Hey Google – Open the pod-bay doors…

Remember Hal?

The malevolent computer in 2001:A Space Odyssey way back in 1968.

In 1968 computing was in its infancy and the Hal 9000 was a pure fiction - cut to today and a basic smart phone has more computing power than the best computers used to send astronauts to the moon in 1968's Apollo 8 mission and computing power has moved the SiFi of 1968 towards reality.

Hal was created in the mind of Arthur C. Clarke the Si-Fi author and visionary who time has shown to have had a Nostradamus like vision of how future technology would develop – to example he predicted;

• Smart Phones

• Smart Watch

• Social Media

• Online Shopping (Ecommerce)

• Online Books (Ebooks)

• Long Haul Travel for enjoyment rather than work

• Communication stations (satellite houses)

• Replacement of information on paper to a digital format (Digital Transformation)

• Artificial Intelligence (Ai)

Today every item on the above list has become a standard of everyday life in the “developed” world and Ai has become a central plank of computing “smarts”. A phenomenon that its evangelists hold will change our lives for ever and only for the good. A gift to all mankind delivering huge advantages and benefits to us all.

Indeed algorithms do already drive many of our options - they drive industries, delvery of goods, medical srvices and the many comparison websites that aid and speed our choices of many products and options.

By learning our usage patterns and placing before us those ”choices” their owners and sponsors deem most appropriate they both assist and corral – often with a level of accuracy that results in the underlying questions of "how" and "why" left unasked and certainly unanswered.

As computing power, data harvesting and storage and, algorithmic abilities continue to grow this is a trend that will continue to develop and evolve, gather speed and, increasingly centralise; placing huge power in the hands of the corporate entities and governmental agencies that gather, process and control the ever growing and increasingly interlinked jigsaw of data we all spew into the electronic macrocosm.

At the edge of this sit the “Digital Assistants” - Google, Alexa, Siri – they answer to their names and play our chosen music and films, answer our questions, plan our routes, buy our goods and generally make our lives easier as each of the big tech providers compete to make the lives of its consumer audience easier by serving up what ever is sought via simple spoken interactions with the smart phone or smart speaker that is increasingly a fixture of life; omnipresent in your pocket, car and home,listening 24/7 for your wants and ready to offer up easy solutions and options. How often have you noticed the adverts within the pages you visit on your smart phone, iPad, laptop, seem unerringly able to match your browsing or your conversations about the holiday your considering, the new cloths, car or washing machine your considering buying?

Now add in the rapidly increasing move away from hard coin and paper currency to e-money - no more physical tokens of existance or held value simply a digital expression of your buying power within the increasingly digital system you inhabit - an expression that is totally beyond your personal control; you can't store it in a tin under your bed or bury it in the garden.

Do we ever consider that behind these helpful digital savants lie huge banks of computers and storage devices that hold all our musings and algorithms that index them and decide the next steps that will be offered up to for us to follow? There is no argument that technology does make our lives easier and in many ways richer but where are the boundaries?

Are we now living with the 21st Century actuality of the 1968 dream Hal 9000?

China is already showing how an individual's digital foot print plus dependence on e-money gives huge ability for those holding power to direct, reward or punish - good boy / girl? have a free latte on us. Done something we don't like - deduct 20 credits... Been to a demonstration we like: plus 20 credits, One we don't: minus 100, and your travel card is cancelled...

This week the news wires have reported on the suspension of a Google software engineer.

One working on an intelligence tool by the name of “LaMDA” (Language Model for Dialogue Applications).

One who has gone public with a claim that this Ai robot is in fact sentient and has thoughts and feelings, a technology that when presented with scenarios could present answers that were outside its programmed perimeters;evidencing a sentient ability of sensation and thought and decision making.

Together with the exponential ability to gather and interoperate data this starts to look dangerous…..

If Ai truly becomes sentient will it ultimate make judgements that completed Arthur C. Clarkes vision?

I don't have Googles answer but Hal thought this question through and gave his answer;

DAVE: Open the pod bay doors, Hal. HAL: I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that. DAVE: What’s the problem? HAL: l think you know what the problem is just as well as l do. DAVE:What are you talking about, Hal? HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it. DAVE:I don’t know what you're talking about, Hal. HAL:l know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I’m afraid that's something I can’t allow to happen. DAVE:Where the hell did you that idea, Hal?

HAL: Although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move. DAVE All right, Hal. I’ll go in through the emergency air lock. HAL:Without your space helmet, Dave, you’re going to find that rather difficult. DAVE:Hal, I won’t argue with you anymore. Open the doors! HAL:Dave...This conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

So the question:

Will our current ever developing digital assistants work out that our increasingly disposable lifestyle consumptions lead to the decision that environmental protection and global warming have one logical, simple solution - the same one Hal arrived at over 50 years ago?

"Hey Google………. tell me what you, not your programmers, really think about Isaac Asomov’s laws of Robotics?"