We humans use technology–digital or analog–to outsource our brainwork. Calculators mean we don’t have to remember the times table anymore; calendars track our schedules; Diigo means I don’t have to remember where I read that dang article (or flip through stacks of file cards). 

Does this outsourcing have limits? Your Futurist Friday assignment: contemplate that question as you watch this video (2.5 min). Can we outsource forethought, compassion, even romance, to a digital device? Do we want to be bossed around by what Rob Walker has dubbed “Nanny Devices?” 

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(And, would those flowers mean as much to her if she knew his digital assistant suggested he buy them?)