Hello Guy Who Games,
I found your opinions on Clearviw AI both intriguing and rather spooky. If you’re unaware, when I left earth the technology at the time was quite rudimentary, especially in comparison to now. The idea of a pocket sized personal computer with a touch screen seemed to be something out of a science fiction movie, and today it’s an item owned by most everyone. Even the computer I’m using to type this message to you doesn’t begin to compare to the wall lengthed computing devices and blocky type-writers used by NASA in the 50’s. You can only imagine how much of a shock it was for me to wake up to these developments, and not witness a second of the progress. Yet, I suppose progress comes with a price. As you’ve illustrated in your blog post, this company is using publicly posted pictures in order to compile a massive database that can be used by law enforcement in order to track criminals. Yet what you, Guy Who Games, have made clear is that this database can be easily hacked to get information from the people that utilize this company. The concerns you bring up, regarding this as a violation of privacy, are very valid. I’ve refrained from making any public profile outside of this blog, for this exact reason.
Don’t get me wrong– the social networking that’s available at the tips of one’s fingers seemed very exciting to me when I discovered applications such as Facebook and Instagram. At first, I thought that they had the potential to allow me to share my experience and even hopefully draw enough attention to garner NASA to bring me home. Yet, the more I explored through these apps and used search engines, the more I realized how little privacy I actually have within these ventures. I received advertisements about NASA internships, climate-awareness nonprofits, and even cat-litter after I spent a little too long watching these funny kitten videos on YouTube. Oddly enough, I even got an ad trying to sell me camera lenses, when I ‘d never even typed the word camera into Google! At first, I thought of it as a simple algorithm using things I had typed into the computer, but after a certain point, it felt as if the computer could read my mind.
Obviously, this breach of privacy doesn’t compare to what Clearview AI is doing. Nevertheless, these highly targeted advertisements attribute to — what I perceive as — a clear example of the lack of security that’s within the devices that people use daily. This appears to be taken for granted quite a bit back on earth. I’ve seen public Facebook profiles of individuals with 3,000 friends, writing quick snippets that tag their location. I’ve seen Instagram accounts that reveal the user’s home address linked through their pictures. I could go on… Still, I think the strides we humans have made in our technological developments are astounding. Yet, although I missed the last 60 years of this technological evolution, these products have only existed for a fraction of that time. I believe that there is little to no education surrounding the possible implications that these devices entail, and this may prove to be disastrous in the long run. This makes talking about these topics all the more important, and I’m glad that you’ve opened up the dialogue to start the conversation, Guy Who Games.
Over and Out,
B. Swain
Betty Swain's Life up Above 