Like almost every homeowner these days, we have a WiFi network that enables us to connect our various devices to the wider world. That same network also feeds a variety of entertainment channels to televisions upstairs and down. And we have several light switches connected so that they can be turned on remotely, as well as thermostats that do the same. However, while our doorbell has a video feed in it, we don’t really use it, and neither have we put cameras all around the place. In short, our house is smarter than some, dumber than others.
By and large this arrangement between us and our "things" is a monologue and not a dialogue. To be accurate, there is some exchange going on, but it is extremely limited. As such it might better be described as a call and response system. I call and request an action: turn off the lights, turn up the heat, turn on the radio. The device in question performs the action and responds back with a confirmation. That’s it. There is no discussion, no negotiation, no talk about what we might have for dinner.
Until now. The so called "internet of things" is pushing further and further into our lives whether we want it to or not. On the surface it seems like a reasonable idea: interconnect all the devices in your world to make it easier on you. With a modicum of specialized yet limited intelligence, each device can be the master of its own domain, and report back as needed. Everyone stays in their own lane, focused strictly on their assigned task, with you as the benevolent overlord.
That said, there appear to be a few busybodies in the mix.
All these devices have to have a hub, a control point, a place to which they report. While it can be your phone, that is not the only smarty pants in the system. Like many, we also have what is generically called a "smart speaker." While our choice was the Amazon variant, there are models from Google, Apple and others. Each offers voice control not only of music, but of other smart devices connected through their own ecosystem. So turning on the lights is as simple as saying, well, "Turn on the lights."
But I guess if you talk about one thing you can talk about another. While we should have seen this coming, it appears that the machines are doing more than just responding: they are talking about us behind our backs. It started when we got a new printer and hooked it into the system. With no prompting from us, it shared its status with its other inanimate friends. It’s not like I introduced them at a neighborhood blocktail party. Rather, they shared a nod as if they were both at the end of their driveways checking their mailboxes at the same time.
And so it was that yesterday I got an email that said that, based on our usage and past orders, our smart speaker thought we might need more ink. Mind you, this is not just some time stamp whereby X months go by, and based on average use we might be in need of a fill up. No, this is based on our own individual personal track record as reported back from one independent device to the mothership, who then took the initiative upon itself to send us a memo. Simply put, our printer ratted us out to Alexa.
It's not that the two of them are wrong: we do need ink. And while they may be smarter than me, they lack opposable thumbs, and so it is left to me to actually do something if I so choose. As such they are hardly a threat to my well-being. Still, I’m not sure I like that my technology is, if not spying on me, at least monitoring my actions and suggesting course corrections.
In "Brave New World," Aldous Huxley writes about a dystopian world controlled through drugs and technology. The main character revolts, saying "I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin." My needs are simpler. But even if I just want ink, I still want to be the one to decide.
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Marc Wollin of Bedford still controls his remotes, but for how long? His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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