The age of misinformation and Surveillance capitalism
In case you are wondering of quitting social media (right step btw) and how all these sales guys come and send you all kind of advertising emails. It’s all because the big tech has a lot of information about everyone on this planet. And every once in a while, someone in the family or yourself is convinced about the next big thing and we as gullible human beings just follow it. I mean what else is left to make our boring stressful days better? Where is all the data being collected at the end of the day go? I know it will be on some server. But what happens to that data and who will decide what happens to this data? Some algorithm which has no feeling and tact can just decide left and right on the inputs given. Or some human, who already decides on their part with their biases. The data being fed to these algorithms also have so much bias, I mean how does the society move forward with just being blindfolded to a very dark and uncertain future. If you’re critical and your opinion deviates from the norm, usually you’re reprimanded for the way you are and your views. And in the age of information, anyone with skills can make a video and an Add and send a tracking trail on you. Have you guys noticed that if you click on an Add even by mistake because you’re using a touch screen, this Add doesn’t seem to stop following you for weeks even if you have Add blockers in place. I mean, am I the only one complaining? Mostly, people are not interested in talking about things, I believe there should be a forum where one can talk and debate openly about misinformation and surveillance. As I know anyone in my office wouldn’t. What about working parents who employ a Nanee and then have to keep a watch on them? It’s surveillance on top of surveillance. The government looking into our data and private information. I mean how much control does the government want. I mean who is in charge of data after all? It’s true that people are not trustworthy. But does anyone know how easily data can be sold and collected by anyone who wants to?
Moreover, most of the resources are under the control of the elite. If you even think of starting something on your own for e.g. a company. It will soon be taken over by some big fish. Ultimately, most of us want to break free from the shackles of 9–5. Though, due to work from home options I mean the IT domain is still lucrative and growing in demand. There are other factory jobs which are being taken up by robots. I mean it’s only until some time before robots start deciding for us. It’s a glimpse into a very dark, scary and not secure future. Something that our forefathers had not worked for or even imagined. But great critical thinkers like George Orwell had warned us time and again. I’m referring to his book 1984, in case you have not seen the movie on YouTube, please do take the time and read the book or watch the video.
Have you ever wondered, why even after working so hard and saving, things just don’t seem enough? It’s getting way more difficult to get a job or finish that degree without which you’re not going to get a job. Gone are the days of training for a trade and being sure that you’ll have a job for long time. Yes online e-commerce market has taken off pretty well. But is it something that everyone wants? Is it always going to be profits before people? Or do we need to create a new market for kindness, understanding and peace.
The number of people coming out and reporting the cases of scam, online fraud are endless. Everyone being forced to adopt technology, is actually being tracked all the time. Corona has opened many new avenues for being tracked. And no amount of justification is going to stop that.
As Shoshana Zuboff, has clearly pointed out in her series to enlighten us about Surveillance Capitalism that even our conversations and what we type online our facial expressions everything is being recorded without our permission. So is it safe to have everything online. Yes, the pandemic and everyday stress of life makes it easy to just click that 1 button and have things delivered at your door-step. But it kills local markets and the profit margins though online sales are high only occasionally, pandemic and convenience has given rise to a lot of online sales and made overnight millionaires. On the other hand, it has busted many business in the agricultural and animal husbandry sector.
If movement is restricted then, there’s only so much a person can do. At least, I see some new rules of GDPR in Europe being in place that gives me some sense of hope. Hope that our data will be used in the right direction. But did anyone have a look at the pervasive AI technology. The power of such pervasive AI can potentially hack into any system. With jobs shrinking down day and night. And demand for more IT jobs as machine learning and AI grips the market. I don’t know where normal people who have no idea about IT will go. One can only give so many warnings. Also, being in IT for so long, I know first hand that you’re expected to get things running in a matter of days if not weeks. There’s just way too much stress and expectations on people who are into IT. Also, with little job security it makes life more painful and difficult. I’ve worked in facial micro-expressions, I’ll write more about it in the next article. It’s damn interesting but the disadvantages weight out more than the advantages. I hear a lot that AI is hot but in reality, I know many deserving candidates who have done their PhD’s and didn’t find a job in this hot domain, it’s a market that is still growing with very few takers on the market. It’s pretty scary with big businesses just fighting it out for what they want without thinking about a sustainable and achievable goal in front of them. I’ve spoken to many senior professionals in IT, they all have 1 story to tell me that previously IT was a joy to work in. One got the time to plan, think and grow with the project. But these days a fresh graduate is supposed to have 2–3 years of experience. I understand that one must gain meaningful experience but I’ve mostly learned things online and through tutorial and classes on Udemy or Coursera. I know more and more people are questioning the need of school. But not everyone is born with a genius level IQ. Many people learn as they do and that is the best way to go about things if you want your sanity.
With more and more people opting for learning at home from the internet. Very few in the society will be willing to interact with one another until and unless it is absolutely necessary. It gives very less space for free interaction and creativity to flow. Misinformation and increased surveillance has only added to the stress and anxiety levels of an individual. I believe, if a democratic society is being surveilled in such a vast majority and it a hidden billion dollar business. Then strict guidelines have to be set with everyone’s agreement. But then again the internet is global, and countries like China do not play by the rules. It’s a slippery slope and the lines of decency, democracy, and ethics are completely blurred. I would like to know what is your opinion on surveillance capitalism? I’ll continue writing on surveillance and misinformation as I get time. Until then, I hope you find my writing thought provoking.
