For decades, humans have tried to imagine what life would be like in the future. From Back to the Future to Ex Machina, we’ve all pictured a life with AI and robotic assistance. It seems like what we’ve imagined in fictional movies is coming straight to our doors.
American retail giant Amazon has made an announcement that’s actually quite dystopian. Soon, the platform launched by multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos will be launching a doorbell that can recognise you by scent, voice, eyes. Following the group’s purchase of “Ring” back in 2018, the company specialised in surveillance camera doorbells has now registered over 15 new patents that can now serve as major updates and additional features to this already intrusive product.
Using biometric chips and software, the next-gen doorbell might also be able to identify suspicious behaviours and intruders surrounding your domicile. According to one of the files, whole neighbourhoods could be hooked to the same doorbell system in order to collect banks of digital data and lock doors whenever anything odd is picked up. Another patent file mentions being able to submit your own footage to the program to prompt neighbouring doorbells to start filming if any activity is believed to start looking a little fishy.
As many will find comfort in the fact that our world is getting more and more digitalised, others may fear the total loss of privacy.
