The future: Infotech + biotech = hack you
Algorithms excel b/c humans fail to know themselves.
Disclaimer
I personally do not advocate any process or procedure contained in any of my Blogs. Information presented here is not intended to provide legal or lawful advice, nor medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, cure, or prevent any disease. Views expressed are for educational purposes only.
Message to readers
What Yuval Harari has to say can be interpreted as fear porn, or a warning about the immense power of technology in the hands of untrustworthy entities void of morals and void of conscience. In all likelihood, the technology they are now using is far beyond what follows. Doreen
Partial transcript 0-8 mins
The future of humanity according to Yuval Harari
Mar 26, 2021
Yuval Harari is consultant to WEF’s Klaus Schwab
In coming generations we will learn how to engineer bodies and brains and minds. These will be the main products of the 21st Century economy not textiles, vehicles and weapons.
Why is data so important?
Data is important b/c we've reached the point when we can hack not just computers, email accounts, bank accounts and mobile phones, we can hack human beings and other organisms.
To hack a human being requires two things
1] a lot of computing power
2] a lot of biometric data, not data about what you buy or where you go; data about what’s happening inside your body and inside your brain.
Two simultaneous revolutions 1] advances in computer science and especially 2] the rise of machine learning and AI provided the necessary computing power.
Organisms are algorithms
At the same time advances in biology, especially in brain science, are giving us the necessary biological understanding. You can summarize 150 years of biological research since Charles Darwin in three words “organisms are algorithms”. This is the big insight of modern life sciences that organisms whether viruses or bananas or humans are really just biochemical algorithms and we are learning how to decipher algorithms.
Humans do not know themselves
Perhaps the most important invention for the merger of infotech and biotech is the biometric sensor that translates biochemical processes in the body and the brain into electronic signals that a computer can store and analyze. Once you have enough biometric information and enough computing power you can create algorithms that know you better than you know yourself.
Humans really don't know themselves very well, which is why algorithms have a real chance of getting to know humans better.
Billion $ market
You will not be able to hide from Amazon, Alibaba and secret police as you surf the internet, as you watch videos or check your social feed. The algorithms will be monitoring your eye movements, your blood pressure, your brain activity and they will know.
Algorithms could tell Coco-cola that to sell this person some fuzzy sugary drink don't use the advertisement with the shirtless girl use the advertisement with the shirtless guy. You wouldn't even know this was happening but they will know, and this information will be worth billions once we have algorithms that can understand you better than you understand yourself.
They could predict our desires, manipulate our emotions and even take decisions on our behalf. If we are not careful the outcome might be the rise of digital dictatorships. 16:47 mins
Without prejudice and without recourse
Doreen Agostino
Our Greater Destiny Blog
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