I just saw a video by IBMs A Smarter Planet Blog about some of the things we can expect from cities of the future. The intelligent water system that detects leaks seems neat, but I’m not fond of the use of mathematics and software to prevent diseases from spreading. It seems very easy to use this data and knowledge to quarantine (or worse) people, maybe even before they are infected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m7ticc7jnE
Also, the crime prevention system seems to make it possible to turn thought crime illegal, and making it possible to convict people for crimes they may commit in the future. Sounds like Minority Report, just with statistical analysis instead of mutants able of precognition.
