Fern and I have been busy bulking up for awards season, fitting Oscar contenders in when our schedules allow. I spent an afternoon over Christmas break being overwhelmed by the excess of The Wolf of Wall Street, and Fern took in the indie folk flick Inside Llewyn Davis. My husband even got into the action by taking me to see American Hustle Last weekend. However, nothing prepared me for what I saw when Fern and I went took an evening to see Her.
I’m still processing through all the thoughts, feelings, ideas, and amazement that was going through my head during Spike Jonze’s recent creation, and I’m definitely finding it hard to describe what is so great about it to those who haven’t seen it.
“Doesn’t he just fall in love with his computer?”
“Well, it’s an operating system, and it’s more involved that that.”
“Sounds dumb.”
However, the question I’ve really been mulling over is whether or not I would want an operating system that has artificial intelligence that is created to evolve to meet my needs like Samantha did in the movie?
Of course all the pros spring to mind: My life would be ten times more organized and I’d have something working with me to not only manage my data, but highlight things of my interest. (Think Google and Facebook ads, only better suited!) Giving my technology a personal feel is something we all strive to do already. Just look at how we decorate our phones, tablets, computers, etc. Adding a personal feature that speaks to us is a natural next step.
I could program mine to tell me jokes every day, or sing to me in the morning. Samantha composed some awesome piano pieces in the movie; I could definitely get behind that. My OS could basically provide a soundtrack to my life without me having to program a playlist myself! It could keep track of all the new Avengers movies’ release dates and remind me of key plot information I need to remember. (Also of note: whoever patents those sweet earpieces in the movie and needs testers, feel free to call me!)
But of course, the movie brings up the disadvantages of this idea as well, some of which we can already see. I am totally and completely guilty of being addicted to my phone. I crave new information constantly. I really do try to not be one of those people who is on my phone during dinner or when hanging out with friends, but we’ve all been there. Sometimes extended “family time” can take a toll and all we need is a little escape. A personalized OS is just another relationship with technology that could potentially take the place of personal relationships. Is that another distraction I could really take in my already overflowing life?
Tell me what you think: Would you want an extremely personalized OS? What would you love about it? What would you hate? Any perspective you would like to give?
Feel free to comment or tweet us at @adonnell5 and @fernmays