According to Wikipedia, Alex Pentland's areas of research include social physics, big data, and privacy. In his book, Social Physics, Pentland takes us through the benefits and issues, such as the loss of privacy, that come from comprehensive tracking. It's a short book with a deep look at how the Internet of Things and the quantified self will collect data to change the world around us and better our lives.

Focused on human behavior, the book offers a look at the range of benefits that could result from our hyperconnected world. These include idea flow to spread and advance new ideas, methods for bringing people into problem-solving scenarios to fast prototype solutions, and ways cities can take the density of its members, services, and infrastructure together to improve efficiency while providing the best living experience for the humans who call it home. At its heart, the work focuses on ways we can use data to find better methods for improving how we work together, but it also hints at the promise of an abundant future where mountains of data provide true insight to the best ways we can work together.

While that sounds promising, Pentland doesn't look at the world through rose colored glasses, but acknowledges how this data can and will impact our privacy. So he also proposes simple laws designed to allow the collection of data while protecting citizens from its inappropriate use (at least without our permission).

Social Physics is a course in a book by one of, if not THE expert in this field. Pentland offers a thorough and digestible look at the field and what it offers our future.

Theodore Twombly is an introvert going through divorce. After he purchases an operating system designed to be a virtual friend, Theodore become emotionally attached to 'Samantha' and enters into a romantic relationship with her. - her being the artificial intelligence in his computer. Her follows their relationship through the typical trials most human relationships go through, with the added issues of a virtual companion who attempts to satisfy their 'lover' through a variety of emotional and romantic experiences.

At its heart, Her is a relationship film set around two very different people, one made of code, attempting to find common ground. It explores the variety of their relationship from Theodore's viewpoint, though Samantha's growth and issues are also represented throughout the story. As the story unfolds and the relationship goes through its ups and downs, we get a sense of this new and fragile pairing.

Nominated for five Academy Awards, Her won best screenplay in addition to being nominated for best picture. With a laid back, futuristic setting and a story presented through conversation and emotion, Her isn't just science fiction, it's a brilliant look at a future where artificial intelligence, and also artificial emotion, impacts the individual.

Based on "The Minority Report," a short story by Philip K. Dick, this film explores the issue of preventing crime before it occurs. The PreCrime division, a special unit set in Washington, D.C., uses three individuals who possess the ability to foresee murders before they occur. When each case is identified, including the victim, the perpetrator, and the time, the PreCrime police use recorded visuals from the "precog's" visions to identify the location and foil the crime before it happens.

While the division has had great success and is considered perfect, the film focuses on what happens if these visions are not 100% reliable. Especially when the perpetrators are arrested and imprisoned when they were not allowed to actually commit the crime.

Set in the near future, Afterparty explores a world where psychoactive drugs are printable. All you need is a chemjet printer and an Internet connection to begin printing designer drugs on paper, which is torn up and digested for each hit. The story follows Lyda Rose, one of the five founders of Little Sprout, a group trying to find a cure for schizophrenia, a condition from which Lyda's mother suffered.

The group is successful and Numinous is ready for trials when an event changes their lives. In high enough doses, Numinous permanently alters the user's perception by imprinting a bond with whatever god they believe in, often paired with hallucinations of a holy figure to watch over or even run their lives. Lyda believed the recipe was off the market, but then someone shows up in her ward who is clearly under its effect.

Angered by this, Lyda leaves care early with plans to find the source. With help from a few friends, not all of them real, she goes on a thrilling adventure across Canada and the United States in search of answers.