The War Against the Machines Has Already Been Lost
The machines have taken over and humanity is on the run. This is the theme of such massive budget sci-fi film franchises as Terminator or The Matrix. We’ve become dependent on technology, and computers are in more and more of our devices. And as a game designer will tell, they’re even trying to make it so the AI in the games can beat humans. You’d think this is practically training the machines to beat us in a future war.
Likewise, there is a warning in sci-fi TV shows as well, where Star Trek’s Borg or Doctor Who’s Cybermen warn that humans can lose their humanity as they become “enhanced” through digital devices.
And despite these prophecies, which make for decent storytelling, I’m not worried about the machines taking over. I don’t foresee any global war where the computers want to rule the world. For me a future of cyber-dependent – if not cyber-enhanced – humans is more what I see the future bringing. And in some ways I think the war against the machines has already been lost!
Don’t get me wrong. As I often say I love technology, and I’m a constant early adopter. But when my parents can’t get from point A to point B without firing up the computer and the printer so they can use MapQuest or Google Maps I know the machines are winning the war. Didn’t my 60-something parents survive for decades without requiring these maps? More recently my 50-something uncle proved that driving and multitasking is entirely acceptable too, as he has become utterly dependent on his built-in GPS device in his car.
“Do you know where you are going,” I asked?
“Yes, I do… but I have the GPS.”
Oh, well that makes all the difference to me! Neither of these cases is a rallying cry against technology. It is just that in the case of my parents it seems to me it takes longer to go through the steps to get the directions than it would to pull out a map! And in my uncle’s case I don’t understand why the GPS device is necessary to confirm what you already know.
So maybe it isn’t the machines are winning the war. What we seldom see in these works of fiction is who is behind the curtain. And when we do it is usually someone – or something – less dependent on the technology. The Cyber Controller was a human, and the Borg Queen wasn’t entirely assimilated. They could be a perfect symbol for the designers and engineers of these technology devices. “If we build it, they will use it,” they would say, complete with a sinister laugh.
That isn’t to say that this technology isn’t great. It allows us greater connectivity with our colleagues. It makes communication through distant parts of the world affordable, and it makes the sharing of information possible in ways that had never been possible! The problem is that the technology has really also made us very dependent on it. If there is an Internet outage we can’t work, if the computer breaks we can’t work, if the cell battery dies we are all but unreachable.
I don’t have a solution for these problems. And I will continue to embrace new technology. I just find it ironic that the movies and TV try to say that the machines might take over. The fact is that the machines already dominate our lives – we just don’t notice.
