Would you believe me if I told you, we have entered the world of “Black Mirror?”

The fourth season of “Black Mirror,” a science fiction, psychological thriller series on Netflix, was harder to binge than other seasons because of the emotional weight each episode held. The horror technology stories told this season did not seem to exist in as distant of a future as the rest of the series. In the season finale episode titled “Black Museum,” a traveler visits a rundown museum full of illegal artifacts and exhibits of technology advancements gone wrong.

One of the artifacts was a stuffed monkey that had been gifted to a child. The monkey had the consciousness of his late mother so she would be able to interact with her child using the phrases “monkey loves you” and “monkey needs a hug.” There is a stuffed monkey toy that currently exists called “Chitter Chatter-Monkey.” Of course it does not contain the consciousness of your mother but it does repeat every sound you make. The toy laughs and talks in a higher pitch and shuffles towards you in response to any sound it detects.

Another parallel our world has with “Black Mirror” is self-driving cars. Throughout season four there are autonomous cars transporting people to dates in “Hang the DJ” and even a vehicle that strikes a pedestrian in “Crocodile.” Pizza Hut announced in January their concept of a self-driving delivery truck they plan to develop with Toyota. Waymo, a company born out of a Google self-driving car initiative, has been testing their cars in Arizona driving more than 25,000 autonomous miles each week without safety drivers.

Uber has also been testing their own line of self-driving cars. They have drove well over 3 million miles but, they have halted their advancements due to a fatal crash. The race for other companies to establish themselves in the self-driving market overshadows the fatality establishing the start of a culture more concerned with the progression of technology.

—Hunter Uechi, Staff Writer