A wakeup call

How long has this already been affecting our polity?

This morning I was contemplating what Congress and regulatory agencies may debate about AI in the future. Government regulatory agencies are beginning to solicit comments in advance of scheduled public hearings on select AI-related subjects under their respective purview. I was thinking about the various players involved, especially the large multi-nationals, and wondered about the magnitude and scope of their lobbying efforts.

I was cataloging references and noticed I had indexed two articles I hadn’t actually read so I decided to do so. One of them really got my left- and right-brain head-hampsters™ up and running in their wheels, synchronizing as my mind starting connecting dot after dot.

It also made me think about my Shopping Site Principle™ evaluation process (mentioned in the About piece) where I note that many glowing reviews are shills, and while I knew some were bot generated, I didn’t specifically mention it. Those bots, used for that purpose, are probably a rather benign example of this dangerous, and quite likely, already pernicious practice. The bots built by the big-name players we read about daily are another beast entirely; their prevalence unknown, their incursive potential potentially infinite.

This post presents broad concerns the vast majority of the the general public know nothing about. Then check out this article, the most comprehensive single item I have read on its particular subject. Pay attention to the dangers noted, which in this day and age, in the present state of society, are much more likely to occur. Have occurred.

But how prevalent is this, already, in our polity?