Yesterday Russia announced turning to facial recognition software to tackle the spread of coronavirus, while authorities worldwide are taking advantage of the latest tech to track and trace the infected.

24/7 Surveillance

Moscow’s employing the latest technology to track its residents during the coronavirus lockdown. The facial recognition software can even track faces through face masks, so there really is no escape. Perhaps that’s why the streets of the capital are eerily deserted, a far cry from the parks and gardens of London right now, where people continue to flout the lockdown rules and enjoy the unseasonably sunny UK weather.

Worries for the Future

One resident was captured on camera and fined for leaving his home (after being under quarantine following an international flight) to take out the trash, which seems a little extreme. In terms of keeping those in quarantine at home, it may sound like a great idea, but some Moscow residents rightly have concerns about what will happen once this is all over. Will Big Brother still be watching, and what does that mean for personal freedom in Russia’s capital city?

Lockdown in Moscow

The city is using over 170,000 cameras to track every movement of the public — although this is currently being used mostly to track and trace those who have been ordered to self-quarantine during the pandemic. There are plans to extend the network, so no dark alley or corner of the city is left uncovered, with the city working to install 9,000 additional cameras as we speak. When the pandemic is over, many of these cameras will remain in place. Whether they’ll still track residents’ movements using facial recognition, who knows — and indeed, will those living in the city even be aware?

Tech Crackdown on the Virus

Worldwide, authorities and governments are turning to tech to trace those with the virus and ensure quarantines and lockdown are adhered to. In Israel, the counter-terrorism agency has the ability to monitor location data on cell phones, allowing them to alert those who come close to a known coronavirus case, while in Singapore, the TraceTogether app lets authorities identify anyone who has been exposed to those with the virus. It’s all a bit concerning, really, as Human Rights Watch and Privacy International said in their statement:

“An increase in state digital surveillance powers, such as obtaining access to mobile phone location data, threatens privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of association.”

But as the number of people infected worldwide surpasses a million and deaths near 52,000, are governments and authorities around the world doing the right thing by infringing on our human right to privacy? And will things ever go back to normal, once the coronavirus pandemic is over?

In case you believe AI won’t radically modify our future, here are the three fields in which this technology will change it all.

Healthcare

One of the fields in which AI will influence the most is in the healthcare sector. After all, this technology allows the quickest and most effective diagnosis of every kind of disease, in addition to the development of different types of services that are currently non-existent. Naturally, this situation represents a turning point in the field since it will enhance its efficiency, but it would probably traduce in a significant personnel reduction in clinics and hospitals.

On the one hand, the use of AI in the healthcare sector will speed up and streamline drug discovery, develop virtual nursing services for every patient, and even allow a big data analysis help in order to create the most personalized patient experience.

While this is an undeniable progress in the field, on the other hand, the collateral damage would be the personnel reduction that will take place in clinics and hospitals, which could translate into major protests that would destabilize the political reality of different countries around the world.

Education

Over the last few decades, different analysts and intellectuals have been predicting the effects that technology will inevitably have on education, given the fact that with the rise of mass communications media, along with the internet and social media platforms, people’s access to information has been easier than ever before.

However, the rise of AI has been considered such a game-changer that its influence in education would be massive. In fact, there are some innovations this last generation is already experiencing, like the digital textbooks and the way virtual tutors assist human instructors.

But far from ending there, AI will also expand into facial analysis recognition, which will be able to determine the exact emotions of students who use this gadget, in order to know who is struggling to get focused and enhance the experience to their individual necessities.

While many believe this will be the most effective method to guarantee the student’s understanding of the different topics that are being studied and analyzed, different experts believe this is a dangerous method not only because it is the most unnatural approach to help the student to understand certain topics, but also because of its privacy-related implications.

Journalism

Believe it or not, different media outlets are already making use of AI in order to publish some news articles of economic reports in the quickest way possible. After all, the rise of social media has turned immediacy into the cornerstone of today’s journalism, in the detriment veracity.

One of the most important media outlets that use this technology is the Associated Press, which employs the ability of the natural language of Automated Insights in order to create 3,700 articles each year.

Nevertheless, different reports have been pointing out that AI could control the flow of information in the near future, with media outlets disseminating the stories produced by AI programs, which will also create opinions and hypotheses about different topics, including politics and economy.

