You do not need to understand technology to understand how it impacts your life and what you can do about it!
Today…
Someone, who is often not human, notices every event, image, and sound that every device records.
Algorithms conduct virtual job interviews.
Audio and video recordings, location, and connection logs from mobile devices and virtual assistants provide forensics that can and will be used against you in courts of law.
Children use technology with few boundaries regarding acceptable use and expectations of privacy, and parents are responsible.
And that is just the beginning. Technology has enabled a pandemic of dishonesty, invaded your privacy, and created ethical, legal, and moral risks you may not be aware of.
The most difficult aspect of writing the ten short stories was remaining impartial and objective. Presenting how technology impacts our lives without judging the actors and technology, explaining how it all works, and offering advice and opinions proved to be much more challenging than I anticipated when I wrote the first story three years ago.
I had to let The eMusketeers -
Bill - the record keeper
Al - the algorithm
Sam - an aggregation of social media, and
Mike - the microphone and camera embedded in many devices
and the human characters speak for themselves.
Thirty years ago, there was a common belief that rapid advancements would make our lives easier, reduce complexity, offer unimaginable conveniences, and bring us all closer by improving how we communicate and understand one another.
Whether Bill, Al, Sam, and Mike have delivered upon those promises, are a Modern Pandora’s Box, some combination, or something altogether different is left for you to decide. I hope that you will close the book reflecting upon how your life and the lives of the people you care about are impacted – and if the benefits to you outweigh the drawbacks.