What are we becoming?

Stacey Hampton
Nov 3 · 3 min read

Technology is forever advancing and while it has improved greatly in the last 20 years and it made lots of things possible for human beings. Advancements in robotic science has made lots of things possible i.e. cloning people. At least that is the concept portrayed in the Netflix episode ‘Be right back’ (Zeppotron 2013). Whereby, androids have nearly the same looks of the people who were cloned. A replica of their looks and characteristics found through their digital media identities i.e. Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms.

While androids may have many similarities to our true likeness, they are not truly like us… There are several reasons why they do not have the same looks, movement, emotions and communication. First, they are robots which do not share our biology; so, they cannot be our exact clones. Second, we do not portray our true feelings or every thought and feeling online. So, it limits our clones to reflect our true emotions. Lastly, people may be completely fake online because of their safety concerns of how data is used on online social media platforms (Hugl 2011, p. 385; Holpuch 2015). Additionally, what interests would my android have? Would they have my superficial interests, which are shown on social media platforms instead of my interests which I do not find easy to express out in public and may only be my version of how I imagine my public identity should be (Boyd 2014, p.10; Krotoski et al 2015, p.2). Also, they may have my academic goals, but they cannot have all my personal goals which are for self-actualisation. Again, some people do not want to tell all their personal goals through social media because they may be accessed for inappropriate purposes; causing safety risks and the like. Which in turn, means that our clones may not replicate our true selves.

How would I feel if someone created an android version of me? I would not feel comfortable to have an android version of myself. Because what makes me the person I am are all the things I have gone through, my mindset, my values, the things I have in my heart, my political views, and my taste in different things which are impossible to pick up through social media. They are also impossible to pick up through my closest friends. Undeniably, the technology has advanced a lot. But there is no way someone can create an android version of me which is exactly who I am. Because every single person is unique, and everyone is not who they seem to be. And not the same person in private, public and especially on social media.

References

Boyd, D. (2014). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press. New Haven, London.

Holpuch, A. (2015). Facebook adjusts controversial ‘real name’ policy in wake of criticism. The Guardian. Retrieved online: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/15/facebook-change-controversial-real-name-policy.

Hugl, U. (2011). Reviewing person’s value of privacy of online social networking. Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., Internet Research, Vol. 21 №4, pp. 384–407. doi: 10.1108/10662241111158290

Krotoski, A. & Hammersley, B. (2015). Identity & Agency. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1st Ed. doi: 10.1002/9781118290743/wbiedcs094.

Zeppotron (Producer), & Harris, O. (Director). (2013). Be right back [Video file]. BlackMirror, S.2, Ep.1. Netflix Australia. Retrieved from http://www.netflix.com.au/.

Stacey Hampton

Written by

Undergrad | BSocSc(Psych)Crim

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