"J.C. DE MARTIN" <demartin@polito.it> writes:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/apr/19/oxford-future-of-humanity...

Bostrom passa alla cronaca come filosofo. --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8--- Bostrom is a proponent of the related long-termism movement, which held that humanity should concern itself mostly with long-term existential threats to its existence such as AI and space travel. Critics of long-termism tend to argue that the movement applies an extreme calculus to the world that disregards tangible current problems, such as climate change and poverty, and veers into authoritarian ideas. In one paper, Bostrom proposed the concept of a universally worn “freedom tag” that would constantly surveil individuals using AI and relate any suspicious activity to a police force that could arrest them for threatening humanity. --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8--- Quando ho letto quella frase pensavo fosse una esagerazione giornalistica (che succede neh!), ma poi ho aperto il _romanzo_: https://nickbostrom.com/papers/vulnerable.pdf «The Vulnerable World Hypothesis», Nick Bostrom, Novembre 2019 --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8--- [...] Technology policy should not unquestioningly assume that all technological progress is beneficial, or that complete scientific openness is always best, [...] In order for civilization to have a general capacity to deal with “black ball” inventions of this type, it would need a system of ubiquitous real-time worldwide surveillance. In some scenarios, such a system would need to be in place before the technology is invented. [...] Rather than allow anybody to buy their own DNA synthesis machine, DNA synthesis could be provided as a service by a small number of closely monitored providers. [...] Type-2b (‘worse global warming’) There is yet another way in which the world could be vulnerable; one that we can illustrate with a counterfactual related to climate change. [...] the transient climate sensitivity [...] could have turned out to be much greater than it is (Shindell, 2014). If it had been several times larger than its actual value, we would have been in for a temperature rise of, say, 15o or 20o C instead of 3o – a prospect with far greater civilization-destroying potential than the actual expectation. [...] To get a truly civilizational threat from global warming, it may also be necessary to stipulate, counterfactually, that mitigation through geoengineering is infeasible. [...] in what we will call a Type-2b vulnerability, there is a large number of individually insignificant actors who is each incentivized (under the semianarchic default condition) to take some action that contributes slightly to what cumulatively becomes a civilizationdevastating problem: [...] Type-2b vulnerabilities, such as a ‘worse global warming’ scenario in which some states are inclined to free-ride on the costly efforts of others to cut emissions. An effective global governance institution could compel every state to do its part [...] High-tech Panopticon Everybody is fitted with a ‘freedom tag’ [...] ‘a personal tracking device that can also be used to make calls’). The freedom tag is a slightly more advanced appliance, worn around the neck and bedecked with multidirectional cameras and microphones. [...] If suspicious activity is detected, the feed is relayed to one of several patriot monitoring stations. [...] a freedom officer reviews the video feed on several screens and listens to the audio in headphones. [...] The freedom officer then determines an appropriate action, such as contacting the tagwearer via an audiolink to ask for explanations or to request a better view. [...] In the small fraction of cases where the wearer refuses to desist from the proscribed activity after repeated warnings, an arrest may be made or other suitable penalties imposed. [...] Creating and operating the High-tech Panopticon would require substantial investment, but thanks to the falling price of cameras, data transmission, storage, and computing, and the rapid advances in AI-enabled content analysis, it may soon become both technologically feasible and affordable. For example, if the cost of applying this to one individual for 1 year falls to around US$140, then the entire world population could be continuously monitored at a cost of less than 1 per cent of world GDP. At that price, the system would plausibly represent a net saving – even setting aside its use in preventing civilization-scale cataclysms – because of its utility for regular law enforcement. If the system works as advertised, many forms of crime could be nearly eliminated, with concomitant reductions in costs of policing, courts, prisons, and other security systems. It might also generate growth in many beneficial cultural practices that are currently inhibited by a lack of social trust. --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8--- Non è un racconto di Orwell?!? Non è una fiction di Bob Shaw [1]? Cioè quelle cose lì qualcuno andava in giro a dirle seriamente, non in uno spettacolo teatrale di pura fantasia? Cioè qualcuno è stato davvero in grado di sostenere che un mondo del genere, infarcito di "feedom officers" stile Stasi, oltre che essere peggio della morte, rappresenterebbe un "net saving" perché costerebbe l'1% del prodotto interno lordo (laido?) mondiale? So che in ambito accademico era in uso il cosiddetto "bacio accademico", ma esiste(va) anche il "calcio nel culo accademico"? O il "vaffanculo accademico"? NON alle persone, ma alle /idee/ come queste? Come è potuto accadere che una istituzione come Oxford abbia dato ampio credito a simili idee, come se non ci fosse un _ieri_?!? Oppure è la punta dell'iceberg della _corruzione_ (almeno corruzione dell'ethos) accademica? Ora, la prima reazione è di /grande sollievo/ per il fatto che un simile meta-progetto (uno dei tanti?) sia stato gentilmente accompagnato fuori dalla porta dell'accademia, le persone troveranno senza dubbio altri lidi molto remunerati. Terminata l'euforia però penso al sistema di sorveglianza di Venezia, alle smart-cities, ai continui e incessanti attacchi alla E2EE: stanno _vincendo_ i progetti propagandati dalle persone come Nick Bostrom? Saluti, 380° [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_light#In_fiction -- 380° (Giovanni Biscuolo public alter ego) «Noi, incompetenti come siamo, non abbiamo alcun titolo per suggerire alcunché» Disinformation flourishes because many people care deeply about injustice but very few check the facts. Ask me about <https://stallmansupport.org>.