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- In 1949 George Orwell penned his dystopian fiction classic "1984."
- It depicted a dark future where technology exists in the public realm only as a tool for the elite to control society.
- Sound familiar? In the 70 years since, much of what Orwell imagined has come to fruition, including facial recognition, auto-transcription, and music made by AI.
- Here’s all 5 inventions that have come true.
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
In 1949, British author and essayist George Orwell wrote of a future where a global despotic power controlled the people of Oceania with surveillance and propaganda. This was "1984."
It depicted a dark future where technology exists in the public realm only as a tool for the elite to control society.
But while the book is a work of dystopian fiction, some of the technological innovations that it predicted have come true in the 70 years since it was published.
Here’s a look at some of the things that "1984" got right.
The Telescreen
MGM
In 1984, telescreens — large TVs which can see into all corners of your house — are located in homes and public spaces of Oceania, and are used to transmit messages from the party and monitor civilian activity.
Telescreens can identify people, notice when their facial expressions change, or whether their heart or breathing gets faster.
In 2019, facial recognition software is developing at an unprecedented rate.
In China over 500,000 members of the Uighur Muslim minority are being tracked by facial recognition cameras.
Chinese start-ups have built algorithms for the government to track Uighurs with terrifying accuracy, as Business Insider’s Alex Ma has previously reported.
Facial recognition can be used to make tasks automated, convenient, and efficient. But critics argue there needs to be regulation.
In May 2019, a British office worker who guessed his photo was taken by facial recognition cameras as he ate his lunch sued South Wales police in a landmark case against the tech.
Source: Business Insider
Speakwrite
MGM
Winston Smith, 1984’s protagonist, uses Speakwrite in his job as a copy-writer in the Records section of the Ministry of Truth, part of the dark ruling party INGSOC.
It’s a kind of recording device which, when spoken into, coverts speech into text on the telescreen.
Today there are countless apps and transcription services which do the same, though very few claim to do it contemporaneously.
As Orwell predicted, the technology is useful and in demand.
Android phone users can now utilize the Live Transcribe feature. It’s designed for deaf people and can change 70 languages from speech to text in real time.
Otter is another free app that transcribes speech on the go.
Floating Fortress
Daniel Brown/Business Insider
1984 focuses on a world where war is ceaseless, fought in far away lands with mysterious enemies.
Orwell describes huge military bases called "Floating Fortresses" which "guard strategic spots on the sea lanes."
Aircraft carriers have certainly grown far bigger than those used in the 1950s (when Orwell was writing,) but have not evolved quite to the level of Orwell’s predictions.
However, Orwell writes the "fragile movable battleship has given way to the almost unsinkable Floating Fortress."
The creation of artificial islands in key oceanic areas definitely fits Orwell’s description.
Since 2016, China been creating a number of artificial islands in the hotly-contested South China Sea to assert its dominance and stake a claim to the route.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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- From iPhones to fighter jets: Here’s a list of American products that could be affected if China banned rare-earth metal exports to the US as a trade-war weapon
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Bill Bostock)