I Can Hear You

Daria Plotz and Caitlin Haggerty

Daria's Brief: I Can Hear You is a documentary about smart speakers and how they are changing expectations of privacy. Smart speakers are speakers like Alexa with microphones that will record you. The Alexa will respond to your prompts to play music, set reminders, and do other basic tasks. Many people use these speakers because of their basic convenience, but in collecting recordings of their surroundings, the speakers infringe on basic privacy. 

I Can Hear You explores the issue of privacy in the age of the internet of things through a variety of interviews. NuVu students who own smart speakers provided two different perspectives on why people use smart speakers despite the loss of privacy. A cybersecurity expert, Steve MacLellan, talked about security concerns of smart speakers, and David Wang, an AI PhD from MIT, talked about how he didn't care that his data was collected. We also included b-roll of a variety of smart speakers to show how they are used. By clearing showing viewers the data that smart speakers collect and what can be done with that data, I Can Hear You allows viewers to make an educated decision when they consider purchasing a smart speaker. 

Caitlin's Brief: I Can Hear You encourages people to question their relationships with technology and take more active roles as consumers in shaping the future of the digital age. The documentary addresses the new phenomenon of smart speakers and the privacy concerns raised as their use spreads.

The documentary gradually progresses from an informational film to interviews with depth and ranging perspectives and opinions. The film consists of interviews with smart speaker users and those who are involved in developing Artificial Intelligence. As a society, the film encourages us to question if Artificial Intelligence is beneficial or harmful. 


I Can Hear you

Daria Plotz