When people say the future is scary, it is an understatement. In the realm of technology, chasing the future is a formality, with being scary often serving as a small but inherent part of the process. Over the years, artificial intelligence has joined this conversation, as indicated by devices like Amazon’s ‘Echo Dot’ and Apple’s ‘Siri’ slowly entering our lives.

Each one of these devices only seems to get more and more impressive in the race toward innovation, and after Google’s recent stab at developing its first hands-free, voice-controlled gadget, we should have known it would be hopping on this bandwagon for the long haul.

Earlier this week, ‘Google Clips’ hit the market; a $250 square-shaped smart camera no larger than a GoPro that uses A.I. to detect and capture images and video at its own volition in replacement of actual user involvement, said Brian Heater of TechCrunch. In other words, it is a camera that takes pictures on its own so you do not have to. Bold, but to be fair, not a bad idea.

The selling point obviously resides in the reality that people these days snap a lot of pictures, mostly with the intention of catching the best moments of their lives. For the longest time, taking on the trials and tribulations of seizing those moments have added to the joy of the operation. Say a person wants to snap a cute candid of their baby spilling food all over them and giggling, but they are forced to wait until the perfect moment when they look right into the camera to tap that button on the phone.

Sure it requires patience, but ultimately the result is an emotional product a person can be proud of. Well, Google claims Clips is the solution to that process, making it less of a hassle if the device does the shooting for you. The only problem is, “it doesn’t really work that well,” says Dan Seifert of The Verge.    

Aside from how blatantly arrogant this glorified selfie camera claims to be in disguise of convenience, what is more disconcerting is what it may represent. The rumors have come and gone regarding products like this in the past, such as Amazon’s ‘Alexa,’ which is speculated to hear everything a user says to her and then some. Spying. 

Now while nothing has been proven regarding this concern, some like Navneet Alang of The Week still have their speculations, believing Clips is a test-bed for broader applications of smart camera technology to spy on its users, since it will be on a majority of the time. “Even devices with seemingly innocent purposes can go on to become more sinister,” Alang said. Simply put, Google Clips could be a visual rendition of what some believe Alexa is, but silent, making it frighteningly worse.

Needless to say, most of the population is not ready for Clips. There does not seem to be a huge public demand for it, like other products of its kind, and unless the quality of the images it produces are damn near perfect, it is hard to believe people will take the product seriously when most have grown accustomed taking pictures themselves. 

The surveillance rhetoric floating around does not help its welcome either. Granted, it has not even been a week since the product’s release, so we have yet to see its performance. However, this is just one of many products in the upcoming years that will continue to fiddle with the fine line companies have forced Americans to tap dance around for years in regards to privacy.