The concept of dystopia is a world gone completely awry. Comic books, graphic novels, and movies have used dystopian concepts to warn us of a world that could be if we aren’t vigilant.
However, as we see more and more each day, it’s already too late. The Dystopia is here, right now. Yesterday, there was a story in the Business Insider about a security company that uses robots to find and dispatch squatter camps and tents set up by the homeless in San Francisco.
The machines don’t attack people (yet) but they relay the position of said homeless people to authorities. According to the article, these machines are rented out for 7 dollars an hour. Less than what a human security guard would earn.
This is really reprehensible. Instead of dedicating resources to ending homelessness, technology is being utilized to disrupt the efforts of the undomiciled to find shelter.
It’s the application of the technology that is the problem, not the technology itself. Homelessness is a social problem that needs a planned solution, not an army of bots.
The whole system needs to be thrown away.
The mayor who ordered those robots passed away a couple days ago, ’cause sometimes karma doesn’t take long.
Well, dang!