The threat of surveillance is one that we recognize, yet seem to ignore when it threatens us directly. Could this be, however, simply because we don’t understand its implications? We have blindly acted as agents of corruption. But is this by design? Big Tech and Big Government, though once estranged, now dine together at the likes of the Alfalfa Club. If this cosy relationship wasn’t problematic enough, these same wealthy private influencers are allowed to finance political campaigns, thereby purchasing sway over policy – policy which is supposed to protect its citizens’ interests, not those of profit-driven corporations. This collusion, though, is even more nefarious, because the trading unit is information – the most precious resource we own. With this unfettered access, corporations are – legally – allowed to aid in government sanctioned discrimination, abetting a kind of modern censorship.
But what if these companies go against their own interests and actually act as a force for good? “What if Google helped the CIA develop a system that helped filter out fake news, say, or a new Facebook algorithm helped the FBI identify potential school shooters before they massacred their classmates?” Well, that would place Google as an arbiter of truth and Facebook as arbiter of justice. Even if thinking machines could be taught to filter out hate speech and falsehoods, that would firmly place them as the purveyors of truth and moral righteousness.
Personally do not subscribe to the notion that machines can think independently. Even AIs. They can learn and develop, yes, but their thought process and logic will always be dependent upon the parameters fed to them by the programmer. But even if we do embrace a “social order monitored and regulated by machines that have been programmed to be free of human prejudice” as a way of attaining a “good society”, this becomes dangerously dependent upon their definition of “good”, as better often does not mean better for all.
Comentário ao artigo “Is Big Tech Merging With Big Brother? Kinda Looks Like It”, de David Samuels, publicado na revista WIRED. Janeiro de 2019
Estudos Contemporâneos em Design 