3 tech advancements to be nervous about

What a time to be alive. Looking at the sci-fi movie canon and the years in which these films take place, we’re 10 years past Robocop (set in 2015) and 7 years away from Demolition Man (set in 2032).

As often as sci-fi serves as inspiration for the tech world, from the AI girlfriend of Her (2013) to an Iron Man-inspired tactical battle suit, so rarely does the tech world regard the thematic warnings underpinning their favorite depictions of the future.

I believe in the power and opportunity of tech, and I’ve made a career of building applications with integrity. Many emerging advancements—AI-assisted breast cancer screenings, for example—will change our world for the better.

But a few new technologies give me that “Danger, Will Robinson!” feeling. Here are three of them.

1.     Humanoid housekeeping robots

Companies like Norway’s 1X, the U.S.’s Figure, and Canada’s Sanctuary AI are creating humanoid housekeeping robots, combining robotic hardware with AI-powered software. These robots can receive vocal instruction and translate that instruction to physical action. Astounding!

I get the use of these robots in warehouse and manufacturing settings, which are designed to accommodate the human form. Humanoid robots could take on the dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks that are too risky for humans.

In the home is a different matter. Aside from a general uncanny valley creepiness, I can’t see how these robots would be safe. Current large language models (LLMs) used by AI platforms like ChatGPT aren’t too difficult to jailbreak—i.e., bypassing built-in security guardrails. A jailbroken LLM can be tricked into revealing sensitive credentials and secrets or giving harmful instructions like, say, how to build a bomb or 3D print a gun.

Now imagine a jailbroken robot in your home. No thanks.

2.     AI social media personas

A few weeks ago while scrolling Instagram, I was prompted to try chatting with Instagram’s new AI characters. Meta’s been rolling them out in a stop-and-start fashion since last year, and while they’ve been repealed (for the moment) from Facebook, there are still a few on Instagram you can chat with.

I think often how technology’s principle of eliminating friction has gone too far. Friction and discomfort are necessary in the human experience. To be a person in community is to be vulnerable, to risk showing yourself to others. I worry technology has lulled us into such comfort that the most normal, natural aspects of being social animals have come to feel like a chore, if not a danger.

We shouldn’t equivocate simulated interactions with human ones, especially for kids, even in the most benign contexts. The less benign contexts are even more grim. Anyone can create an AI agent and say you should use it as your therapist or your girlfriend or financial advisor. Even with whimsical accounts—like a Spongebob Squarepants chat agent—you (or your child) is still essentially talking to a stranger.

A troubling formula: The humanness of the AI agent makes it feel trustworthy, and the machine-ness of the AI makes it feel unbiased and without agenda. On a broader scale, I worry about these accounts’ potential for spreading misinformation, not by shouting from the streets of X with a bullhorn, but by whispering directly into our ears.

3.     Microsoft’s Majorana 1 chip

Quantum computing—another deeply sci-fi topic— is coming into reality. The science behind quantum mechanics is quite dense, but here’s a primer.

• In computing, a classical “bit” is either a 1 or 0. A quantum bit (or qubit) can be both 0 and 1 simultaneously. The capability of a quantum computer is dependent on how many qubits are powering it.
• Quantum computers can make many attempts at a problem at once, compared to traditional computers that make one attempt at a time, albeit very quickly.
• For many, the standard of a “quantum relevant” computer is its ability to break RSA encryption (aka, the algorithmic formula commonly used to encrypt data) reliably at scale.

Many nations are racing to develop quantum capabilities across several verticals and use cases—China, Germany, Canada, the U.S., India, and Japan are leading the way. There’s no way of knowing when quantum will reach a point of commercial or personal viability.

That said, Microsoft’s new Majorana 1 chip represents a significant step toward that reality. The architecture used to develop the Majorana 1 appears capable of supporting a million qubits. For reference, when IBM released the first quantum processor in 2023, it had over 1,000 qubits, and that was a big deal. In 2021, the University of Science and Technology of China debuted a 66-qubit processor that solved a calculation in just 1.2 hours that would have taken a traditional super computer 8 years to solve.

My concern isn’t for the chip itself. The Majorana 1 is marvelous. My concern is that the world will not be ready for the quantum paradigm shift that Majorana 1 portends. Stepping into a quantum world will require organizations and infrastructure providers of all types to adopt quantum-resistant algorithms to protect our data and themselves against disruption. However, such cryptographic shifts have been historically painful. Many verticals still struggle with migrating to decade-old standards like AES or SHA-2.

Our modern world and way of life relies deeply on encryption, and almost certainly nation-state enemies would use quantum capabilities against us if they beat us to the punch.

We’ll see what sticks

It’s fun to look back in time to failed inventions from the early 20th century. Today, they seem so kooky and cumbersome. So many unique ideas that once appeared to be the next game changer fell flat, then fell into obscurity.

I get the same sense about our current era. AI, quantum, and other breakthroughs are forging so many new possibilities, especially as they collide and combine with one another. The technologist in me feels like a kid in a candy store. I only hope the technology that survives serves our interests and individuals and as a species.

Lindsey Witmer Collins is the founder of WLCM App Studio.

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