Will our technological future be a Utopia or a Dystopia?

It is obvious to see that our future holds technological advances far beyond what our ancestors ever could have dreamed of; some of these innovations will be beneficial, and some may be harmful, while there is one overarching concern that looms over it all.

A huge issue that could present itself in the future is if our artificial intelligence can become too smart. There have been many movies portraying the future as a dismal, dark world where robots or AI take over and control human society.  The matrix is a prime example of human society being overtaken by our own creations; humans are forced into a dream-like state while robots rule the earth. 

With how quickly technology is advancing, something along these lines does not seem too far-fetched.  We already have computers that can play jeopardy, robots that can clean our house, and machines that can perform surgery.  A huge factor that would play a key role in machine takeover is if the robots can learn from experience and assess their natural surroundings.  Sure, developers can pre-program robots to do most anything, but every situation cannot be accounted for, so it seems like the robots would almost need an active conscience in order for this apocalyptic takeover to occur.

All in all, the current advance of technology is providing us with huge benefits in many industries, and making general day to day tasks much easier. As of now, it seems as if a fully automated Utopia is right around the corner, but will there ever come a time when we advance too far?

What Kind of Adopter Am I?

When it comes to the technology and how relevant it is in my life, I consider myself to be in the early/late majority section. Although I consider myself on the forefront and cutting edge of technological releases, e.g. I had and was exploring iOS 7 weeks before it came out, and work in IT on campus, I do not need the latest releases of every system or phone that comes out.  Many times, the upgrades that companies make are so subtle and do not truly affect the functionality of the phone; rather, they just need to increase their revenue, and of course there will be the Apple or Microsoft groupies who have to have every single new product that rolls out.  All that matters to me is if the phone can do what I need to do at that given moment, and until it stops doing that, I have absolutely no need to upgrade or change

In regards to social media, I would consider myself a late adopter.  I used to be big on communicating through Myspace or Facebook in the early days, but it has most definitely changed over the years.  Now, I can't stand really any social media.  The only reason I don't delete my Facebook is because of the groups I am in, where important information is spread to multiple people.  Social media is taking away the personal human interactions and we now have to hide behind a screen, which is sad.