Surveillance States, Self-Driving Cars, and AI Doomsaying: The Norm

They want surveillance states to become the new normal

Source: Reuters

ICE plans to hire 30 contractors whose sole responsibility will be monitoring social media for posts that could lead to deportation actions.

They are seeking private vendors to run a multi-year surveillance program, scanning platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and others, using user posts and profiles as leads for enforcement raids.

Although still in early development, draft planning documents reveal a focus on 24/7 surveillance, rapid case processing under tight deadlines, and the allocation of funds for advanced surveillance software. There are also discussions about integrating AI into this system.

This discussion revolves around ICE, but it reflects a broader global trend. Our data is already being sold to the highest bidder. Recently, Meta announced they will use your personal chat data with their AI starting in December—without an option to opt out. This move exemplifies how companies are increasingly disregarding privacy and encroaching on our digital personal space, threatening our security.

Read: The risks of iRobot, privacy concerns with Meta, and Nintendo’s Lego Game Boy project

These issues won’t just go away on their own. Maybe it’s already too late to stop their escalation, but perhaps we can prevent them from worsening. Don’t accept the new normal—resist it.

Abandoned cities and empty vehicles

Source: Reuters

In Ordos, China, companies specializing in self-driving cars are actively testing their vehicles.

After the 2012 real estate crash, Ordos experienced a significant population decline, with over 70% of buildings remaining unfinished due to economic downturn. Its wealth from coal exports fuels demand for cargo logistics.

Currently, over a dozen autonomous vehicle firms have set up shop here, offering transportation services while testing their self-driving tech.

While the sparse environment provides a safe testing ground, it doesn’t reveal how these vehicles perform in crowded urban settings.

It’s reassuring that testing occurs in controlled areas, but I wouldn’t want these trucks sharing the same roads as pedestrians and city traffic without more comprehensive testing in real city conditions.

Business and AI: a digital power couple

Source: Google Gemini

AI has deeply ingrained itself within corporate life.

A recent study published in the journal Patterns found that in corporate, government, and media sectors, AI tools are routinely used to draft everything from job postings to press releases.

Even the United Nations has been using AI to prepare content over the past couple of years. The study indicates that the proportion of text likely generated by AI increased from 3.1% at the start of 2023 to 10.1% by the third quarter, peaking at around 13.7% a year later.

On LinkedIn, about 6-10% of sampled job listings contained some form of AI writing. Smaller companies tend to use AI more frequently than larger ones.

While AI’s role in press releases has stabilized around 24.3% since December 2023, AI-generated content continues to fill the digital landscape at a rapid pace.

There may soon be hardly anything online that isn’t at least partly AI-created, and this isn’t a distant future—it’s happening right now.