Until the late 19th-century post-mortem photography was used as a way to cope with the loss of a loved one; having a visual representation for the last moments of someones presence brought a sense of tranquility to those who found attachment to a person or thing.
In Be Right Back we find a similar scenario with Martha after losing Ash. Only in this instance we are faced with what has become of technology in this stage; the ability to manipulate persona through artificial personhood. While she was initially pressured into what we can call stage one of this automation the sense of relief pushes her forward, causing her to create an android as replacement.
What sticks out more so than not isn’t the intention of the science but the possibility of further manipulation. In this episode this technology was used to covet grief, but what if thats not the only service provided? In a hypothetical context let us assume that someone takes on this process for revenge; what social impletion could come of this? And what resources are in place to ensure this technology isn’t abused?
Your post really made me think about the future of technology and the possible revenge tactics that could arise. Kinda scary in a way... The amount of personal stuff about your life on social media could have an impact on your life entirely by the actions you make. This type of "revenge" and black mailing is unlike anything we have seen as a society. This also brings up the topic of cyber bullying in our middle schools and high schools today. The amount of different platforms kids (and yes adults too) can use to bully others is a lot more complicated than it was 5 years ago. Facebook, Instagram, ask.com, email, kik... All these apps can be easily accessed through our phones and can cause catastrophe in someone's life within seconds.
ReplyDeleteI find you're questions quite interesting because I had not thought of such possibilities. Although I wonder how much using something like this for revenge would actually work. One would have to program things differently. And if people did start using them for revenge I feel that they would not be allowed to buy the androids anymore, so that it would come to an end.
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