S2E1 — Can I Get a Witness? Tech or Human

Last summer, Chicago Cubs baseball player Ben Zobrist got thrown out of the game when he turned to the umpire and complained “that’s why we want an electronic strike zone”.  

Who is a better witness to the truth—a person … or a computer?

On a more serious note: This question became especially relevant in Chicago. Chris & Adam watched the race-charged trial of the police officer who shot black teenager Laquan MacDonald. A police video camera became the key piece of evidence the jury trusted over the eye-witness accounts.

From a Christian ethics point of view, witness is key—heck, it’s the Ninth Commandment!

Tough Questions

• Are we at a point where technology is a better witness than a human?

• If so what does that mean?

• What do cameras see that people don’t?

• What can a human witness offer that a video witness cannot?

• Can technology bear false witness?

Links

• Baseball player Ben Zobrist tells the ump he wants an electronic strike zone and gets tossed (CBS Sports)

• Deepfake Videos Are Getting Real and That’s a Problem (Wall Street Journal)

• Witness.org: “See It. Film It. Change It.

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Recorded 22 Oct 2018