Surveillance stateAI and the Coming of the Surveillance State
Artificial Intelligence (AI) used to be the stuff of science fiction, but is now making its presence felt in both the private and the public domains. In an important new study — The Global Expansion of AI Surveillance – Steve Feldstein of the Carnegie Endowment writes: “Unsurprisingly, AI’s impact extends well beyond individual consumer choices. It is starting to transform basic patterns of governance, not only by providing governments with unprecedented capabilities to monitor their citizens and shape their choices but also by giving them new capacity to disrupt elections, elevate false information, and delegitimize democratic discourse across borders.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI) used to be the stuff of science fiction, but is now making its presence felt in both the private and the public domains.
In an important new study — The Global Expansion of AI Surveillance – Steve Feldstein of the Carnegie Endowment writes:
Unsurprisingly, AI’s impact extends well beyond individual consumer choices. It is starting to transform basic patterns of governance, not only by providing governments with unprecedented capabilities to monitor their citizens and shape their choices but also by giving them new capacity to disrupt elections, elevate false information, and delegitimize democratic discourse across borders.
Here are the Introduction, Executive Summary, and Key Findings of Feldstein’s paper:
Introducing the AI Global Surveillance (AIGS) Index
AI technology was once relegated to the world of science fiction, but today it surrounds us. It powers our smartphones, curates our music preferences, and guides our social media feeds. Perhaps the most notable aspect of AI is its sudden ubiquity.
In general terms, the goal of artificial intelligence is to “make machines intelligent” by automating or replicating behavior that “enables an entity to function appropriately and with foresight in its environment,” according to computer scientist Nils Nilsson.5 AI is not one specific technology. Instead, it is more accurate to think of AI as an integrated system that incorporates information acquisition objectives, logical reasoning principles, and self-correction capacities. An important AI subfield is machine learning, which is a statistical process that analyzes a large amount of information in order to discern a pattern to explain the current data and predict future uses.6 Several breakthroughs are making new achievements in the field possible: the maturation of machine learning and the onset of deep learning; cloud computing and online data gathering; a new generation of advanced microchips and computer hardware; improved performance of complex algorithms; and market-driven incentives for new uses of AI technology.7
Unsurprisingly, AI’s impact extends well beyond individual consumer choices. It is starting to transform basic patterns of governance, not only by providing governments with unprecedented capabilities to monitor their citizens and shape their choices but also by giving them new capacity to disrupt elections, elevate false information, and delegitimize democratic discourse across borders.
