Investigating The Concerns of a Smart City

For this blog post, I chose to look into the future prospects of a smart city and particularly focus on some of the negative aspects this future endeavor would create. It is easy to focus on the glitz and glam of a beautiful shining smart city able to instantly track criminals once they've committed a crime, optimize traffic patterns and adjust for accidents, monitor air quality and crime for a multitude of decision making benefits. However, it seems as though for every negative there is a positive, and most of these negatives require looking at how these advances affect the city on a social level. 

One of the main concerns with our growing dependence on technology is the eventuality that our society will become quite Orwellian in the sense that the residents will be constantly monitored and recorded and that our basic sense of privacy will be revoked. The article by the Atlantic touches on this concept and talks about the Gorgon Stare technology developed in 2009 by the US military. This is a piece of surveillance technology that hovers above the city for hours at a time and is able to track and monitor the city's activity. Talks have taken place to implement this technology domestically for local law enforcement to utilize making crime fighting that much more efficient. However, the social impacts of this technology introduce a major concern for privacy. How secure is the data that is collected? Does it only track activity on the streets or if your window is at just the right angle can your bedroom be caught on camera? How long is this footage stored for and what is done with it? Crime is a major concern indeed and while many efforts are put towards reducing crime with the use of technology, it can also harm the overall improvement of the community in question. 

The ABC News article looks at the negative impacts smart city monitoring technology has from a bias and prejudice perspective. Algorithms can track trends and use data stored in databases over years and years to predict where crime is going to be committed and increase police presence in these areas. However, and increase in police presence can have an adverse effect by increasing light crime in the area as retaliation. Not to mention that socially, this paints a negative picture of the community which furthers the already established bias and mitigates the chance for further improvement of the community. Similar to this, the air quality sensing meter discussed in the article would deem areas as unsafe for the construction of new green spaces, or schools, that would ultimately improve the community. And instead of improving the existing conditions, the area will only be condemned, not attracting any future business or revenue that again would ultimately improve the community. Looking at the data collected from a purely numbers perspective cuts out the human component that is essentially to improving the quality of life in the community which should ultimately be the goal. Not to mention that, as mentioned in the Medium article, and increase in stored data means an increase in space allocation for these data centers. 

Stephen Pettit Post
https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/01/b1-stephen-pettit-future-bim-3d.html
What I found most interesting in your post is the comment about using AR in the building industry. I worked a little bit with this at my part time job and I found it to be an incredibly interesting and helpful tool for a multitude of reasons. One of the uses was using AR the show clients the finished product in presentations in a way that they can actually move and interact with what they're purchasing which from a business perspective is highly beneficial. It can also be used for survey purposes speeding up the process overall.

Brian Mynaugh's Post
https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-1-mynaugh.html
I loved the portion about smart homes. The idea of being able to easily integrate different systems in my home with my voice or a simple command is incredibly interesting to me. I've been obsessed with the idea since watching Disney's Smart House as a kid. Now to see us make steps towards making this though a reality is very cool.

Andrew Norris's Post
https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/01/b1-robotics-ai-3d-printing-future.html
I find your comment about how farmers are slower to the advancements in technology interesting. In my mind, farmers have been the group of people to most rapidly develop new technologies to make their processes easier. In comparison to industries with much more technology. They've been at the forefront of making processes like irrigating, bailing hay, and collecting milk/eggs more efficient. However I think the major difference is the difference in money in both industries. And I think that is what would hold farmers back from introducing things like robotics into their work. 

Bogle, Ariel. “Can We Trust Big Data to Build Our Giant Future Cities?” ABC News, 14 Mar. 2018, www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-15/big-data-algorithms-equality-future-cities/9544138.

Manaugh, Geoff. “The City That Remembers Everything.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 23 Feb. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/james-joyce-as-police-operation/553817/.

Wiig, Alan. “The Urban, Infrastructural Geography Of 'The Cloud'.” Medium, Vantage, 4 Jan. 2016, medium.com/vantage/the-urban-infrastructural-geography-of-the-cloud-1b076cf9b06e.

Blog Post 1

Database 

Article: https://www.evernote.com/pub/aengineer/ae-510#b=3ca5dd9b-8b1c-4939-875f-262706dc1487&st=p&x=database&n=f8f6f295-ac35-402f-acfd-308a69e0f72e 

Internet Giants, Defied by Bitcoin, Now See its Tech as a Remedy 

This article is about a push toward decentralization among internet giants, such as Facebook and Twitter. The inspiration is the model Bitcoin uses. No one is in charge of the virtual currency. Instead, a network of computers manages it. Even the founder of the World Wide Web is working on ways to help shift private data ownership away from the few. Decentralization is not a panacea though. Facebook and Twitter have their own host of issues that will need addressed either way, like what political content is and isn’t filtered. Naturally, people are skeptical whether Facebook and Twitter are making a genuine effort to decentralize, or if they’re just trying to score some good press. 