Unlike the previous cases, the vast majority of analysts believe this would be a dangerous situation not only because of the radical way in which it would change journalism but also because of the risk that the algorithms that control these programs are politically biased.

It was a rough night, and I needed to unwind so I logged into Netflix and clicked on “Striking Vipers,” and that was the beginning of my Black Mirror craze. The episode opens our eyes to technology, homosexuality, homophobia and stereotypes.

It also looked into the ability of social media to make it easier for people to lead double lives.

Two of the male characters played the video game together and virtually, despite one of the them choosing a female player, would engage in coital activities.

The married one found it quite difficult to come to terms with his sexuality in real life, making him resent his friend for ‘awakening’ those feelings in him.

Social Media Approval

Yet another Black Mirror episode entitled “Nose Dive” continually showed that social media forces people to lead fake lives.

Throughout the show, we can see how fake the protagonist is, to the point of attempting to master a fake laughter that would be considered “classy” to the people with higher ratings.

The episode shows us the extent to which people portray fake online personas to mask their sad, empty, and destructive lives. It was an eye opener for me since I’ve also minimized sharing too much on social media.

The technology that binds us on the interwebs can easily be used as a tool for even further destruction.

Such cases have led to people, especially young girls, committing suicide simply because they didn’t receive enough interaction on their social media.

Is it really worth it to lose your authenticity over validation from online strangers?

Judging People

With the online fakeness and false curation, you realize that:

“Social media will have you envying someone you should actually pity.”

That quote is from a tweet that went viral on Twitter and I came across it, at a time when I needed it the most.

In “Nose Dive,” for example, the protagonist loses everything and she even goes down to almost a 1-star rating, but she does not refrain from judging other people.

Authenticity is, in fact, the only key to ensuring that people do not strive to lead fake lives behind their computer or phone screens.

I live by Anthony Bourdain’s quote which states that:

“Once your reputation is ruined, you can live life freely.”

What You Need to Know About AI

To begin with, Artificial Intelligence, or AI is arguably the biggest catalyst in putting together anything remotely close to the kind of future imagined in most of these blockbuster films. But what essentially is AI? Simply put, it is a branch of computer science that is focused on building machines that are able to perform tasks that require some level of human intelligence.

Within AI, we then have two broad categories of classification. We have Narrow AI, and Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI.

Narrow AI, or Weak AI, is something that a lot of us are likely familiar with. These are the technologies behind things like image recognition software, Google searches, and personal assistants such as Siri and Alexa. AGI, or Strong AI is what most scientists imagine will be able to power those all-round super computers that you see interacting with humans in movies. The goal here is to come up with a computer that possesses human-level intelligence, which can be used to perform all manner of tasks.

Back to our initial train of thought. AI is thought of by some people as something that will eventually lead to a catastrophic end to our world. Interestingly, the strides that have been made so far thanks to AI seem to suggest that this is highly unlikely. Scientists from all around the world have come up with amazing inventions that can only whet our appetite for more that is to come. Let’s review a few of these new innovations:

AI-based Healthcare: IBM Watson Health

In the field of Medical Science, IBM’s Watson Health is helping more and more doctors go through huge amounts of data and therefore make more informed decisions regarding patient care and possible treatments. With this specialized tool, the focus is on its ability to process large amounts of information that would take doctors and nurses so much longer to do. Aside from that, there has also been the growing adoption of other artificial intelligent systems in the realm of robotic surgery (for simple procedures like laser eye surgery) and image analysis (for examining x-rays and retina scans).

AI-based Autonomous Vehicles: Starship Delivery Robots

Autonomous delivery might be a future whose possibilities we have only just started experimenting with. Companies such as Amazon and FedEx are slowly hopping onto the bandwagon, but Starship seems to be gaining a lot more ground. Currently, the company is focusing on enhancing food deliveries within select universities in the US, following a successful round of funding.

AI-based Market Analysis: Robo-Advisors

For those interested and active within the stock markets, being able to predict certain market conditions and betting for or against them is how to win. Robo advisors provide an autonomous approach to all of this. All you have to do is provide information about your asset allocation approach, and the robo advisor puts together a list of diversified investment options that it then allocates a predetermined percentage of your funds into. This essentially allows you to have your portfolio run and managed on autopilot.

