Top 5 Technological Advancements That Scare Nova & The Experience

Sydney indie-pop outfit Nova & The Experience head north later this week to showcase at Bigsound.

The band’s drummer, Laurie Mahon, checked in with a top five ‘technological advances that scare me’ list. “Technology excites but also frightens me. I remember getting my first iPhone and losing my shit with excitement. But now I can't even remember what it was like in a world without the smart phone.

“We are so fortunate to grow up in this technological age, but also miss out on so much. It upsets me to think there will no longer be a scary movie that revolves around getting lost on a road trip... things have changed and they’re going to just change more and more.”

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The Molar Skycar

I must admit, I don't like movies with spaceships in them — I find them un-relatable and boring (yes I am including ‘Star Wars’ in this). Although my hatred for this type of film flows strongly in my veins, I am excited about the possibility of travelling in a spaceship one day. Yes, I will be bored out of my mind for most of the duration of the trip, but that first five minutes of being in space will just out-rule the boredom I would soon experience. The Molar Skycar exists. You can buy it in the US for two million dollars. It is predicted that within the next five years, it will be as affordable as a luxury car. What is the Molar Skycar? It is a flying car!!!!!!! Wow, we will be The Jetsons.

The most amazing thing about the Molar Skycar is that it flies itself (yes, also a little disappointing that we won't get to control this beast). There are platforms being built, which correspond to a number that you punch into your keypad and get zipped there. Traffic is controlled by computer software and we are all going to be happily flying around the sky with no traffic problems. What scares me is that no doubt, someone, some crazy, blood-hungry person could hack into this computer program and send us all spiralling to our death.

Google Glass & Artificial Intelligence

Yes artificial intelligence has been invented, and although it is going to be unbelievably helpful, with Google Glass only around the corner, we are getting closer and closer to being exactly like the movie ‘Her' (if you haven't seen it — basically a man falls in love with his computer, granted it has the voice of Scarlett Johansson). So, essentially we are setting ourselves up to be out-done by a computer with the ability to make its own decisions... my thought is are THEY going to use Google Glass to use us as vessels... wow, yep, I know... that's some scary shit right there.

But maybe on a more realistic note, in the more immediate future, face recognition software is just going to change the way we socialise completely. Think about being at a pub and you meet someone for the first time, but already know their name, your connected friends, their age and what they are into — conversations are just going to get boring.

3D Printing

For me, this invention just came out of nowhere. Suddenly BOOM! Everyone was talking about 3D printing — they’re even popping up at universities around the country. What I am worried about is how readily available they have now become; you can purchase them for household use at $500. If you can start printing your utensils, then you’re never going to go down to the local department store to purchase new utensils... stores will close down and unemployment levels will rise. There is now talk of being able to print food like on ‘The Fifth Element’ (yes, this has spaceships in it but is an exception to my rule as it is such a good movie). Maybe it will become a new form of organic... eating ‘non printed food’.

Social Media & Search Engine Algorithms

We are unbelievably connected these days with the popularity of Facebook and other social networking sites, and the way we receive our information is vastly different from five years ago. There’s so much money in advertising connected with these platforms that the more they know about you, the better results they will get. So they’re now recording everything you search on the internet and how you use it to ensure the advertising or search engine results are displayed in a way that matches your online personality. This I must admit can be very convenient, but can also control what the media or dare I say the government want, and everyone should know that!

Cloning

We have touched on some pretty hard-hitting issues here, but I feel cloning is going to affect us the most. What it comes down to for me, I think we should be scared of such advancements that really could end up ruining our lifestyle. Most new technology comes about because of money and that it could potentially improve our lifestyles. But the ability to clone ourselves is just going to take away more jobs together with A.I. and 3D printing – we’re going to be a race of unemployed citizens. All I can hope is that the flying car industry will employ a lot of people.

Nova & The Experience play the Bye Bye Bigsound showcase with Owen Rabbit at Ric’s on Friday 12th September.