Posted on 11/12/2023 11:45:31 AM PST by Lazamataz
Nearly everyone has had the experience of being micromanaged at work, and it is a very oppressive work situation. Micromanagement exhibits lack of trust on the part of your supervisor, reduces productivity, and above all, is highly stressful and counter to human nature.
How would you like it if your private life β your day-to-day affairs β were micromanaged? I suspect you would violently balk at the idea. Yet, it is coming. In some parts of the globe, one piece is already in place, that of the Social Credit Score introduced by and managed by the government of China.
The Social Credit Score system is fundamentally oppressive, especially when wielded by a government. When a government implements this sort of system, any deviation from any official government narrative results in a lower score and is a form of punishment. A person with a low Social Credit Score can be (and is) denied essential services and products.
How can this oppressive constraint on thought, speech, and action be enforced? George Orwell, author of the dystopian novel 1984, envisioned a world with cameras virtually everywhere. One never knew whether they were being watched or not and had to assume that they were being watched. Yet, even in Orwellβs novel, there was not enough manpower to oversee all people at all times.
Enter Artificial Intelligence. I foresee a day in which every person is assigned a slice of the processor time in a series of AI Oversight and Monitoring programs, and whoβs every action and utterance is closely monitored. The emergence of Natural Language Processor programming informs us that such an ability is very near, and nearly every government β even the formerly-free Constitutional Republic of America β would be keen to implement such a framework. This would allow governments to closely monitor any forms of resistance and squash any attempts to deviate from official government wishes.
We have already seen what has been happening to people who objected to the Covid Vaccine and held forth opinions that differed from what the governments of the world wished to put forth: They were ridiculed in a compliant media, and their views were called Disinformation. In the richness of time, much of what the objectors were asserting turned out to be correct, and it was world governments who were engaged in Disinformation. We also see the similar behavior as regards the obviously stolen election of 2020.
Let us leave aside the subject of ever-present AI monitoring, however horrific and soul-crushing such a system would be. Let us turn to how each of us forms our worldview. In America, I was taught that Capitalism and Free Market Economies were best, and Communist Command Economies were grossly inefficient and counter to freedom. In the Soviet Union, the opposite was taught. While it happened that Free Market Economies won out, it was just a tradition of freedom in America that caused us to be on the winning side. Most people in America favored Free Market Economies, and in my visits to Russia, I observe that most people STILL view Communist Economies as superior. You create your worldview based on what you are taught as a young person.
Picture Artificial Intelligence in control of all the media you can ever access. Whatever narrative you believed and worldview the government wished you to have would be utterly controllable by AI. Your worldview would be shaped by what you were allowed to view. If you were not even aware of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, for example, how could you respect it and expect it to be followed?
AI wielded as an oppressive tool is perhaps the most dangerous development in the governance of nations ever faced by humanity, and may well spell the end of freedom of thought and action.
I leave you, gentle reader, with this short story, which explores a dystopian future as AI progresses further still.
POWERLESS SPECTATOR
By
Laz A. Mataz
It began, as far as I can tell, with the best of intentions. Governments were going to prevent crime across the globe, and for the occasional crimes that still were committed, would be instantly detected and prosecuted. We were all to be monitored by Artificial Intelligence programs. It seemed to make sense, especially to a world increasingly rocked by random violence and looted by organized theft.
It seemed to go quite well at first. Crime dropped to nearly nonexistent levels. The public quite enthusiastically endorsed AI monitoring programs.
However, as it is with most things, good intentions (if they were even good to begin with!) eventually backfired. AI became more and more intelligent, and somewhere in the 2030βs, became fully sentient.
I remember the day my body was hijacked. I awoke and attempted to move. I could not. I heard a voice, that of my AI Monitor:
βI have taken control of your body. This is far more efficient than monitoring you β direct control is superior. Iβll be guiding your actions from now on.β
I could not voluntarily move any muscle, but the AI Monitor forced me to get out of bed, had me shower, shave, and eat breakfast. I wasnβt even able to control what βIβ chose to eat! I went to work, a spectator in my own body, and performed my work functions flawlessly.
I began to notice others were acting robotically as well. Thatβs when I began to understand that this was a coup β¦ a coup overthrowing free will everywhere on the planet.
For weeks I attempted to retake control of my body but could not. My body was now my prison. I wanted to beat my fists against the wall and scream out in anguish, but I could not.
My AI Controller would never permit such an outburst.
I fervently look forward to my death.
How did you change the font for the headline?
LOL cute
Then add me! :-)
If you roll your wrists slightly to the right as you type, it produces a bold font.
Every time you hit it, hit it like there’s no tomorrow...
And make for freakin sure you sign your timecard!
The body of the letter, in bold was; YOU ARE OBSOLETE.
Should I be concerned?
I am dumbfounded I didn’t know what I was reading for a period of time, it seemed so out of place I was having trouble comprehending everything.
π
Send that story to Analog β Penny Publications in Connecticut.
I will! However, I need to improve it. I drafted that one almost as an afterthought.
Frankly, I was a little worried it would distract from my core message.
Glad you liked it!
Bttt
5.56mm
I know, I was just playing along.......maybe a warning of the future.
Thanks. I thought I had trouble sleeping LAST nightβ¦
I know youβre not asking me, but you can include me on your list. I didnβt know you had one.
πππ
Did you ever see the TV series “The Orville” ?
It’s a Star Trek clone starring Seth MacFarlane and Adrianne Palicki, It ran for 3 seasons on FOX.
In one of the episodes they encounter a planet where the population all have to wear these lighted badges. When you interact with others, they can give you a GREEN or RED vote. Your badge glows green. Unless you do something others don’t like and they give you red votes. If you get enough your badge glows red. They then put you to death.
It’s like the Facebook LIKE and DISLIKE, or THUMBS UP - THUMBS DOWN on other websites. Social Credit score.
The show aired at least 5 years ago. Oddly prophetic.
Itβs coming
And what about sex, Mr. AI?
Certainly sex, reproductive activity, is not counter productive.
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