I tend to be skeptical of large corporations. The love of money is the root of all evil. Pushing for “increased privacy” sounds more to me like a push for good press, and with it more money. This is not to say that Facebook and Twitter are inherently bad though. Facebook advertisements help small businesses, and Twitter is used for more than “Presidential” tweets. Back when I used Twitter, I’d follow my regional rail line’s Twitter account for instant status updates. Technology is a huge benefit when used appropriately, but also provides huge pitfalls if not careful. Though I am skeptical, I do hope social media sites really are decentralizing.  

Network 

Article: https://www.evernote.com/pub/aengineer/ae-510#b=3ca5dd9b-8b1c-4939-875f-262706dc1487&st=p&x=network&n=e97c83ba-6bd0-4800-aab5-407cc45a09d0 

Artificial Intelligence System Learns the Fundamental Laws of Quantum Mechanics 

Artificial Intelligence, AI for short, is all around us. For example, it can recognize faces or predict purchasing behavior. Now, AI has started predicting molecular wave functions and electronic properties of molecules. A deep machine learning algorithm was developed by a team of chemists, physicists, and computer scientists. This is what can predict the quantum states of molecules. Normally, solving these complicated equations requires months of computer time. This new algorithm can do it in seconds, which is amazing. This joint effort took 3 years but was well worth it.  

I am not a physics expert by any means, but I remember taking the required physics classes for engineers, as well as the required chemistry classes. In these classes, I learned the basics of quantum mechanics. Atoms are complicated yet fascinating. Electrons move around so fast, and there are so many places within the electron orbit that an electron can jump to. I know quantum mechanics is the “newest” branch of physics. Given the relative youngness of the branch, it appears scientists are making huge strides in understanding the quantum realm.  

Sociology 

Article: https://www.evernote.com/pub/aengineer/ae-510#b=3ca5dd9b-8b1c-4939-875f-262706dc1487&st=p&x=sociology&n=90ec6b1c-5c00-4bac-9422-76badeb3b6a4 

Inside an Amazon Warehouse, Robots’ Ways Rub Off on Humans 

In the Amazon Warehouse on Staten Island, robots and humans work side by side. A lot of tasks have been automated, but human “pickers” will be around for years to come. These are the people who pick items out of bins to ship out to customers. Amazon is in the news a lot. Some workers claim awful work conditions. That’s what started the investigation to begin with. A man believes he was wrongly fired, as he was being held to unreasonable standards. Robots can work fast, so the humans need to work fast too, right? The workers are definitely finding ways to be more efficient like the robots, as the article title suggests. Adjacent bins are emptied first, as opposed to bins all over the warehouse. This cuts down on walking time.  

I use Amazon a lot. I have a student prime membership, and the quick delivery has saved me many times. I can rent textbooks and get a ream of paper last minute. At what cost though? I often worry I am contributing to the sufferings of Amazon workers. Are the managers being unreasonable? Do they have a point to an extent?  

Future 

Article: https://www.evernote.com/pub/aengineer/ae-510#b=3ca5dd9b-8b1c-4939-875f-262706dc1487&st=p&x=future&n=b15d7680-c04d-4bcc-9d21-8910d8ba54dd 

The Tech That Will Invade Our Lives in 2020 

Technology is everywhere. Smart homes seem to be the big thing lately. Thermostats connected to phones allow users to heat up their homes before they get home from work. Cars have blind spot monitoring. Smart watches monitor a user’s health. The prediction is that a new cellular network called 5G will become prevalent in the new decade. The article predicts smart homes will go even further. Everything we currently have will keep gaining momentum as the article puts it. 

I personally wear a smart watch. I find it immensely helpful. It helps to have a timer right on my wrist to keep up with my time management. I can see if a notification is important without getting my phone out of my pocket. It even tracks my heart rate and workouts. I am glad this technology is available. 

I am very skeptical of smart homes. Some people have their dead bolts on their front doors connected to their internet, which I think is absurd. It is a lot easier to hack into a homeowner’s internet than most people think. I am hesitant to even get a smart light bulb. I think homes should be off the grid, or internet connections need to be way more secure before smart homes take off.  

Comments to Others 

Brian,  The farming article is really neat. Farmers in this country are so depended on and I don't think a lot of people realize that. It makes perfect sense that we use the technology available to us to increase the efficiency and productivity of farming. This will lower the price of crops and just overall boost the economy. That's a very basic analysis though, as of course much more goes into it than just that. Are the farmers provided training to use the technology? Or does someone do it for them? What cost is there to the farmer? 

Andrew,  The article about 3D printing provides some cool new options. I never would've considered 3D printing a boat. It appears that 3D printing is slowly but surely becoming the new norm, and not so much a niche industry anymore. Previously, I've only ever printed little things, like a little pinwheel. It's crazy to think that one day people might be sailing on a boat that was 3D printed. 

