The definition of a curmudgeon is someone, especially an old man, who is crusty, old fashioned, or ill-tempered. Well, so be it. I am turning into a curmudgeon. Indeed, this could be the last technologically based article that I write, due mainly to the advances in computer technology that I find frankly disturbing. I do not need to go into the toxicity of the present condition of social media, for I am sure that you are already aware of the effect it is having on the mental health of people. Finally, it has been seen as a serious enough threat that limits on cell phone use in school is being addressed. In fact, the teachers in Ontario are suing the social media giants for the deleterious social and academic effects on people. Even worse is the lack of privacy safeguards for the unauthorized use of your private data. Yes, “Artificial Intelligence” has been gleaning your data, as well as the non-paid for copyrighted data of the world’s literature, etc. to train its machine learning AI models. Only Europe seems to be trying to take some action, but here in North America the attitude is to close the door after the horse is already out! Governments just can’t keep up with the pace of change.
The latest nightmare is to be found with Windows 11’s release of its “Recall” feature. It takes screen snapshots of your computer screen every 5 seconds and stores it. It also has access to all the files on your computer. Oh yes, and it is AI driven, and it was originally designed to be on a new laptop by default. Microsoft seems to have changed their minds on that approach, after an outcry by privacy advocates. Still, can you really believe that it is actually turned off? On Android (Google) cellphones, they give you the option of turning off location information, but just clicking it to off does not stop either Google or your cell phone service provider from knowing your location. Yes WiFi itself can trace you, so that is the reason that I get pop-up screens from Google asking if I would like to turn on location to be more precise. Thus, they already know the town or city that I am in when I make an inquiry to see if a certain business is on PEI.
The final nail in the digital coffin for me is the new AI enabled computer chips that are coming out. They have NPU processing units built-in (Neural Processing Unit) that is used for speech recognition, photo and video editing like object detection, etc.. Now, if these computers are really designed for only a maximum of a five year lifespan, through these companies’ use of planned obsolescence, then in a very few years, every computer and cell phone will contain this new type of chip. I don’t know about your feelings, but the future is truly starting to look more like George Orwell’s “1984” than ever before.
Now, I have mentioned in previous articles about my preference for “open source” software like Linux for computer use. Presently, I have a 2016 Lenovo laptop that uses both Windows 10 and Linux Mint (dual boot). The Windows 10 is scheduled to be obsolete by October 2025. Normally, if you had a newer laptop, you would just switch to Windows 11 at no cost. But, is that actually true, as Windows 11 is taking your data from you, and you are not getting paid? Moreover, the security of Windows is insufficient to stop the numerous computer hacks that have occurred lately. Linux is not only more secure, but it will update at no cost every 5 years and not leave you high and dry because your computer chip isn’t “good enough”. Please go read up these past articles and the podcast on Open Source software on the UCRMN website, as you will not only help the environment by using Linux, but you may also help keep control of some of your privacy.
Lastly, the question that each church must ask itself is, “”What is the ethical thing to use for our faith community?” Your answer may be different from mine; however, I am tending to move back to analogue over digital. Yes, I have a landline telephone, I still listen to radio “over the air”, and I have numerous pen-pals, who share “snail mail” with me. If that makes me a curmudgeon, so be it.
Rev. Martin Dawson (retired), Cornwall, PEI