The Science of Fiction
A reflection on future of work, society and self Imagine waking up to your personal assistant (PA), say like an Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Cortana or, may be an independent chatbot greeting you, then walking you through the important To-Dos of the day and asking what would be your breakfast preference! Let’s then have this PA on to a drone like device, which means your PA is not a static device like your TV or, music system but flies around the house and can also fly in your neighbourhood and some more. When you are not around, it is connected to other devices in the house including your security system. It has a good idea of your preferences, and with your usage also understands your family and friend circle. Interestingly, the drone with a PA like smart-device is not a projection into the future, but featured in a science fiction comedy – “Flubber”, starring Robin Williams that was released in 1997 , a good 21 years ago . The PA was called “Weebo”. The professor’s home ha...