Confronted with an aging population, Japanese robotics developers are working on conversational human companions for the elderly. Some are extremely realistic and the technology is very promising. On the other hand, in the United States, there seems to be little interest in such projects. Instead, artificial intelligence and robotics are mostly being dedicated to replacing manual laborers and service workers. It probably won’t happen, buy what if America took a cue from the Japanese, who are far more forward looking?

A company called Skydio Is marketing a $2500 consumer autonomous drone that can track the face of someone who has had their image uploaded to the Internet. Given the fact that in 2015 a father and son in Connecticut mounted a pistol to a drone and shot it remotely into the woods, this seems like cause for concern. However, we live in a society where technological progress is a given and the idea of regulation is anathema. So we will just sit back, and I would say enjoy the ride, but this is more like hunkering down while the future goes by. Adding to the frighteningly freaky aspect of this particular invention is the fact that it doesn’t need to be piloted. It’s all automatic.

The #MeToo Movement has held sexual predators in positions of power who abuse that power to account. Wouldn’t it be nice to also see a similar movement holding predatory capitalists, most of whose victims are women, similarly to account?