What happens when we put the internet in everything ? What happens when each and every move can be tracked ? We decided to investigate.
Director Brett Gaylor experienced it all, and shows us the trade-off behind each connected object. We present you with The Internet of Everything, a documentary series comprised of 5 episodes, directed by Brett Gaylor.
Episode 1 – Screentime
At his home in Victoria, B.C., reformed techno-utopian Brett Gaylor, like most parents, is in a constant battle between his kids and screens. But what happens when the internet moves beyond the screen and into the world around us? With innumerable connected objects and spaces, depending on how you see it, we’re either living in a futuristic utopia or a nightmarish surveillance state.
Episode 2 – Alexa, Save the Planet
There are already 66 million smart assistants in operation in the United States alone, and the number is growing daily. But what are we trading for the convenience of turning the lights on with our voice? Director Brett Gaylor approaches the question from a child’s point of view with his daughter Layla as they grapple to understand the enormous amount of energy and processing power involved in the machine learning powering Alexa.
Episode 3 – In Good Hands
Director Brett Gaylor travels to the outskirts of Paris where four young roommates try out fitness trackers for the first time, allowing him to monitor their health data. He finds out much more about their lives than they were expecting. This is creepy enough in and of itself, but it gets worse when the data falls into the hands of third parties.
Episode 4 – Take the Wheel
In the north of France, the company TEQMO is testing self-driving cars in common accident scenarios, such as getting cut-off at an intersection. On the infrastructure front, hacker Cesar Cerato is on a mission to expose weaknesses in smart city traffic systems. With pedestrians and drivers’ lives at risk, algorithmic driving where we can trust the data to make the right decision seems to be a long way off.
Episode 5 – See Something, Say Something
Director Brett Gaylor meets community activists in Skid Row, Los Angeles, where law enforcement has partnered with Amazon’s Ring, with some unintended consequences. By embracing these technologies, are the police protecting everyone, or just the gentrified?
