For my long paper, I focused on a short story out of Brave New Worlds called “The Perfect Match” by Ken Liu. Basically, the story takes place in a futuristic society in which each individual is constantly accompanied by a technological presence known as “Tilly”. Tilly essentially monitors, records and interprets the actions and supposed needs of each individual, making regular suggestions that range from what to eat for breakfast, to who to date and for how long. While the concept is initially portrayed in the story as helpful, I think many of us would view this is as both creepy and invasive. It made me wonder what kind of innovative, “helpful” technology actually exists today that could be considered potentially  threatening to the privacy and independence of individuals.

I came across this article titled “10 Mind-Reading Tech Projects that might freak you out” (http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/323668/10-mind-reading-tech-projects-that-might-freak-you-out), and, needless to say, they all did. The first project introduced (and possibly one of the most unsettling) is Mind Sense, an initiative put forth by NASA and car company Jaguar “which will measure a driver’s brain waves to see if they’re alert enough to drive and then warn them if they’re not”. The researchers allege that this technology is not meant to read driver’s minds, but rather determine their level of focus and attention to surroundings. In other words, a car would be able to assess whether or not its driver is fit to drive. I do understand how this technology could be revolutionary in preventing auto accidents and, to that effect, saving lives – but at what cost? Initially, the program could be designed as a beeping alert reminding the driver to pay attention, but who is to say it wouldn’t escalate into someone not being able to start their car because their mind was focused on other things?

Modern technology is often viewed at some utopian solution to human fault, but I think there needs to exist a delicate balance between man and machine. Allowing technology to monitor or make decisions for us – even if it is in the name of safety – effectively reduces our free will. This, in my eyes, is more reflective of a dystopia.