December 30, 2023

The conversation about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) has now passed from the halls of nerdism to the House of Representatives and industry and has landed squarely on America’s kitchen table.

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Yes, even digitally-challenged folks are now getting worried about the surge of interest (and adoption) of artificial intelligence as they prepare to unwrap their Christmas presents in a few short weeks.

Over the last few decades, we’ve watched as technology has rapidly outpaced our ability to understand it and much of it is due to digitalization. We’ve seen facial/fingerprint recognition, holography and RFID (radio frequency identification) become the new ‘policemen’ of our society, as we sleepwalk towards the future where personal identification/tracking and unchecked surveillance replace our right to be left alone. This march to that brave new world is not limited to North America; it’s everywhere, even in small countries like Denmark that embraced a system of “My ID” as a digital key to access nearly everything. It all started many years ago with the issuance of a ‘CPR’ or personnummer (a citizen identification number not unlike that of our SSN), given at birth right next to your baby hand- and footprints. This accompanied a national ID card. Now, everything in Denmark is tied to that nom de nombre whether it’s a library card or a bank account or accessing government services.

The Danes have, since the end of WWII, been relatively early adopters of technology that could help in organizing their lives and improving efficiency. Having few natural resources apart from agriculture, the Danes’ desire to be more efficient and fully utilize those resources has been a driving force to modernize and go with the flow of new technology throughout this tiny country. Improved efficiency is a double-edged sword, however. It has replaced the average citizen’s right to live off-grid — alone and undisturbed. Denmark’s physical size and its small population of 5.6 million has also enabled it to adopt what I call BST or benign surveillance technology. Because of the promise of economy of scale and the relatively low cost of introducing new technology to such a small homogeneous population the Danes have made their bargain with the devil over the possible abuse of too much surveillance.

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While there is little similarity between Danish society and ours (they’re small, we’re huge; they’re early adopters, we’re not; they’re better-educated on a per capita basis than we are), our needs are the same. We both must use our resources, wisely, in order to compete, globally, and we must be able to finance our economies. This is especially true for institutions like our two tax authorities. Their IRS is called “Skat.” Interestingly, in addition to being the word for tax, skat also means ‘dear’ and ‘treasure’ in their language though you will not find many Danes willing to call these unelected bureaucrats cum revenue policemen, dear. The other reason BST has been able to gain a foothold in Denmark is that the Danes actually have faith, albeit tempered with a healthy dose of skepticism, in their institutions and that includes a belief that their institutions would not do anything to severely limit their freedoms, hence their move towards a national digital ID.

The world is a dangerous place whether you live in Copenhagen or Cincinnati.

Moving from the cigar box to the cash register took a leap of faith and a promise that sales could be better recorded and money better protected. Pre-cash register, the cigar box could be opened by any employee and a few dollars removed almost without notice. These days, millions of hackers are working around the clock to steal your money, the title to your home and your identity without lifting more than a few fingers on a computer keyboard. While this has led to the formation of many security companies and software empowered to lock down your account, it has not stopped the process of digital theft. It continues on a global scale. No man is a digital island. We are, instead, living on an ice floe, floating in and out of dangerous digital waters, and the next oar in the water is AI.

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about (protecting our finances from digital predators) we must now contend with artificial intelligence. AI is coming and coming fast. It is making inroads in journalism/reporting and in the commercial world with made up ‘spokesmen’ hawking products and services. Its early adopters, like college students, have seen it as a shortcut to better grades, overtaking the old Cliff Notes of their parents’ time. Why study and spend time on tedious research when you can call up a chatbot from ChatGPT and have it do your term paper for you? Or, if you are a newspaper publisher, why hire a new editor or journalist when you can get a decent job of writing done by AI?

The world must come to grips with all the dangers that face it whether those dangers take the form of the abuse of power through citizen surveillance techniques or from information prepared for us by a soulless and unaccountable digital entity. As with most new things, there are upsides and downsides, pros and cons, plusses and minuses. Usually, their true worth gets sorted out over time and the negatives get replaced and the products improved. The key words in that sentence are ‘over time’ and the unasked question is “how much time will it take and how much time do we have before any harm done by that product can be repaired?”

In the case of a headlong move towards a national identity card and the subsequent creation of enhanced surveillance capabilities by governments that we barely trust, we have very little time to decide our future. That goes for AI as well. While the collectivist-leaning, pro-technology-at-all-cost mavens among us can list all sorts of positives, the American public is still a nation of skeptics. One thing may push us over the digital line, however. We have seen how actual flesh-and-blood people can foul up anything entrusted to them whether they be in the media, government, universities or in business, and that could be the very reason we will adopt the new technology: digital creatures are bound to do a better job than carbon-based life forms.