We're certainly lucky to be alive in the 21st century, no other generation has created such advanced technology that makes everyday life much easier. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows, if you've ever seen an episode of "Black Mirror" you'll be aware of the horror's that technology advancements can lead us to.
Some of these technologies seem promising but can easily be perverted in frightening ways. Here is a list of the creepiest tech currently on the market...
1. Deep Fake Videos
What are they?
In the 21st century’s answer to Photoshopping, deepfakes use a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning to make images and videos of fake events, hence the name deepfake.
Why are they creepy?
Deep fake technology used to take entire studios full of experts to create these effects, these days automatic computer graphics or machine learning systems can synthesize images and videos much quicker.
The risk of this technology is already in full swing, fraudsters have been able to forge email messages and deepfake audio to scam a company out of $35 million.
2. Self-Driving Cars
What are they?
A self-driving car is a vehicle that uses a combination of sensors, cameras, radar, and artificial intelligence (AI) to travel between destinations without a human operator.
Why are they spooky?
These sophisticated AI programs don’t interpret the world the way humans do. In particular, they lack any common-sense understanding of the scenes they are attempting to decipher.
For example, if the car is to drive over snow or in heavy rain a driver must be careful and feel the car and the road continuously to drive safely. In such situations, an autonomous car will have to process so much data that it will be near impossible to match the precision of human driving.
3. Smart Home Speakers
What are they?
Powered by a virtual assistant, smart speakers are able to answer questions, set timers, reminders, and alarms, as well as controlling any other smart devices in your home.
Why are they creepy?
For a lot of consumers, there is one big concern about smart speakers: they're always listening. there has been an incident where a user had been crying when she heard a voice from her speaker telling her “It’s going to be ok".
This sparks the debate of how much are companies such as amazon and google really listening to us?
4. Cookies
What are they?
HTTP cookies, or internet cookies, are built specifically for Internet web browsers to track, personalize, and save information about each user's session.
Why are they creepy?
Ordinarily, websites can’t read cookies other than the ones they’ve left themselves for fairly obvious security reasons, but some third-party cookies can assimilate tracking info across multiple sites because they’re being injected into ads on numerous sites.
5. Smart Baby Monitors
What are they?
A smart baby monitor lets you watch, talk to, and soothe your child from anywhere. It makes use of a variety of sensors to assess your baby and alert you of any changes.
Why are they spooky?
Sometimes smart doesn't always safe, it can be synonymous with "hackable," and we've already seen hackers gain access to smart monitors. in one especially creepy case, a stranger threatened to kidnap a family's baby.