Advantages and Disadvantages of Living in a Smart Home

Digital Society Internet of Things session

Group members

Alannah Sneyd, Bridget Nzenwa, Hannah Berrisford, Rosario Silva, Joyce Lim, Manatsu Mizutani

Exploring themes

Utopia and Dystopia

Below we have theorised what it would it be like to live in a fully automated world and the opposite..

In my utopian world my smart devices record my information and data to make my life easier…my ‘google home’ device lets me control my heating, lighting, and music. My amazon push button frees up time that I would spend in a shop buying wash tablets. The Nest Thermostat manages my heating for me so I don’t have to come home to the cold.

In my dystopian world my smart devices use my information to manipulate what I see online…My amazon push button encourages me to buy things I don’t need, my Google home listens in on me and hears my every conversation. I am constantly paranoid about whether my home is secure using my smart lock.

Questions to ask

Do the benefits outweigh the costs? Should we start reading terms and conditions? How much do we really need our smart devices? Are they necessary? Are they really simplifying our everyday life? What happens if things start to malfunction?

Skills relevant to this

Consciousness, knowledge of where data is going/how it’s being used before using new ‘smart’ devices, technical skills