Laura Colgan WE’RE TECH-ING IT FOR GRANTED
Smart homes now the norm
MY HOUSE is fast turning into a smart home.
And the technology is so smart, I didn’t even notice it happening.
The gadgets made their way in one by one.
The smart lightbulbs and fire alarms were an extension of the security system.
The smart heating controls made their way in because it was part of a standard boiler service. And the Google smart assistant has become the most relied upon tool in the house.
I ask Google menial questions, like ‘What date is it?’ multiple times a day.
Tasks
“Interacting with the devices at a crucial stage in social and emotional development might have long-term consequences on empathy, compassion and critical thinking.”
I wouldn’t like to think of an inanimate object like a speaker as a companion, although I probably ask more of it than I do of a friend.
But it’s not possible to live off the grid these days in a world where smart gadgets don’t exist.
If the technology is there, we may as well use it for our own good.
AIDE: A Google smart assistant
Turning on the radio, setting cooking timers and making shopping lists are now the speaker’s job.
And it even prompts me by suggesting tasks, like setting an alarm, before I even think of it.
The speaker knows my own mind better than I do at times.
So it is no surprise that these smart assistants are bad for our social and emotional development.
Findings in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood found they impede our critical thinking, empathy, compassion and learning skills.
I’ll admit I don’t think critically or seek out information for myself when it’s easier to ask a speaker that has the knowledge of the entire internet.
Voice assistants do, however, act as social companions for lonely adults as the gadgets act as friends.
Co author Dr Anmol Arora, an expert in AI (artificial intelligence) at the University of Cambridge, said: “Their abilities to provide information rapidly, assist with daily activities, and act as a social companion to lonely adults are both important and useful.