By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net
THE thrill formula used in the film “Eagle Eye” is nothing new with its car chases, crushed metals, explosive weaponry and advance technology. Even the theme about the possibility of artificial intelligence learning more about us and in the end, predicting our courses of action lacked originality and appeal.
The movie though serves as another reminder of how our society today has become big online content consumers as well as feeders of content to online networking sites.
It is nothing new that algorithms can map human behavior from these uploaded content as well as any form of online transactions ranging from clicks on websites to chat logs — thus the proliferation of more and more social networking services.
Aside from tracking the clicks that you for every online session, website trackers can make available to the site admin your IP address, location and possibly, identity. These tools have helped site managers predict online behaviors and make users click more. Hackers who can find their way to snoop around private online data are another thing.
The film fell short in showing patriotism, which it tries to depict. In any case, it just served as a reminder of the upcoming United States elections. In the film, an artificial intelligent machine that was built to secure the government tried putting a new order in place. It makes one wonder up to what extent can we manage this liberty on the Internet so we don’t end up harming ourselves.
One thing for sure, whatever you do online leaves a trail of footprints. Beware, you are being watched.
