Artificial Intelligence’s Integration in Our Daily Routine is Beyond a Dream

             My smartphone wakes me in the morning. The device puts AI at my fingertips. In what was once futuristic, Star Trek style, with voice command, I can ask it to provide the days weather. Amazingly, it spouts the days projection of low temperatures and cloudy skies. More astonishingly and appreciatively it also sports a snooze button onscreen, reminiscent of an old digital clock, whereby I may tap it for another 10 minutes of nap into what feels like an inescapable electronic dreamscape. However, I have programmed it with a latch such that Alexa wakes me up with a buzz ten minutes later, via my Amazon echo smart speaker (Charlton, 2023).

            This is symbolic, in that, not only is AI widely prevalent and readily available from the moment we wake, its presence in ever growing layers in our homes and lives. It promises to remain entrenched all day accompanying me on my Uber ride that uses AI driven analytics to route the nearest driver, while efficiently maximizing my fare at or above the company’s minimum profit target point. It remains on-call throughout the day, using AI Algorithms to block malware from ever hooking into my work computer, and it stays the evening to provide a restaurant recommendation for dinner based on my habitual order of favorite Italian cuisine, delivered via a food app. AI use tops the day like desert after a meal.

            However, AI seeps like molted ice cream in every nook and cranny of my dreams. It never sleeps, even after the moment I ask it; to turn off my smart-home enabled lights at night and tuck me in with the soft playing of a favorite piece of classic music, it streams over the smart speaker. It remains awake at night powering my AI capable security camera system which tirelessly scans for activity around the home, whether for a figure large as a person or night-creature on the lam, whilst I sleep. Sometimes, I twist restlessly in my rest as it seems redundant to dream of new tech when the current AI system agents are changing rapidly, enjoying wide adoption, and drilling deeply, layered into our daily routines. AI systems emulate human intelligence, decision making and analytical skills.

          However, people, including me, sometimes appreciate down time and alone time in a moment of privacy to recharge our souls. I do not mean to be negative, but can AI do that? Will it allow me, for a moment, to make it, let me be?