Take comfort: you’re being watched
While technology's intelligence is unsettling, God's is a comfort.
This photo is by Abby Ciona, a student at Redeemer University. Last Fall, she participated in a street photography project in downtown Hamilton. “I was interested in trying to photograph what burdens the people of the city might be carrying, and I noticed that often, people carried the weight of their visible and invisible struggles in their phones.”
“You are being watched.” This ominous warning began each episode of Person of Interest. The science-fiction crime series ran for five seasons. The plot centred around “the Machine,” a sophisticated computer system designed by billionaire genius Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), for the U.S. government after 9-11. Originally intended to predict acts of terrorism, it was also capable of foreseeing other violent crimes, which the government chose to ignore. Finch teams up with John Reese (Jim Caviezel), an ex-Special Forces soldier and CIA operative who stops just short of having super powers of his own. The unlikely duo joins forces to pre-empt heinous offenses before they ever happen. The Machine only spits out limited information about the “Person of Interest,” so Finch and Reese are never certain whether their assignment is to protect a potential victim or foil a perpetrator.
Although violent at times, the show was also thought provoking – often raising moral dilemmas around concepts like the right to privacy vs. the greater good, or when homicide might be justifiable. Frequently it was hard to tell good guys from villains. (That may have been one of the more true-to-life aspects of the show.) Predictably, in the later seasons the Machine gained sentience and then things got really interesting.
Ears in our pockets
Far fetched? These days I wonder if we’re actually inching ever closer to that reality. Consider the rapid advances of artificial intelligence. As for being watched, the U.S. leads the world in per capita CCTV cameras. In Canada, you’d be hard pressed to pass through any small town without being monitored by some kind of video surveillance.
Then of course there are our beloved smart phones. According to Statista 2024, out of the 39 million people in our country, 33 million use smart phones. Do our phones eavesdrop on us? You decide. The other day as we finished our rounds at the dog park I said to Norton, “Okay, buddy, a quick stop at Walmart and we’ll head for home.” (Because everyone talks to their dog, right?) When I got into the car the message on my phone’s screen was, “Four minutes to Walmart. Traffic is light.”
Anyone with a cell phone in their pocket has a camera at hand. Not to mention there are dash cams, doorbell cams, traffic cameras and security cameras for homes and businesses. Even here on the chicken farm we have a network of cameras to monitor the property and barn, inside and out. A quick perusal of YouTube will confirm that whatever you’re up to, there’s a distinct possibility someone is recording you, maybe when you least expect it.
That’s the voice of experience talking. Not long ago a mysterious brown envelope arrived in my mailbox. Inside was a speeding ticket I didn’t know I had earned. I stood there in denial, staring at the close up of my licence plate. It was a full three weeks after the fact. Who knew “municipal speed cameras” were a thing? Guilty as charged.
The good news is that Christians know we really are being watched – not by AI, but by the actual source of all intelligence. He watches over us every second of our lives. That’s both sobering and comforting – if we understand who, exactly, “He” is. Because victim or perpetrator . . . he will find you!
