What the Hell Are We Doing?

Your toaster is connected to the Internet. Your fridge knows when it’s running out of eggs. Your watch is so advanced it can save your hand a trip to your pocket. Up until recently, the biggest risk of the Internet of Things was that it made us look pretty idiotic. But now we know better. And last week’s massive Internet outage was a reminder of how our connected devices can be used against us.

+ NYT’s John Markoff: As Artificial Intelligence Evolves, So Does Its Criminal Potential.

+ The latest attack shouldn’t surprise us. Everything we attach to the Internet comes with a risk. And our obsession with tech often leads us to play the part of the accomplice in an ongoing plot to obliterate our own privacy. There are a lot of ways to tell the story of the Internet. Here’s one: With every advance, we dramatically increase the risk we face as individuals, nations, and societies. All of which leads me to ask: What the Hell Are We Doing? (Or, why ET phoned home).