable. But now, Ford has enabled the feature in their compact Focus vehicle. In the case of Mercedes-Benz, they have technology which allows for the car to sense if the driver behind the wheel is falling asleep. All of this sounds good in theory, but from my perspective it is a bit disturbing. I wouldn’t want technology thinking for myself in situations like that.
I know this might convince people that I’m pessimistic. What usually comes to mind when technology “thinks” for itself is in science fiction movies. I know you guys have probably seen movies like Jurassic Park, where computerized genetically engineered dinosaurs break out and eventually take over the park in which they were contained. Movies like that should not merely remind us and cause us to fear. It should just be that little voice in the back of our heads that is saying “careful”…
Yes, I know that particular movie is a bit of a stretch to compare to cars “thinking” for us. But the point I am driving is the same. Our society is advancing in its technological aspects so rapidly, that often we forget things. Remember the Toyota mass recall? Those flaws were found many YEARS after that brake technology was implemented. From a realistic standpoint, it’s just not possible that technology has grown to the point that it can think of every possible situation that occurs in an automobile. What if it perceives a driver is drifting into sleep when he or she is not?
I may be grasping at straws here, but I don’t think that having technology think like that is good for our society, at least not yet. I know companies, like Ford, will spend hours testing this kind of stuff, and countless situations and possibilities, but ultimately in the end technology could be a detriment in this case. We, as humans, are living things; computerized brains in automobiles (and many other products) are manufactured to think a certain way. They are supposed to react to the expected. What happens when the unexpected occurs?
Unexpected situations occur in driving every day. How will this technology react? Again, I might be nitpicking here. But this should be cause for a little worry.