Headlines can be distracting. And we certainly have some big ones kicking around nowadays.
Conflicts raging in Ukraine and Palestine. Worldwide economic upheaval and turmoil. Political shenanigans in the run up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The list goes on and on.
I don’t want to add fuel to the fire here, but there’s a sleeper story in the corner that we may wish to keep an eye on – a “news” item with big implications that’s mysteriously not getting much coverage.
Sleepy Joe Stirs
With little to no fanfare, U.S. President, Joe Biden, issued a broad executive order on October 30, 2023, aimed at promoting new standards for Artificial Intelligence (AI). It’s titled Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. You can read it here.
The U.S. government also published a fun and friendly new website called AI.gov. You can check it out here.
Fun and friendly indeed.
I suggest you spend some time reading through both of the above to see if you arrive at the same conclusion as me.
My conclusion, you ask? This is spooky stuff, friends.
AI Dragon
The White House claims that it wishes to “protect Americans’ privacy and provide safety from AI-related threats” and vows to “make AI work for the American people.”
Sure, Joe.
(By the way: When I say “Joe” I’m not referring to one person.)
Anyway . . . Beneath these stated aspirations is all sorts of gobbledygook, cooked up by the usual ne’er-do-wells. I’ll share a few gems:
- From the White House “fact sheet” on Company Commitments. . .
President Biden is convening seven leading AI companies at the White House today – Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI – to announce that the Biden-Harris Administration has secured voluntary commitments from these companies to help move toward safe, secure, and transparent development of AI technology.
This can’t be good. Also: Is it just me, or do the names Anthropic and Inflection stand out as never-heard-of-ems? Probably worth looking into.
- From the White House “fact sheet” on the AI Strategic Plan. . .
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is releasing a National AI R&D Strategic Plan — a roadmap that outlines key priorities and goals for federal investments in AI R&D.
So, I guess this is in addition to the bucket-loads of money spent by DARPA and other government entities to develop AI?
- From the White House Executive Order. . .
[The Biden Administration’s call for] developing best practices on the use of AI in sentencing, parole and probation, pretrial release and detention, risk assessments, surveillance, crime forecasting and predictive policing, and forensic analysis.
They’re looking at AI to make decisions about guilt and innocence?! And about who should be eligible for early release from probation or prison?! And they’re hoping AI can be used for “crime forecasting” – which means, I assume, spying on people and throwing them in prison based on what they might do but haven’t actually done?! Lovely.
I could go on. But you can dig in for yourself.
Opposite Land
It’s easy enough for anyone to read between the lines and see what’s really going on here. This is the formation of a Juggernaut-class private-public partnership between the U.S. government and Silicon Valley tech oligarchs that will undoubtedly lead us directly to Opposite Land.
In Opposite Land “government regulation and oversight” is doublespeak for “government-industry cooperation.” And, most worryingly, AI working for the American people is doublespeak for “AI targeted at the American people.”
I’m concerned that this ride is going to get a little rough.
What to do?
In terms of passive safety, I hope everyone is buckled up.
But we don’t have to be entirely passive. Every single, individual person on this planet has the ability to readily identify techno-tyranny when they see it – and to reject it outright.
For example, what would happen to a company like Amazon if people made zero purchases from them for, say, just one week? I bet they’d be in a world of hurt. As much as they apparently despise us, companies like Amazon actually depend on us to exist. We need to recognize that we hold the keys to their vehicle.
The same is true for our government. We need to recognize that any power it apparently has is actually granted by us. So, if we sense that we are not being well served, then we should stop granting the government its authority, revoke its charter.
If you have any lingering ideas about the government being hapless/harmless rather than conspiratorial then riddle me this: If the government actually consisted of people with good intentions who are trying to serve the best interests of everyday people, then why does every single thing they touch end up hurting people? I mean, if government officials were do-gooders, just bumbling around, rather than elitists marching to the drumbeat of nefarious agendas, then wouldn’t they accidentally get things right sometimes, just due to dumb luck?
Rhetorical question: When was the last time our government “got it right” about anything?
Phil’s Two Cents
It may feel as if our Scooby Gang is surrounded. And admittedly, it’s always a little disturbing to hear that telltale “Ruh Rho.” After all: Dogs know things.
But we have to keep our wits about us and trust that we’ll get through this, unmask the villains in the end.
Those damn kids!
– “Phil”
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