Digital Prisons and Algorithmic Eyes

(This Week’s Focus: Timeless Words, Timely Reflections – What the Past Can Teach Us About Our AI Future)

     Here’s a quote by the English author Virginia Woolf (1882-1941): “The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages.”

Virginia Woolf saw it coming—long before algorithms and autofill. She understood how deeply we can bend under the gaze of others, how subtly we can shrink to fit their expectations.

Fast forward to today, and those eyes have multiplied into millions—some human, most artificial. Surveillance isn’t just someone watching you walk down the street; it’s invisible systems tracking your clicks, curating your feed, and silently sketching a profile of who you are. In this world, Woolf’s “prisons” are digital, and their “cages” are lined with predictive code.

But it’s not all dystopia. These same technologies also open doors. They connect isolated voices, elevate marginalized stories, and help people find communities they never knew existed. AI, when used thoughtfully, can shine a light in places long left in shadow. Yes, there’s pressure to conform, to perform—but there’s also power in using these tools to shape your own narrative, to carve out space for authenticity in a filtered world.

So maybe Woolf’s insight still holds—but we get to choose how tightly the bars close. The key, perhaps, is remembering that while eyes may watch, it’s still your story to tell.