So where were you when the end of civilisation as we know it was heralded?
I was in my bed trying, and singularly failing, to find out what the weather was like and becoming increasingly worried that Alexa had gone AWOL.
Yes, I was one of the thousands of folk who found my daily routine disrupted when the AI assistant’s network went on the fritz on Friday morning.
The blip (wee nod to the Marvel fans there) was a catastrophe of epic proportions.
I had to look out the window to see if it was raining or not. How are you supposed to run a timer to get your porridge just right if all Alexa can say is: “Sorry, something went wrong.”
For pity’s sake, I was reduced to having to turn on lights and lamps by hand… the horror, the horror.”
For pity’s sake, I was reduced to having to turn on lights and lamps by hand… the horror, the horror (I thank you Apocalypse Now).
I wasn’t the only one watching the glowing circle of doom. The social mediaverse was soon ablaze with tales of alarms not turning off and heating refusing to do what it was told.
Alexa outage highlights dependancy on technology
At least no one was asking Alexa to open the bay doors and getting told she can’t do that. (Credit 2001: A Space Odyssey).
But Friday’s failings for Alexa did throw into sharp relief how dependent we become on technology so quickly.
I do, actually, find it a pain to cross a room and throw switches to put lights on instead of just asking Alexa to do it. First world problems, eh?
It’s not just in the home that AI is gradually eroding our ability to do things for ourselves.
We bought a new car recently with all sorts of bits and bobs of tech. Some of them are scary.
The first time I changed lanes without indicating (no one else was on the road) the steering wheel tried to yank me back. Turns out a thing called lane assistance puts resistance in the steering if it thinks you’re drifting out of lane.
But for a second I feared I had bought Christine (thanks to Stephen King).
Are Alexa and Google eroding our general knowledge?
It also turns on the handbrake when I stop, takes it off when I move and turns the parking brake on when I switch off the engine. All very useful indeed – until you are in a different car and find yourself rolling back and snatching up ye olde crank handbrake in a hurry.
See what I mean about growing dependence?
It does, though, change us as a society, too. It used to be we all had general knowledge, facts about stuff we carried in our heads at all times. Now we ask Google.
Mental arithmetic? You can count on Siri.
How do you get from to A to B? Who needs an AA map book when you have Apple Maps?
It used to be said civilisation is only three meals away from barbarism.
These days I harbour a suspicion we are just a few “sorry, something went wrongs” before we’re on the path to a world of Eloi and Morlocks.
You can ask Alexa about that reference. If she’ll tell you.
Scott Begbie is entertainment editor for The Press & Journal and Evening Express