Varsha,  Your post on technology, particularly data collection, is very insightful. Data collection can seem innocent, but it is a huge invasion of privacy. I agree that nothing done on the internet is truly hidden. It's concerning that someone browsing a news site innocently is unwillingly "selling" their private data, and indirectly influencing their internet browsing experience. I'm sure it makes a lot of people want to throw away every electronic they own. However, the human desire to connect and relate to other people is what keeps everyone online. Plus, deleting your Facebook account doesn't get rid of the data they already have. 

Bell Blog 1

How the Future will be Impacted by Burgeoning Technological Advances

Technology is the hottest topic of the century for good reason; all aspects of daily life is being influenced by technology, with alleged goals to make the world more efficient or safer.  The introduction of cookies on websites appears to be the beginning of such tracking. Cookies would try to determine what an internet user wanted to buy and offer the best deals that they had. Although there was pushback, people started to realize that google also started to track users, but no one seemed to care. Recently tracking individuals for data has evolved immensely. The article “The Tech That Will Invade Our Lives in 2020”, explains how the smart houses are coming into view as a viable lifestyle. It explains that many of the large tech companies, apple, google, Samsung, etc. have come together, to try to synthesize products. These products are all interconnected in a single database. These products, namely Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistants, will be part of every home and will control it. Many also question the legality of monumental companies colluding but with that aside the issue pressing is that in most if not all homes, devices are listening and recording. In the near future, these homes will be autonomous and mold to the desires of the inhabitants. Although there is nothing outright devious going on it is still interesting that more and more information about each individual is tracked and stored in a warehouse somewhere. Another tracker that is attached all day long is the apple watch and its various competitors. These take blood pressure constantly and track heartbeats as well as location. It is clear to see that soon these watches will be able to do much more than record and track.

The idea that everyone is being tracked becomes further entrenched when it comes to cars. According to the article, “What does your car know about you? We hacked a Chevy to find out.” All new cars track the whereabouts of the driver, the speeds they drive, the acceleration, stopping speed and hundreds if not thousands of other details. This info is also put into a database and analyzed to allegedly make the car safer. Although it is a very viable option, it is hard not to ponder the amount of sensors on the car. Fowler, the author, claims that there are thousands of sensors on his 2017 Chevrolet, why are so many needed some may ask. Furthermore, when someone connects their phone to a car, a large amount of personal data is accessible to the car. Essentially, everyone is being tracked or listened to.

These two articles illuminate the very simple idea that we apparently are not worried about tech companies tracking our every movement. I personally am like everyone else, I do not care as of now. It is very possible that one day, the information will be leaked and people will have their personal information and most likely, their identity stolen. Finally, although, this has been a negative paper written by myself, this data does have many upsides that are relatively unknown. The data piles are basically like discovering a new element, scientist won’t know what to with it but eventually usefulness will come out of it. For example, breast cancer has been spotted by AWS before doctors can. Heart attacks can be tracked by accessories and then 911 can be called for the elderly. So having people storing data is scary but may prove instrumental to progress and will also be very dangerous.

 Chen, Brian. “The Tech That Will Invade Our Lives in 2020.” Evernote, 1 Jan. 2020,www.evernote.com/pub/aengineer/ae-510?linked=8d6edc4c-9623-4645-9d36-b057ad589798&newReg=false#st=p&x=lasky&n=0e18e88a-862b-42f9-b28a-e5419939c919.

Fowler, Julie. “What does your car know about you? We hacked a Chevy to find out.” Evernote, 8 Nov. 2019, www.evernote.com/pub/aengineer/ae-510?linked=8d6edc4c-9623-4645-9d36-b057ad589798&newReg=false#st=p&x=future&n=0e18e88a-862b-42f9-b28a-e5419939c919.  

Amanda

I am very intrigued by the amount of people that are at risk of losing their job to robots, hopefully I am not one of them. I always wonder however, what will that unemployed person do? Because there has to be a job somewhere they can do. Also do you think that this many jobs will be taken quickly or slowly? Because the us, china, and india have billions of people, it could take a while. I also never would have guessed that hobbyists are being challenged by 3d printing , I found that amusing.

Varsha

I wrote on a very similar topic and although I agree with you that the big tech companies are very coy with their advertising, they have yet to do any harm and could in fact help in the long run. With lots of data do you believe that trends could be found that a human would never think of or is unable to perceive simply based on bias alone?

Isabel

3D printing is very valuable and it appears that can be used in many ways. This blog interests me a lot because the idea of printing metals is otherworldly. But this seems very inappropriate because printing stuff takes a large amount of time and is liable for mistakes and failures. Also multiple printers need to be purchased in order to make multiple parts. Finally this alloy that is very efficient will most likely be modified some way because, there is always another more efficient material in aerospace, making the printer useless. It's a cool idea though.