Jessica Tarlov, a Democratic political consultant, described the tech anxiety or angst people have today on Bill Maher’s show. Her comments were insightful but also provided an unintended moment of levity. Perfectly human.
TARLOV: I feel like everything related to tech right now is just in one big anxiety bucket. So there are Flock cameras, data centers, super intelligence, …
MAHER: Phones, I mean.
TARLOV: Phones, every — Alexa. And they want help. They want to feel like people who know more than them are going to try to protect them.
MAHER: I also feel like people think, “We didn’t ask for all of this. You know, we can’t get rid of our phones, and we don’t want to. I mean, they’re miraculous. No one would deny that. But they also have f–d up the kids and the adults to a great degree.
And there is a pushback on all of this stuff–cameras, Flock cameras, surveillance, phones, AI. We’re still humans. We cannot evolve as quickly as the technology is.
TARLOV: And it doesn’t feel as good. I mean, we want to hang out with each other and … touch … you know, intimately. [LAUGHTER]
I did not come on here to come on to you. [LAUGHTER] I’m just saying, you know what I mean. We’re a social species.
MAHER: This is very awkward, Mrs. Robinson.
