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Speaking of which, George Soros had this to say about China in early 2022: https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/china-and-xi-jinping-facing-growing-challe

Speaking of which, George Soros had this to say about China in early 2022: https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/china-and-xi-jinping-facing-growing-challenges-at-home-by-george-soros-2022-01 https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/china-and-xi-jinpi... "China has turned its tech platforms into national champions; the US is more hesitant to do so, because it worries about their effect on the freedom of the individual. These different attitudes shed new light on the conflict between the two systems of governance that the US and China represent. In theory, AI is morally and ethically neutral; it can be used for good or bad. But in practice, its effect is asymmetric. AI is particularly good at producing instruments that help repressive regimes and endanger open societies. Interestingly, the coronavirus reinforced the advantage repressive regimes enjoy by legitimizing the use of personal data for purposes of public control. With these advantages, one might think that Xi, who collects personal data for the surveillance of his citizens more aggressively than any other ruler in history, is bound to be successful. He certainly thinks so, and many people believe him. I do not."

abakker 4y ago
I agree the effects are asymmetric. an important consideration behind all of this is that there is very little that government or power can do to extend the lives of humans, and very much they can do to shorten them. When we thing of "good vs bad" it is important to consider how permanently malevolent many choices can be and how limited is our ability to recover. we can never undo an unjust loss of life. Technology as an amplifier for human behavior always more _potential_ for harm in the wrong hands and applications. As people, we are very sanguine about the way technology can improve things, and we have see a lot of real improvement. But we're not out of the woods yet.
pixelfarmer 4y ago
I find it funny how people are concerned about government surveillance while completely ignoring the one which is being used in a very totalitarian way already for many: Surveillance at the workplace in all its many forms. Companies have a very strict hierarchy, meaning from a political aspect they are, by and large, authoritarian, and worse, there is often some unspoken "class" level thinking in it that is used to reason such surveillance into place (among other things). Even worse, there are many places where private entities and government ones flow into each other, muddling the already dirty waters even more. So it is not just governments to be worried about, it is every, especially larger, entity where the people in command have some screws loose (which covers a large percentage of them).
- perryizgr8 4y ago
  Company is paying us, vs we are paying government. I can resign and get out of the relationship with my company. No such luck with government lol. So the dynamic is not quite the same.
  - moribundo 4y ago
    We are technically free to forfeit our citizenship and move to another country, but the majority of us are not even afforded the luxury of quitting a poor job.

abakker 4y ago

I agree the effects are asymmetric. an important consideration behind all of this is that there is very little that government or power can do to extend the lives of humans, and very much they can do to shorten them. When we thing of "good vs bad" it is important to consider how permanently malevolent many choices can be and how limited is our ability to recover. we can never undo an unjust loss of life. Technology as an amplifier for human behavior always more _potential_ for harm in the wrong hands and applications. As people, we are very sanguine about the way technology can improve things, and we have see a lot of real improvement. But we're not out of the woods yet.

pixelfarmer 4y ago

I find it funny how people are concerned about government surveillance while completely ignoring the one which is being used in a very totalitarian way already for many: Surveillance at the workplace in all its many forms. Companies have a very strict hierarchy, meaning from a political aspect they are, by and large, authoritarian, and worse, there is often some unspoken "class" level thinking in it that is used to reason such surveillance into place (among other things). Even worse, there are many places where private entities and government ones flow into each other, muddling the already dirty waters even more. So it is not just governments to be worried about, it is every, especially larger, entity where the people in command have some screws loose (which covers a large percentage of them).

perryizgr8 4y ago
Company is paying us, vs we are paying government. I can resign and get out of the relationship with my company. No such luck with government lol. So the dynamic is not quite the same.
- moribundo 4y ago
  We are technically free to forfeit our citizenship and move to another country, but the majority of us are not even afforded the luxury of quitting a poor job.