AI-based Agricultural Applications: See & Spray

The application of AI in agriculture falls under three different categories; there’s agricultural robots, crop and soil monitoring, and predictive analysis. An example of agricultural robotics would be the solution provided by Blue River Technologies that helps farmers control weeds. This is done through computer vision, where weeds are identified and dealt with through precision spraying. This helps farmers effectively reduce their spending on herbicides, as well as the volume of chemicals erroneously sprayed on normal crop.

Conclusion

Those are just a few of the ways in which AI is being used to better human living, and improve the efficiency with which human tasks are performed. Looking to the future, there seems to be a lot of new applications of AI that are bound to crop, most of which we might not even have realized the potential of.

Hopefully by now, you’re just a little bit more convinced that a future with AI might not necessarily lead to world destruction as is depicted in most future-set movies.

Commuting Through the Clouds

At the start of January 2020, taxi company Uber presented their first full-scale model of a flying car. It might not yet have been in operation — the car in question was on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Los Angeles. But, it turns out Uber has big plans afoot for its “Air Taxis.”

Are Flying Cars Really Coming?

Constructed in partnership with South Korean vehicle manufacturer Hyundai, the S-A1 vehicles feature counter-rotating blades, with eight different rotors to maximize efficiency. Four of the rotors remain fixed in a horizontal position, so the vehicle can hover, while four tilt, which allows for horizontal and vertical flight. With a recharge time of just 5-7 minutes, these 100% electric vehicles are set to revolutionize the way we all commute.

Initially, the cars will be manned by pilots, but over time it’s planned they will morph into autonomous (or self-flying) cars. These aerial taxis can cruise at a top speed of 200mph and have a range of 60 miles — they’ve even been designed with the expertise of NASA aerospace engineer Jaiwon Shin. And yes, they’re really coming. In fact, the first Uber air taxis could be up and running by 2023, with test flights starting in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Melbourne later this year.

An Environmentally Friendly Choice?

With around 3.8 million deaths attributed to air pollution worldwide annually according to the World Health Organization, the development of cleaner, electric vehicles that get us to work more quickly and efficiently should be good news for all of us. Because flying cars use distributed electric propulsion, noise is reduced and fuel efficiency increased (while emissions are reduced). Yet scientists are skeptical, claiming that flying vehicles will inevitably use more energy than regular, on-the-road electric vehicles.

Watch Your Back, Uber

Uber isn’t the only company developing this innovative tech. Last May, German start-up Lilium unveiled the first five-seater self-flying taxi on the planet (Uber’s taxis will seat four). Powered by 36 electric motors, the taxis can fly for up to one hour on a single charge, and Lilium aims to mass-produce the vehicles by the mid-2020s.

Airbus revealed their City Airbus last spring too, with its ability to transport up to four passengers. Running on four 800-volt batteries, the vehicles are designed for urban use and can reach speeds of up to 120km/h, with up to 15 minutes of autonomy. Their eVTOL prototype made its first flight in Germany in May 2019, so they’re definitely in the race to produce the first commercially available air taxis.

Live Your Pilot Dreams

If the idea of commuting to work in an air taxi doesn’t appeal, why not consider the Transition flying car, which has been in development since 2006. Produced by Terrafugia, the car seats two and runs on a hybrid-electric motor that uses a combination of an LiFePO4 lithium battery and an internal combustion engine. It can be used on the road and in the air — but you’ll need a sports pilot certificate to fly it.

Will You Be Traveling by Air Taxi?

We could all be traveling by air taxi in a couple of years’ time. Up to three times faster than cars and fully electric, these low-emission vehicles are set to eliminate sitting in morning rush hour traffic and reduce carbon emissions. But this isn’t the first time we’ve been promised futuristic tech that’s gone nowhere — so whether flying taxis ever revolutionize our commute remains to be seen!

I have a handful of physical game discs. I need special cables to get it to connect to most TVs. Stupidly, I assumed the EyeToy camera could connect to my modern computer as a webcam. I refuse to get rid of or upgrade my console.

Over on the other hand, I have Steam and Origin libraries packed with games that have never seen the light of physical day. Receiving these games was instant after purchase, installing them as easy as anything. They work with a mouse and keyboard, a controller, some of them even with a VR headset I’m still trying to afford.

Which one do you think I prefer?

It’s the PlayStation – even though I never play it.

Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine. Let’s call him Dane.

Dane is a big fan of The Sims franchise. The Sims typically release a base game, followed by several dozen expansion packs, game packs, and stuff packs. Dane’s issue was back in the era of The Sims 3, but let me tell you about The Sims 4 for reference.

