I think not!
Today, with the ever-increasing utilization of facial recognition, increasing IoT in favor of machines, shared databases, data breaches and the general acceptance of Privacy lost, is it any wonder that AI has taken on the mantle of religious fervor.
Over the last ninety years four modern literary classics have predicted the end of “freedoms” i.e. PRIVACY, as the march of technology continues. They are Brave New World published in 1932, Animal Farm published in 1945, 1984 published in 1949 and Fahrenheit 451 published in 1953. All four books demonstrated the societal demands of a higher state in the name of technological advancement with the simultaneous compromise and loss of privacy, freedom and individuality.
The duality of man/ machine has evolved to the singularity of man/ machine and the eventuality of man subsumed by machine. This should concern each of us. If freedom and therefore Privacy as the epoch of freedom is lost, then where is the line between reality and artificial intelligence (AI). AI has become the all-pervasive standard of modern achievement. Is that the standard of modernism that people want? Is AI the religion of the 21st century?
I think not!
The global we as humans need to seek a balance between AI and the essence of humanity. The essence of humanity being the ability to reason, to think to contemplate in the privacy of protected private. This is truly lost when confronted with the speed of light.
As data sharing, both legitimate and otherwise, which occurs at the speed of light increases; the ability for a human to defend against this pervasive threat to their oneness diminishes. There is simply no defensible position of a human against “viral” spread through technological methodology. Further, the ability to defend one’s self, in the face of technological proof is at best limited, inadequate and prohibitively expensive.
So, what to do when technological AI advances such as facial recognition is erroneous. Do we accept these errors as the collateral damage of the 21st century religion? Is this simply the human carnage of the next great crusade? Do we as humans go off the grid if this is even possible?
I think not!
We must halt the march to singularity before it does subsume each of us into a black hole where the density of technological advancement causes privacy, freedom and individuality to be lost. And with that humanity itself.
The inalienable rights of individual humanity have been expressed for over 800 years and is considered the bedrock of western society. From the Magna Carta in 1215 declaring the liberty of citizens, to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens of 1789, to the Four Freedoms Speech of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941 to the United Nations Charter of Human Rights in 1948 to the current epoch the state has recognized the primacy of the individual and has shed blood and treasure to defend same.
We at CSR Privacy Solutions are committed to the protection and preservation of privacy, freedom and individuality by providing the tools and methods for humanity to persevere against the onslaught of unbridled technological advancement.
Dr. Ross Federgreen, CIPM, CIPP/US, CIPP/G, CIPP/E, CIPP/C, Fellow, European Privacy Association, Fellow of Information Privacy, CEO CSR Privacy Solutions
rfedergreen@csrps.com
