The March of AI
Over the last 20 years in Britain thousands of cameras have been installed following each and every citizen. Now even the Economist magazine, in a recent article, voiced concern that the British state were utilising AI biometric technology to an unprecedented degree.
For example, they have been hunting down people protesting immigration.
To help identify rioters in the wake of violent protests that swept parts of the country in early August, police officers are collecting footage from mosques and shops that were vandalised. Some are releasing CCTV footage to the public to identify suspects. Others are using another technology to get the job done—facial recognition.
Even if you support this action, you should pause to consider the creation of this vast AI biometric surveillance, with little regulation, can be used to come after any dissenting citizens.
One of the leading AI facial recognition companies, Clearview, came under pressure for biometric surveillance violations again. This time in the Netherlands, where the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) hit Clearview AI with a $33.7 million fine for collecting data illegally.
Clearview, which offers services to government intelligence and law enforcement agencies, collected photographs from the internet without permission.
The Dutch fine wasn’t a rejection of the use of AI biometric surveillance, but appeared more aimed at the abuse of a “commercial” business in the way it obtained its data.
Aleid Wolfsen, the chairman of the Dutch DPA, accepted the use of face recognition technology in criminal investigation, while cautioning that law enforcement should only employ this kind of technology in “extremely exceptional cases” and under the guidance of data protection authorities.
Like vampires AI feeds on data from human hosts.
AI powered biometric surveillance seems to be quickly expanding wherever governments can claim “exceptional cases”.
There appears to be little chance of stopping more comprehensive AI from sucking up all human activity data under one pretext or another. Generative AI would be useless without high quality human creative copyrighted content, and more generally, actual human data and real world data of every kind.
AI needs to know reality in order to exploit it for the benefit of those who control it, and the lifeblood of useful output, whether, analysis, reporting, creating or conversing, is data.
The generative AI gold rush that kicked off with OpenAI unleashing ChatGPT3 on the world in November 2022 via a free public beta, created a frenzy of tech companies vying to integrate and offer AI features into every software and common device.
AI is there as a constant “copilot”, assistant, chatbot companion and automated task manager, and people are willingly giving it access to their lives and data via the small print or for an easy life. Even if you don’t, AI is taking it anyway, via the sort of technology that not long ago was dismissed as “conspiracy.”
We know this happens from experience, but it should still be noted that just last week a leaked presentation from a Facebook marketing partner confirmed they employ phone listening technology in order to monetize ads based on human conversations.
Facebook eavesdrops in order to target selling and engagement prods, in the form of advertisements and browsing suggestions, etc. So it wasn’t just our imagining nefarious tech eavesdropping out of coincidences of talking with a lover about a romantic vacation, then being plied with getaway suggestions, via TV and streaming service commercials, internet ads etc.
Or more nefariously, political issues, for example the ones talking up the urgency of climate action, based on comments you made expressing doubts about government funding of a “green energy” transition.
AI is not unbiased. They are tools that are increasingly being utilised against the people
AI embedded into our devices, and then ultimately into ourselves, will act as the ultimate stopper on human freedoms. Not only our freedom to protest, but to free speech and even to freedom of thought.
