As an engineer I find myself naturally drawn to all thing tech related. However during one of my youtube exploration sessions I came across something rather scary. Im sure that by now we are all acquainted with Googles latest innovation in the form of Google assistant, at this point making Apples Siri and Amazons Alexa look like one of those old calculator watches that we had as a child.
Now I know that this type of technological innovation is geared towards making our lives easier but I do have to ask the question as to where do we start drawing the line?
After having watched the presentation by google where their assistant made a phone call on behalf of a real person, I found myself both amazed and slightly worried at the same time. I am sure that by now everyone has seen the video in question, if not, here it is bellow...
Pretty amazing right? However what are the potential repercussions of this? Google has said that their AI has now gotten to a stage where it can mimic your voice with a minute! Does that mean that if it makes a call on my behalf, it then uses my voice in the conversation? It begs the question as to what type of security systems are going to be implemented with this type of technology? As we know there are individuals out there who have made it their business to hack cell phones, computers even blockchains. Some individuals involve themselves in identity theft. how difficult would it be for them to hack your assistant and make phone calls on your behalf to say your banker or your investment fund manager?
Perhaps even ways of potential blackmail.
Now I know I am probably being overly paranoid but I think that these are valid questions that we need to ask ourselves given the direction technology is headed. Where do we draw the line?
Would be interested to know everyone's thoughts on the matter, perhaps there are Tech professionals out there who can put our minds at ease.