"Smart Systems"

Yesterday, Laure chose to present us an article extracted from The Economist, which deals with the “smart systems” and in particular the convergence between the digital and the real worlds they imply.

Let me begin with a short definition, because it seems that a lot of people don’t understand what “smart systems”, or “mirror worlds” as they are often called, are exactly. In fact, this recent concept describes the fact that the digital world becomes more and more a reflection of the real one. In other words, we can recognize some part of our world on our computer screen. In a sense, it’s a sort of “virtualization” of our world. Thanks to “smart systems”, the digital world takes all information provided by the real world and automatically acts on it. So, “smart systems” can react instantly to changes on its environment. But, concretely, what does a “smart system” look like? This is, for instance, an application like “Google’s Earth” or “Street View”, which is a replica of the entire world. Another example is the connection of real-life objects with copies in the simulator “Second Life”.

Firstly, Laure mentioned the growing proliferation of smart systems. Indeed, mankind is building more and more “mirror worlds”. In fact, a lot of scientists have noticed that the real and the digital worlds are converging. In this article, a professor of computer science even predicted that soon “you will look into a computer screen and just see reality”.

Then, Laure developed the journalist’s example of Smartphone and its “apps” (small applications), as the best illustration of the convergence between the real and digital worlds. In fact, “Apps” are just miniature smart systems. In Smartphone, the virtual and the real merges into something called “augmented reality”. For instance, if you download an application called “Layar” on your Smartphone, turn on its video camera and point at a street, the software will overlay the picture on the screen with all kinds of digital information, such as the names of the businesses on the street or of a house is for sale.

Finally, Laure evocates the attitude of governments and Information-technology firms, who both make smart systems a one of their priorities. The fact is that there is a real need for such systems. Smart Systems address environmental, societal and economic challenges like limited resources, climate change, aging population, and globalization. They are for that reason increasingly used in a large number of sectors. Key sectors in this context are transportation, healthcare, energy and environment, safety and security.

But, with so much to gain, what is there to lose? The smart systems are at the heart of a debate, and have to face a lot of critics. For instance, some people reproach them for giving an unfair advantage to those who can afford to pay for it. Others criticize them for endangering private life, or mention the risk of abuse by a malicious government, or simply by hackers.

That’s why Laure asked us if we think smart systems are a great or a bad initiative. Are they more dangerous than useful, or inversely?

Personally, I think that smart systems themselves are not dangerous; but they make us lazier because they often make our live too easier. I agree they are very useful but not in our daily life, just when they are use in order to treat social and environmental problems. In fact, everyday, we don’t really need all these “apps”, even if we tend to think it more and more. However, smart systems are dangerous because of what they imply, that is to say the growing convergence between the virtual and the real worlds. The risk, in terms, is to lead to confusion between the two worlds, which will distort our perception of reality.