Crash Course on Smart Homes
Natasha opens her eyes at 6:30 to the sounds of a soft alarm and dimmed lights, the sun has not yet risen. While Natasha showers and gets ready for work, the heating unit in her kitchen that has been off all night to save energy turns on and brings the room to her preferred temperature; meanwhile, the coffee machine starts brewing her a cup of coffee. Throughout her morning routine, the shades open as the sun rises and provides natural light, the activated lights in occupied rooms are switched off as they become unnecessary, once again saving energy and reducing carbon emissions. It is a particularly cold day outside so the smart home network prompts Natasha if she would like her car to preheat, she confirms and grabs a hat and gloves on her way out the door a couple minutes later. As she turns on her car’s engine, the garage door opens and Natasha goes off to work. Back home, her security system activates and any lights that are still on are turned off.
This is what a future with smart homes can look like. According to the EPA, the residential and commercial sector are responsible for around 20.6% of the United State’s greenhouse gas emissions. Smart homes are just one of many ways in which we can increase the energy efficiency of houses, along with providing several other advantages. Not only is increased energy efficiency better for the environment, but it is more cost-effective. Smart homes also provide safety in that their pattern recognition and high level of interconnectivity between devices (i.e. between your alarm system and your phone) allow for better security systems. Additionally, while the technology is still in its early stages and in need of much development, many smart homes have or will have medical emergency protocols that can detect problems and contact medics and/or family.
So how do smart homes work? The architecture of a smart home has four layers that work together to take in, store, and process information in order to make decisions and execute actions. The physical layer is made up of all of the devices such as speakers, the coffee machine, and the blinds, also known as the hardware. Next, the communication layer is the software that connects all of these agents together. The information layer, one level above, is where the knowledge is gathered, stored, and generated. Finally, the decision layer uses past and current information to make decisions and disseminate that back through the layers to instruct the devices on what actions to perform.
With all of the advantages of smart homes, it is important to mention the drawbacks and risks inherent to the technology. There are significant privacy concerns as the smart devices have the potential to be highly intrusive, watching and listening to everything you do at home. Additionally, if not monitored and restrained properly, large companies will take advantage of the overwhelming amount of personal information gathered from not only listening to our conversations, but also tracking our daily patterns to push products to us, further perpetuating the already prevalent culture of consumerism.
The way I see it, smart homes are practically an inevitability because of the convenience they provide for individuals and the financial opportunity they are for large companies. However, the way in which they are implemented, and the extent to which our privacy and autonomy are protected is up to us, both the developers of the future and the everyday users. It is our responsibility to hold these large companies accountable and to develop ethical products going forward.
Martina Kiewek is a Student Ambassador in the Inspirit AI Student Ambassadors Program. Inspirit AI is a pre-collegiate enrichment program that exposes curious high school students globally to AI through live online classes. Learn more at https://www.inspiritai.com/.
Sources:
Dixit, Aditi, and Anjali Naik. “Use of Prediction Algorithms in Smart Homes.” International Journal of Machine Learning and Computing, vol. 4, no. 2, Apr. 2014, pp. 157–162., doi:10.7763/ijmlc.2014.v4.405.
“How Green Smart Homes Can Save the World.” Andrew Lucas International, Andrew Lucas Security Ltd, 26 Jan. 2018, www.andrew-lucas.com/journal/green-smart-homes-and-how-they-can-save-the-world/.
“Smart Thermostat: What Is It & How It Works.” Smart Home Works, 10 Sept. 2020, smarthomeworks.com.au/2018/01/04/smart-thermostat-works/.
“Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 9 Sept. 2020, www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions.
