For the past 16 years, Ms Biggin, who lives in Ballarat, has not been able to do regular things like cross a road or get groceries without the help of a guide dog. But everything changed for the mother of three when she got her first pair of smart glasses. She said she did not think she would ever get a guide dog again. Ms Biggin said AI glasses had given her independence she never imagined she could have.
But the glasses are not without their problems. Ms Biggin said she got stopped at least three times a week by people accusing her of filming them.
“Halfway through the walk I’ll have somebody grab me on the arm and say, ‘Oi, you just filmed me,’ because [the glasses] light up when they’re in use,” she said. “People automatically assume I’m recording them. It gets exhausting having to explain every time.”
Wait … people stop others in the street for this ? I get being concerned in toilets etc but in the street ? ffs
Anecdote, I understand her frustration somewhat, I was pointing my phone at the veggie chiller section in Woollies a couple years back on a Signal vid call to my gf to check with her to confirm what it was she wanted me to get and a 19yr old (estimate, I was 55) girl who was 2m or so away started literally shoving me and slapping me in the chest and yelling loudly “I was a pervert recording her.” I told her to “fuck off” even more loudly but didn’t push back; me 100kg 186cm, she 165cm 65kg or so, would have ended badly initially for her and then longer term for me if I’d shoved her in anger after being assaulted, it’s a bit of a shock being assaulted in a Woolies .
I mean, she is filming them through the glasses… or at least someone is.
Now they’re automating the dogs out of their jobs. Where does it end
Damn… AI even puts dogs out of a job…
When I see a guide dog with a person, I know to be more mindful.
Here’s the thing though, all that data they are generating is being processed and some portion of it retained. It’s cool that they have chosen accessibility over privacy, if they lived a life that kept them isolated that would be entirely their choice. But they are taking this invasive spy tech into society, people who don’t want to be closely surveilled are not getting a choice.
I have not been into a Coles store since the Palantir stuff was revealed, because I get to make a choice. There’s an IGA I don’t go to because they are pretty sneaky about their AI surveillance disclosure (you can only find the notice in the back corner of the store). I started shopping for hardware at Mitre 10 not Bunnings when they were doing their AI thing. I opt out when and where I can, but what do I do when some brings that surveillance tech into my workplace, when they take it to my kids sports games, when I walk past them on the street. I have endless sympathy for the situation they find themselves in but there is no divorcing the technology from the invasion of personal privacy.
Until we get those rights hammered out, fines in the millions of dollars for these shitful companies that are constantly spying on us would be a good start, I see this becoming a more and more polarising matter as time goes by.
Hell even if we had a company backing these glasses that didn’t want to use the incidental data generated by their operation, how long would it be before they had a competitor who would offer a more featureful set at a lower price and drive them out of business simply by offering a better deal by turning people with a disability into ambulatory Flock cameras?
Yeah there is the portion of a generation thinking its always about them.
A friend was about 20 feet away, and looked over and me and smiled and a lady in between accused him of staring at her breasts. We were both like WTF.
She seemed to think it was all about her. At somepoint to shut down the nonsense he responded with something like “if I was going to stare, it certainly wouldn’t be at those” Then she seemed offended he had no interest LOL.
This is probably the biggest contribution to mankind of social media - incessant main character syndrome.
Did you then look at her breasts
It’s normal & natural. Should guys be offended when women look at their ass? As long as it’s “look, but don’t touch (or make lewd comments),” then acting like they’ve been assaulted is childish attention seeking.
Amen, I get that all the time. Put them titties away if you’re offended by people looking
That word means different things to different people. Some seem to think staring is “just looking”. Staring is rude, in any context, but particularly if it’s sexualised in nature. It’s not “normal and natural” to stare at strangers, it is weird behaviour that makes many people feel uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of. In this context, it could even be considered sexual harassment.
Staring is rude in any context
Hmm I suggest you stay away from Germany then.
Why do we need to replace guide dogs?
There are more people who need/want a dog to partner them than there are dogs available to give them. A lot more. Because an individual dog will take so much time and effort to train, the bottleneck is kind of inevitable.
An accessibility tool that can handle “a lot of what a dog does” without needing years of training like the dog does would be a huge help, because it means that some of the people currently waitlisted for a dog (and unable to be independent while they wait) now have other options for independence that might suit them.
The cost adds to the bottleneck too. Many non-profits offer them for low to no cost to people who need them, but because it costs tens of thousands of dollars, they are limited by donations. It’s also not free to feed and provided veterinary care for dogs.
Some billionaire needs a new yacht.
