Technology Kills--Alexa, Smart Voice Boxes are another assault on your humanity and freedom

Judith Shulvitz in the latest issue of the Atlantic in Alexa, Should we Trust You? details how easily we can fall for smart voice boxes and the dangers they pose. "The voice revolution has only just begun. Today, Alexa is a humble servant. Very soon, she could be much more—a teacher, a therapist, a confidant, an informant."

Some key points from the article,

--By 2021, there will be almost as many personal-assistant bots on the planet as people.

--The company that succeeds in cornering the smart-speaker market will lock appliance manufacturers, app designers, and consumers into its ecosystem of devices and services, just as Microsoft tethered the personal-computer industry to its operating system in the 1990s.

--Shulvitz believes that smart boxes will be just as dramatic as telephones and computers in shaping society.

--When we converse with our personal assistants, we bring them closer to our own level.

--Once our electronic servants become emotionally savvy, they could wield a lot of power over us.
--Wait till AI is embedded that can read our emotional state in our voices and can learn our behavior to manipulate us.

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