I don’t want to derail this thread, but please allow me to “go off the deep end” for a moment, for I am more than willing to look foolish or insane if it will bring others to wisdom…As utterly bizarre as it might seem, people new to “alternative” spaces on the Internet probably need to know these things the most, and I cannot shake a deep feeling that this must be shared here…
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Indeed. It will also probably ramp up and become progressively more invasive as ideas like the “Internet of Things” (IoT), the “Internet of Bodies” (IoB), and “Smart Cities” are pushed ever harder. Everything has to be “connected” because The People™ demand it!
For example, check out these suggestions by a group of researchers from Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, OpenAI, and Stanford’s Internet Observatory:
Current policies regarding social media usage range from not requiring any form of registration to requiring that accounts be affiliated with real names and unique email addresses, and, at times, requiring users to submit “video selfies” for proof of personhood. However, any of these approaches can be circumvented by malicious actors: they can register many “burner” email addresses to create fake accounts and hire inexpensive labor to complete proof of humanness checks.
Platforms could, however, more uniformly require higher standards of proof of personhood in order to verify that content is not being produced by an AI and reposted to their sites. This could involve requiring more reliable forms of authentication when users sign up for an account, for instance, by asking a user to take a live video of themselves posing, or asking for some alternative form of biometrics. Alternatively, platforms could require users to occasionally pass tests to demonstrate humanness before posting content; these tests could either be administered randomly, at periodic intervals, or when a particular user is posting at a high volume. CAPTCHAs are one way to demonstrate humanness in this way; however, a determined adversary can cheaply circumvent them. Outside of tests, another proposed approach includes decentralized attestation of humanness.
from their whitepaper, Generative Language Models and Automated Influence Operations: Emerging Threats and Potential Mitigations.
In other words, not only would those systems require access to even more things that uniquely identify you as an individual (“biometrics”), it would also require you to “prove” your “humanness” by prompting you for specific actions. How long until that type of behavior modification is connected to some form of currency, like that infamous Microsoft patent? To quote:
CRYPTOCURRENCY SYSTEM USING BODY ACTIVITY DATA
Human body activity associated with a task provided to a user may be used in a mining process of a cryptocurrency system. A server may provide a task to a device of a user which is communicatively coupled to the server. A sensor communicatively coupled to or comprised in the device of the user may sense body activity of the user. Body activity data may be generated based on the sensed body activity of the user. The cryptocurrency system communicatively coupled to the device of the user may verify if the body activity data satisfies one or more conditions set by the cryptocurrency system, and award cryptocurrency to the user whose body activity data is verified.
People are already starving in the streets within supposed “first world” countries, and circumstances are worse for many of those within the “global south”. If such technology were implemented, it would greatly exacerbate the problem.
Those might seem like leaps in logic, so what am I getting at? Technology in general is useful, but that utility has hard limits that people generally do not seem to understand. The long-term trend behind all of that is fully-fledged “IT-backed authoritarianism” woven into every aspect of life…
Some people in “The West” criticize the CCP for the existence of “The Great Firewall” and the mass surveillance done through companies like Tencent, ByteDance, etc. But surely Google, Meta, Amazon, and so on are the exact same thing done under the guise of “capitalism” rather than “communism”? How much do the labels and rationalizations really matter when any person tries to gain at the expense of another?
For example, how different are “Human Capital Management” or “Social Impact Investing” and “Human Capital Performance Bonds” from “Social Credit Scores” when everywhere is considered a potential “market” and everything becomes “monetized”?
Of course, none of it has ever been far from the government anyway. “Silicon Valley” is an outgrowth of military research and not much has changed. Data brokers work with government organizations for a lot more than implementing “surveillance capitalism”. As another example, they create “digital twins” for the purposes of “war game simulations” involving everyone on Earth. Why? There is so much data stored in the “Silicon Slopes” that part of the push for “better AI” is to comb through it more “efficiently”.
Just look at the roster of companies that are a part of programs like PRISM and Tempora, which are used by people within governments to spy on everyone else. Can any secretive alphabet organization be trusted with much of anything, especially after things like Project MKUltra, COINTELPRO, Project Shamrock, and many other “black ops” have been repeatedly uncovered? Transparency! What can happen when things like “social media” become the tool of a corrupt government? Did you know the automation of genocide has happened before?
Part of computer literacy is becoming fully aware of the environment that we are in. The Internet use of nearly the entire world is filtered through various “Internet Service Providers” (ISPs) or hardware made by companies located within the jurisdiction of the different “Eyes Alliances”. That is a significant part of “military intelligence” within the U.S. and Europe. In turn, it trickles down to so-called “fusion centers” operated by local “law-enforcement agencies”. That entire structure can easily become the foundation for what some would refer to as a “police state”.
In the same way that aspects of medicine are being automated to people’s detriment, there is a push for things like “predictive policing”, which is the ironic task of trying to catch “criminals” before they have done a “crime”. Are there biases within the algorithms and data sets that further cement pre-existing inequalities? What about when businesses hire their own private police forces, like a group of mercenaries? If a prison is a business, then how does it make money? So many questions.
…I could go on and on about how the same patterns are being repeatedly expressed throughout society the world over in different ways, but I will stop there. What is currently at stake is so much bigger than simply being able to build our own websites or getting some “digital veganism” into our diet. [Don’t get me wrong. That is wonderful. I do not discourage it and I am partly working towards the same. Therefore, I love what you are doing here and I generally support it.] However, how many people (including those deeply involved in the “tech industry”) understand just how much we all, quite literally, are living out “The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism”? Personally, I choose to “opt out” of any and all systems of manipulation and violence.
Again, I am definitely NOT suggesting that anyone become paranoid and embrace extremism in response to this dire situation, nor sabotage their own technological tools and become an “anarcho-primitivist” as they prep for ecological collapse. I simply wish to point out that only personal integrity and sincere striving towards virtue is going to matter in the end. Please remember this carefully whatever may come on the horizon. It might seem incredibly scary, but do not act in fear. “Mystery Babylon” (control through “commerce”) is about to get devoured by “The Beast” (control through “government”), especially within the U.S. and U.K. Shortly thereafter, “The Beast” will be slain by a way of living founded upon true kindness and consideration [*see Rev. 17-19 for details]. Please note that this message is not particularly “religious,” but the metaphors are useful for seeing the deeper truth.
God willing, I will be able to share more research on this forum soon. The problems are not insurmountable when faced with Agapic Love.