Smart devices have become the latest target in an anti-electronic backlash that has swept the nation in recent years. Spurred by conspiracy theorists, dubious YouTube videos and social media, the public is being led to think smart devices are akin to artificial intelligence spying on our personal lives. While there may be some concerns about electronics that capture or share consumer data, we are far from a digital Orwellian nightmare. Let’s look at the facts behind three maligned “smart” devices.
1. Smart televisions. Earlier this year, the Internet was buzzing with headlines declaring that smart televisions, particularly Samsung’s Smart TV, were designed to spy on everything people say while at home.
“Your Samsung TV is eavesdropping on your private conversations” declared [3] CNN Money in February. In fact, Samsung Smart TV comes equipped with a speech recognition technology, which is not so different from similar technologies used by Apple (Siri), Microsoft (Cortana) or Google, and sometimes your requests are captured and sent over the Internet, which might make you a bit nervous.