By Wilson Love
Paul Harvey used to say, “Not all that is called progress is progress”. A few weeks ago, I was composing a gmail message when, to my utter surprise, gmail started finishing my sentences for me. Yep, when I typed in “See”, instantly the words “you later” popped up in order for me to one-click them into my sentence. I didn’t.
Google calls this little word game Smart Compose. I can think of other words for it. When anyone starts prompting us, at any level of conversation, as to what to say, or when, where, or how to say it – that isn’t smart, it’s disturbing.
W-a-i-t a minute, you say. I’m making way too much of this. Well, is manipulating people with words to say, think, or do things for a hidden agenda not a big deal? In real estate sales it’s called “steering” and is strictly illegal. In war it is known as propaganda and costs lives. Deception, by any other name, works against us.
W-a-i-t another minute, you say. We’re not talking about war or even real estate here, only about email. That’s right, only email; only an unassuming, common as dirt worldwide method of communication – only one of the easiest doors into the house of human psyche. Oh, and texting obviously has its own versions of Smart Compose.
So you’re not convinced that a seemingly harmless writing aid that saves time and effort is inherently crooked. Let me explain. The short answer is the misuse of power. If you can interrupt a person’s conscious thought, that is the first step to replacing that thought with something else. I’m not out to give a history lesson here, but what I’m saying is easy enough to demonstrate from the past.
When our thinking process is consistently interrupted, we don’t think – we only respond. Thieves love it when we are distracted and don’t think to lock our cars or homes. Firemen hate it when we are preoccupied and don’t think of potential hazards. Not thinking can get us in all kinds of trouble.
Been to an amusement park lately? Muse is an old English word we don’t use much anymore. It means, “to think”. The prefix a means “not, or opposite”. So, a-muse-ment literally means “that process, state, or result of not thinking”. All those park operators are counting on the proposition that we will be not thinking when we dole out our money for their many attractions.
Now, I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer and certainly not technically savvy. But I know when I’m being messed with, and mine is not the voice of the Lone Ranger. One kindred blogger wrote about Smart Compose that “this is what a robot might write”. So why does Google want to finish my sentences? What will this result in, and why does Google want that result? You may not agree, but I don’t see this as innocent, progressive technology. It smacks of Big Brother.
So I’ve decided to continue in control of my own thought process. Disabling Smart Compose is easy enough, even for a recovering technosaur like me. But the question remains: why would a giant of influence like Google start programming the world to communicate in a certain way? I smell a dead fish. If I’m being diverted away from my own thoughts and channeled into their thoughts in a simple email today, then what is coming tomorrow? Could it be that those grooming the giant want greater control of us in the future? Don’t be deceived. Innocence may be presumed in court, but not on the internet. Predators are noted for wearing sheep costumes.
I’d like to go fishing and forget about all this, but I’ll probably go fishing and muse on it instead. (I Peter 5: 8)
Wilson Love is Owner/Operator of The Practical Outdoorsman.