The past few years have been incredible for science and technology. From reusable rockets to dancing robots, it seems like we’re inching closer and closer every day to living like The Jetsons. This generation of kids has never known life before the internet. They live in a vastly different world than we ever did and it’s continuing to advance faster than we parents can keep up. We’ve already begun integrating computer chips into our brains and editing genes to cure diseases with CRISPR. If you’ve ever seen an episode of Black Mirror, you’ll realize that it’s not actually that far off from reality. Even the brightest minds in the world are gravely concerned with humanity’s future of AI and technology. That’s right, even the people building and developing these technologies have been screaming from the rooftops about how we’re getting dangerously close to a future where robots and AI will run the world. Scary stuff.
Kids born today might not ever remember humans working at the grocery store or cars that you had to physically drive yourself. Who knows, even having a smartphone might be a thing of the past and instead, you might be communicating with your mind. Either way, it’s inevitable, this high-speed tech train isn’t stopping so you’re either hopping on, or it’s going to leave you behind. Parents, be prepared – here are 6 of the scariest technologies that your kids will be growing up with.
1. Self-driving Cars
Say goodbye to vehicles that require you to physically move the steering wheel and step on the gas to go anywhere. With Tesla’s recent announcement of completely autonomous self-driving cars, you can just sit back and relax and let the vehicle navigate the world around you. And with more and more companies aggressively researching self-driving technology, it’s only a matter of time before every new vehicle will come pre-equipped. Who knows, autonomous vehicles might even become mandatory in the future as these cars have been proven to be far safer than normal human-driven cars (according to Tesla).
Will driving as we know it go the way of the Dodo bird? Who knows, all I can say is what a relief for all of us nervous dads who have to teach our teenage kids to drive for the first time. But the true question still remains: will this finally help my wife parallel park without her having to retry 42 times?
2. Deepfakes
A lot of you may have already seen this viral video of the super-realistic-looking but fake Tom Cruise. For those of you who haven’t, watch this video – it’s creepy as hell. He’s shown talking, laughing, golfing, and even performing a magic trick directly in front of a camera – but the biggest trick here is that this isn’t really him, it’s a fake. Using powerful techniques from artificial intelligence and machine learning people can manipulate or even create brand-new visual and audio content that has the potential to deceive even the brightest among us.
This tech can be catastrophic for someone who is targeted maliciously by it. Imagine a fake video of your child going viral on the internet but it’s not even them, they didn’t say or do anything wrong, it’s completely fabricated. Imagine the impact, the devastation, their image completely tarnished, any chance at future employment, gone, the possibility of a scholarship at an elite school, gone, just because somebody decided to ruin their reputation.
3. Brain-Computer Interfaces
Another one of Elon Musk’s companies, Neuralink, is a tech business developing implantable brain-machine interfaces. At the core, they are tiny little computers that will interact with the human brain to achieve things that aren’t physically possible through biology alone. Such as, allowing people with paralysis to control a cell phone with their minds, or even restoring sensory or movement function to those who lost them. That’s right, Neuralink is aiming to restore vision in those who are blind or have vision loss, Musk also claims this technology will be able to eventually allow paraplegics to walk again. Mindblowing.
Don’t believe it? Check out this video of a monkey playing pong with only its brain.
4. Facial Recognition
Image by Cisco
Facial recognition uses computers and various technologies to recognize a human face. But it doesn’t stop there, many different companies that use this tech, including Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Airports, and others store your facial features in databases for future analysis including your eye colour, your hair, your jaw structure, your mouth, everything.
Airports can monitor who’s coming in and out of their facilities, they even work with law enforcement to identify people who are under investigation or are trying to enter their country illegally. Phone companies such as Apple and Google use this tech as a feature in their phones for users to unlock their devices. Facebook uses its recognition software to identify pictures you are in but haven’t been explicitly tagged in. As you can see the applications are endless, but so are the potential dangers.
5. Computer Bots
There are literally millions of fake bots on the internet at any given time. All with their own agenda, pushing whatever information their creators tell them to. Social media is riddled with these fake accounts, it’s at the point where it’s hard to tell if there is an actual real person behind the words you’re reading, or if it’s just another program some person in their basement created. Carnegie Mellon University researchers found out last year that almost half of all accounts on X that were Tweeting about Coronavirus were likely bots.
Now think about the implications this has on the millions of young developing minds that are on the internet. Most kids grow up believing in Santa Claus because their parents tell them this magical man comes down their chimney once a year to deliver presents. Most grow out of it and learn that the fat man himself is indeed fake. But imagine that you could never tell if what you’re reading is actually fabricated, and is actually being sent out by a computer program. We need to teach our kids how to look out for these sorts of things, and parents – you need to educate yourself and learn how to be prepared to handle this. I’d even go as far as to propose that we should have mandatory classes starting as early as Elementary teaching kids about technology, social media, how to safely navigate the internet, and how to be a critical thinker in an age where it’s nearly impossible.
6. Social Credit
Canadians are already accustomed to credit checks, these systems score and trace us on how well we repay our debts. But this system is nowhere near the dystopian nightmare that China already has in place. Their social credit system determines if you’re good or bad based on all aspects of life. Jaywalking, unpaid bills, being disruptive in public, being too outspoken of the government, all of which can even limit your ability to travel, shop at certain places, even what schools you can attend. Big Brother watches your every move and determines how “trustworthy” you are by ranking you amongst your peers.
Now there’s no saying this level of government scrutiny may ever come to the Western world, but it does exist today in another form: social media and influence. Think back to when you were in school, the popular kids were popular probably because they played football or soccer, or they had the best parties. Now, the popular kids are the ones with the most likes on Instagram or Facebook – and it’s causing immense social pressure and even depression amongst this generation of kids.
Summary
Every year it’s harder and harder to keep up with the latest fads, trends, and technologies, but it’s our responsibility as parents to ensure that our children’s safety and privacy online is being taken care of. It’s important now more than ever to be extra diligent and to take the time to learn the implications of all this and to spend some time teaching your kids how to navigate this crazy world around them.
Keep researching, keep reading, and never stop learning – you owe it to your kids.
