When I was teaching last time in China, all classrooms in the university I was a guest at had cameras installed in the back, facing the lecturer. The last time

When I was teaching last time in China, all classrooms in the university I was a guest at had cameras installed in the back, facing the lecturer. The last time I was there, only some had them. What are these for, I asked my host, wondering if it had to do with making sure courses were in line with party policy and so on. "Mainly, it is to make sure you start and end courses on time. You need to start exactly at the strike of the bell and stay until the next bell rings." What happens when you just turn out to be done with the material for the day, I asked, or you see the material was heavy and students have lost focus. In those cases I often end a bit earlier with my students. "We can't leave. In most cases we just gossip a bit with the students until class is done." Students didn't seem to bother, back then, most Chinese don't make a taboo of sleeping so some were close to drifting off. They're overworked and quiet, so I didn't mind that much either. Is there a whole team checking all courses simultaneously, I inquired. "No, sometimes no one will be watching. They're 'government officers' [officer is a common English translation used for anything government and administrative]... I don't think they care too much either. Their job is to make sure we do our job, you know." With the advances in AI, the dream becomes a possibility. Watching a whole society. Even if you're not sure for what or it 'doesn't matter' what you're actually doing, the fact that something is always watching seems to be powerful enough on its own. It's for a large part about inspiring the idea of just behaving and executing your given steps, and you'll be fine.