CMV: Governments will get much more authoritarian with AI
I believe that a lot of people don't fully grasp the use cases of AI for governments and its implications.
We already know from the Snowden leaks that the government had mass surveillance programs and forever databases on everything online. That was in 2010.
Now, fast forward 16 years later and we have massive super computers and massive data centers being built.
I believe there will be a lot of small but noticeable changes during the next few years:
- Tax authorities will be much more powerful. No one will ever be able to under-declare anything. Your local mom and pop shop that only accepts cash will be flagged by AI, will go under audit, and the whole process which required hours of manual investigation by auditors will just be a click of a button and a bit of review.
Your neighbour who sometimes hires a carpenter for example but pays them cash, will immediately get flagged and audited.
This goes for any business or individual, cheating on taxes will simply be a thing of the past.
- Police will also get more powerful. There is already a network of around 80,000 flock cameras. With more data centers being built and more computing power available to AI, police will not need to rely on manual police work to catch traffic infractions. But, this will also mean that even the smallest infractions will not go unnoticed, if you've ever driven a few miles above speed limit or if you don't fully stop at a stop sign, imagine getting a fine within seconds sent on your phone.
I hope I was able to explain that my view isn't just about these scenarios I mentioned, but the use cases if you have access to the data of millions of people and access to most powerful AI models are simply terrifying, and real, and probably coming in the next few years.