FILE - In this April 10, 2018, file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a joint hearing of the Commerce and Judiciary Committees on Capitol Hill in Washington, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election. We may remember 2018 as the year in which technologyâs dystopian potential became clear, from Facebookâs role enabling the harvesting of our personal data for election interference to a seemingly unending series of revelations about the dark side of Silicon Valleyâs connect-everything ethos. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
The Associated Press
We may remember 2018 as the year when technology's dystopian potential became clear.
That ranges from Facebook's role in enabling the harvesting of our personal data for election interference to a seemingly unending series of revelations about the dark side of Silicon Valley's connect-everything ethos.
More awaits us in 2019, as surveillance and data-collection efforts ramp up and artificial intelligence systems start sounding more human.
But there are also countermeasures afoot in Congress and state government - and even among tech-firm employees who are more active about ensuring their work is put to positive ends.
Artificial intelligence expert Meredith Whittaker says one positive outcome from these scandals is "a growing public awareness that there's an accountability crisis in tech."
FILE - In this April 18, 2018, file photo, a graphic from the Cambridge Analytica website is displayed on a computer screen in New York. Among the most troubling cases of what made 2018 so ominous was the revelation in March that political data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica swept up personal information of millions of Facebook users for the purpose of manipulating national elections. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - This Jan. 17, 2017, file photo shows a Facebook logo being displayed in a start-up companies gathering at Paris' Station F, in Paris. We may remember 2018 as the year in which technologyâs dystopian potential became clear, from Facebookâs role enabling the harvesting of our personal data for election interference to a seemingly unending series of revelations about the dark side of Silicon Valleyâs connect-everything ethos. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Aug. 8, 2018, file photo, a mobile phone displays a user's travels using Google Maps in New York. Google attracted concern about its continuous surveillance of users after The Associated Press reported that it was tracking peopleâs movements whether they like it or not. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2018, file photo, Google CEO Sundar Pichai appears before the House Judiciary Committee to be questioned about the internet giant's privacy security and data collection, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Google attracted concern about its continuous surveillance of users and other concerns bubbled up this month as lawmakers grilled Pichai. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The Associated Press