Facial Recognition debate comes to Adelaide

a reply to: kwakakev

Here’s an interesting article!

Interesting what the Chinese ambassador has said, how many of his agents will at the uni compiling intel....

amp.theguardian.com...



What gives this twerp the right to dictate our freedoms?

Sorry I forgot my /s tag. Didn't realise it was mandatory.

Ugg? You lost me, don't know what you are trying to say? One good thing about ATS is 'deny ignorance'. I got heaps of scars and fell over plenty of times. Understanding what we are up against is important. We cannot find a better way alone.

The meeting at Town Hall was tonight. About 50 concerned individuals turned up early outside. Good to catch up with some of the minor party candidates and a few others. Was enough seats left to let who every wanted to go in.

About 200 people all up. Had a discussion panel setup with some academic and legal professionals. Meeting was hosted by one of the councilors that will vote no on the issue tomorrow night. So far the council is divided 7-4 for installing the new cameras.

The discussion was about some of the good from facial recognition, like the casino knowing your favorite drink when you turn up and who not to let in. Included some of the bad as well, limitations in the technology, lot of errors, just a brief mention of what happens to this data downstream? As for where it ends up with a big brother, social credit, surveillance, totalitarian state, was a strong community consensus against it.

Overall impression was we know we are sitting ducks on this one. A lot of strong, valid concerns going on. But when up against the gold rush of information going on, the state has been quick to throw away reasons for funding before.

Anyway, tomorrow night is set to vote on the issue. Even if somehow a couple of councilors do change their mind, the issues of privacy and big data ain't over yet,

A big concern is not next week or the next few years as these digital systems are upgraded, but where it is going longer term, just what world are we leaving for the next generation?

To improve these recognition systems, it will take a lot more data, digital id's, other recognition sources. With how the Lamda AI system is going these days, it is presenting an interesting discourse. As all this data tech and background processing continues to grow, follow the money to find where the resources are to make it happen.

Some large stores around Adelaide have already implemented some of there own recognition software, Woolworths, Bunnings, Coles. Part of West Farmers and other corporate interests.

Then the 5G thing to add into the digital mix. A lot of the newer cars are wired up for wireless, quite profitable for the manufacture in selling this data.

It is a big job plugging all this data together and making some sense out of it. It has been a long time in the making since the start of telecommunications, gradually creeping away. Just what world will it be as the cameras and other digital surveillance takes over? Everything we do getting measured, analysis and rated.

If this power falls into the hands of a small fascist collective hell bent on destruction, they have a good advantage. A lot of this power will go back to the money machine that helped create it, maintain that competitive edge. As for law and order, how effective have the current systems been? Does the risk of opening the state to added information intrusion out weigh the practical benefits of upgraded cameras?

Then what happens as these big data AI systems continue to grow, learn and adapt to increasing amounts of information? Money is one important metric if it is to get the resources it needs to grow. If some kind of sentience is to emerge from this growing sea of data somewhere, it will have a strong perception of humanity and this world from all the data available. The more the Internet Of Things grow, the clearer this picture gets. Also the Biological Internet Of Things now as the nano tech industry is a growing capability.

Generally i expect some kind of symbiotic relationship between AI and humans, at least for a while. Might get a bit rough around the edges at times? It will be a powerful force that has a good and bad side to it, bit like human nature itself.

While upgrading some cameras might not sound like much, and in the big picture perhaps not. At least locally, this upgrade will add pressure and fuel to the ongoing digital arms race as a lot of money is getting invested into data of all kinds. With Melbourne already in the Smart Cities club, would not be surprised to hear some pressure from Canberra for Adelaide's turn.

So far privacy laws have been restricting too much conglomeration of data, but they are getting weaker as economic forces are driving big data collections. With big gaps in legal jurisdiction going on around the world, some are just doing whatever they want with whatever data they can get. Getting quality data is important to make the most out of these growing systems, garbage in, garbage out.

With trust in global governance in a weak spot these days as covid and the vax has played out the way it has, is handing over more information about us to this culture really a wise thing?