Would you like a robot helping in the home?NEWS | 25 October 2026When the printing press was introduced, there were elites who thought it would be dangerous to let "just anybody" walk around with books, and one of my favorite churchy-quotes dates from when organs were starting to be introduced and an angry cleric referred to them as "those infernal bags of winds!"
My family, too, has at times resisted new technology. My mom refused to get a microwave oven because it didn't brown the food, and after O.D.ing on TV as a child, I raised my own kids without a TV. They were the last ones in their high school to get cell phones.
All of that said -- I am not resistant to a machine that will fold my laundry (just as I'm grateful not to have to use a washboard and wringer). But I think a more significant question is raised in this week's newsletter: will our "smart" devices, robots included, spy on us and spread malware? Robot vacuum cleaners already measure rooms and send the information back to their companies. Cameras in our fridges record us, too, not just our boring food.
If we let a robot butler into our home, are we voluntarily inviting Big Brother in?Author: Ben Guarino. Adam Rogers. Source
