With all of the recent discussion of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) threats in SurvivalBlog, I want to share a recent experience with what I assume was an A.I.-intervened technology. We were recently moving some of our supplies across state in a small cargo trailer to our cabin. We had unloaded the trailer and were returning home when I saw flashing lights in my mirror. I thinking to myself, I can’t be trailer lights, everything is rewired new, new tires, bearings, doors were locked.
The State Trooper came up to the window and tells me that my plates on the trailer registration do not match the trailer. He said the plates on the trailer registration is for an XYZ (example for the trailer brand) trailer and you have an ABC trailer. He concluded that I had accidentally put the boat trailer plates which were for an XYZ trailer on the cargo trailer. He gave me a warning and said since my registration matched my driver’s license, he knew that it wasn’t stolen. But had a friend borrowed the trailer with the wrong plates, they would have impounded it.
We explained it was a mistake and we would fix it when we returned home. The traffic was heavy on a main interstate and he said he had trouble getting into our lane when he pulled us over and would help us get back out on the interstate and let us go.
As I continued driving, I was thinking: How did they know in a split second with all of the traffic to pick me out with a little 5’x8′ cargo trailer for a mismatched plate? The patrol cars now have automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) that scan plates going by and check for stolen, wanted, expired, etc. Obviously, the plate reader read my plate, read the name brand in big letters on the back doors of the trailer and the A.I. recognized that the trailer didn’t match the name of the registration and flagged me. The trooper was alerted within a few seconds of the mismatch and pulled me over.
This is one simple instance of A.I. involved in our personal lives, even if we make attempts to avoid such encounters. I’m a person who doesn’t post on any social media, I’m very private about my data, my e-mails, phone apps, etc. We don’t give out our phone number at stores nor do we print them on our checks. In fact, I use a fake “TextNow” app on a burner phone if I must give a phone number out. And yet, A.I. still found a way to pry into my private life.
The day will come when the government will look at your social credit score, your health, your driving habits, your financial credit score, and your bank account, and make decisions for you based on all of this data. Lord help us if we ever get pushed into a digital currency that the government can tap into. Then, when you go to order that Big Mac at a McDonald’s kiosk (just an example, I hate fast food) the screen will pop up and say, “Sorry, your last check-up showed you are overweight, high cholesterol, and have a bad A1C level. Would you like to order a salad?”
We already live in a world where Amazon knows your buying habits and pushes products to the banner, attempting to lure you into buying. We all have heard the stories where our phones listen to us and display ads related to the subject discussed. We tested this in the office one day. We agreed on one topic: It happened to be BBQ sauce. We mentioned BBQ sauce throughout the day. That afternoon, an ad for BBQ sauce popped up on a co-worker’s smartphone.
Near our current residence, there is a 300-acre data center down the road that will soon expand almost double in size next year. Within 50 miles, there are four data centers owned by various companies such as Google and Meta (formerly Facebook).
All consuming large amounts of power and water, with a multi-year tax abatement, and less than 100 jobs per facility. Not to mention the strain on a weak power grid from record demand usage this summer. These data centers will not only support A.I. but will continue to collect the vast amount of data we all generate, either intentionally or unintentionally.
We use Proton Mail, Brave Browsers, a firewall, VPN, and yet we still have data collected on us. Our search results, where we eat, how we shop, what we watch for entertainment, how we spend, where we spend, are all collected and will be used in controlling our lives, if not today, then soon in the near future.. Just something for us to all ponder.
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