The Sims 4 base game is $40. Expansion packs are also $40. Game packs are $20 and stuff packs are $10. If you want to buy The Sims 4 and all the packs (so far), it’ll cost you over $600. That’s for a game that’s still making content.

So think of how much every single pack from The Sims 3, plus the base game, cost. Not everyone has that kind of money.

There are websites that sell game codes for cheap. CDKeys and eBay and the likes. This path was more affordable for Dane, so that’s the path he went down. Then Electronic Arts, the makers of the game, found out where the game and packs were bought and took them away.

When you buy a game, you’re not really buying a game. You’re buying a code that lets you play that game. If you lose your account, if you’re hacked, if a company doesn’t like where you got the game, then it’s gone. Your money, your saves, your in-game time is all gone. And they won’t refund you. They didn’t refund Dane.

When I buy a disc for my PS2, it’s mine forever. I can buy it at full retail price, second-hand on eBay, even from a thrift store. But these days it’s a rare find to see a computer game on a disc. When friends of mine come across PC games in thrift stores, they post pictures, we all swarm to it and gasp collectively. Everything is digital now, and I don’t trust it.

There are some games I would happily pay more for a copy of. I’d sit through the wait time, waiting by the door for the mail every morning, like a dog. With my dog. I miss the security of truly owning a game, being able to show off my game collection in ways other than screenshotting my Steam library.

All this being said, I do like not having to wait. I like not having disks cluttering up my shelves. I just wish there was an option in between – like you buy a game, redeem a code, then there’s an option to pay a little extra and have them send you out a disc. The disc is yours to backup your saves, your files, your screenshots and it’ll work even if you lose access to your online account.

I’m a very paranoid person.

Yesterday I bought yet another USB stick to download an entire TV show onto it because I fear that someday, in the far off future, Netflix and Amazon Prime and all the rest will get rid of all shows over a certain age. Or the entire internet will crash, and I’ll never be able to see old episodes again.

Going from physical to digital is scary in all aspects, because the cloud isn’t forever.

It took me years to start using Google Docs because I don’t trust anything on the internet will stick around. I’ve carried hundreds of Word documents across three, four computers now. I have dozens of USB sticks and two external hard drives. They’re the Word-document version of a game disk. Well, it’s that or write them all out in notebooks and I think my hand might hurt if I did that. Plus, my handwriting is terribly hard to read.

I still refuse to back up my files to a cloud-based service. I stick to USB sticks and hard drives, and I’d use floppy disks too if I could. I have two copies of every file across pairs of identical USB sticks. It’s my security blanket in the terrifying digital age.

With physical copies of things, you’re safe for life. When more advanced tech comes along, you can do the changeover. It’ll cost you, but only once, then you’re done. However, most cloud-based storage I’ve seen is a subscription, you need internet to access your files and it’s all hackable, losable, and uncertain.

So many people I’ve met have lost access to online accounts of 16 years, photos of more than five years, precious videos, and files they trusted the cloud to handle. Others have had their things hacked and leaked – just look at celebrity nude leaks. Tell me you don’t remember the tragedy of “The Fappening,” I dare you.

You just can’t trust machines yet. Toy Story 2 almost didn’t happen because of a silly technology mistake. Even their backups failed. Luckily, they had a backup of their backup. That’s what all my USB sticks and hard drives are. That’s why I keep my things on my computer and my laptop. That’s why I’d like to have discs for my game codes.

When you rely only on machines, you leave yourself vulnerable to people with more power than you taking, exposing, and destroying your things.

You could argue that your physical copies of games, your USB sticks, your external drives, could all be destroyed in a fire or stolen by a burglar. This is also true. This is where the cloud comes in for some. For people like me, this is where my foolproof, fireproof safe, with the backups of my backups comes in.

There’s this old phrase of not putting all your eggs in one basket, and that’s what I think people forget with technology. Maybe this is because I’m older, I still have video cassette tapes, I still buy DVDs, I still don’t “get” Blu-rays and sometimes, I burn my digital movie purchases onto disks to watch on a TV.

Or maybe it’s because I like to be safe, and I wish other people would do the same because if something snaps, then they crash and burn.

As our technology gets more intelligent, so must we. We won’t be left behind by staying physical as well as digital. We update as we go, just like technology.