(A Ten minute read)

You might be asking yourself like many why it is that we are inflicted by the like of Donald Trump, Madame La Pen, Brexit, ect.

Any fool on the street can tell you that technology is changing at a whiplash-inducing pace. What’s much more difficult to predict is which technologies specifically are about to hit big.

To me it is obvious: Artificial Intelligent.

Platforms that serve manipulative interests of political elites, in which leaders do most of the conversing and democratic discussion is reduced to campaigning for elections and the casting of votes.

The result of elections and referendums are becoming more individualistic than they are democratic with Democracy becoming, trivial, incoherent, or manipulative across all sorts of domestic debates, military interventions, consumer advertisements, and television specials.

Democracy use to stirred up by:

The public relations agencies, the direct-mail companies, and opinion-polling firms work in concert with the infrastructure of think tanks, tax-exempt foundations, and other centers.  With the press and television industry as the principle gatekeepers of political debate. Other channels of political information are almost nonexistent.

Today, tremendous changes in advanced computing technologies are giving rise TO A NEW DEMOCRATIC EMPOWERMENT, THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VOTING.The smart phone rules as to which party is the best in more way than one.

On-line computer services and networks, which are oriented toward spontaneous communication among citizens is limiting their exposure only to the affairs that match their interests.  Populist appeal.

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology will and is expanding this type of public involvement with information-driven politics, the politics of knowledge, not necessarily the politics of winning elections.

But does the public really want a daily digest of political information?

IN WHICH IT HAS LITTLE OR NO SAY.

We are witnessing an ominous trend toward political dysfunction as the number who vote in national elections continues to slide below fifty percent.

One possible reason for this trend is that many people believe that political representatives have little to offer in terms of solving the immediate daily concerns of employment, health care, education, housing, transportation, drugs, crime, social decay, injustice, and so on.

Maybe, if the right tools were available, people would have a better chance to communicate with representatives, know and protect their own rights, engage in deliberation, test hypotheses, discover knowledge, discuss theory, and better understand world events

At the moment AI is all about analyzing the content of candidate appeals and making informed guesses about candidates.

Obviously, merit exists in the public becoming more politically astute and “awakening from the dormant state.” Success may depend partially on whether participation can be achieved in such a way as to impinge minimally upon the matters of private life.

The old politics often depicted as canned debates and public spectacle is becoming unacceptable to an intelligent populace.

New politics demands semantic understanding and identifying the chains of reasoning. These goals require building new tools and networks for the next generation of machine politics.

We are in the middle of a technological upheaval that will transform the way society is organized. We must make the right decisions now.

Every minute we produce hundreds of thousands of Google searches and Facebook posts. These contain information that reveals how we think and feel. Soon, the things around us, possibly even our clothing, also will be connected with the Internet. It is estimated that in 10 years’ time there will be 150 billion networked measuring sensors, 20 times more than people on Earth. Then, the amount of data will double every 12 hours.

Many companies are already trying to turn this Big Data into Big Money.

Soon we will not only have smart phones, but also smart homes, smart factories and smart cities.

Should we also expect these developments to result in smart nations and a smarter planet?  ALL EVIDENCE POINTS TO THE OPPOSITE.

Today 70% of all financial transactions are performed by algorithms.

This all has radical economic consequences: In the coming 10 to 20 years around half of today’s jobs will be threatened by algorithms. 40% of today’s top 500 companies will have vanished in a decade.

Society is at a crossroads, which promises great opportunities, but also considerable risks. HERE I A NOT TALKING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE BUT OUR INABILITY TO EXPRESS OURSELVES AT THE BALLOT BOX.

If we take the wrong decisions it could threaten our greatest historical achievements.

Super-intelligence is a serious danger for humanity.

Search engines and recommendation platforms are beginning to offer us personalised suggestions for products and services.

But it won’t stop there.

Some software platforms are moving towards “persuasive computing.

These platforms will be able to steer us through entire courses of action, be it for the execution of complex work processes or to generate free content for Internet platforms, from which corporations earn billions.

The trend goes from programming computers to programming people.

These technologies are also becoming increasingly popular in the world of politics.

Under the label of “nudging,” and on massive scale, governments are trying to steer citizens towards healthier or more environmentally friendly behaviour by means of a “nudge”—a modern form of paternalism.

Singapore is seen as a perfect example of a data-controlled society.

It won’t be long before Every chinese citizen will receive a so-called ”Citizen Score”, which will determine under what conditions they may get loans, jobs, or travel visa to other countries.

This will be a sort of digital scepter that allows one to govern the masses efficiently, without having to involve citizens in democratic processes.

Would this overcome vested interests and optimize the course of the world?

If so, then citizens could be governed by a data-empowered “wise king”, who would be able to produce desired economic and social outcomes almost as if with a digital magic wand.

God forbid.

Lets hope we remain influenced by issues as much as by perceived. 

Democracy is not for Hire or Sale. In order for us to retain control of our lives, these networks should be controlled. I am talking about Google, Twitter, and Facebook.

All technology and associated algorithms should be given a World Health Certificate in as much that they are serving the common good and human values.( See previous Posts)

Creation of computer applications to enhance democratic discussion is now a pressing problem.

Echo’s ability to represent “aggregate behavior” might be useful.

All Common Sense comments appreciated. All like comments chucked in the Bin.

WE CAN NO LONGER OR AFFORD TO LEAVE COMMON SENSE LYING IN A DORMANT STATE.

Starry-eyed cyber optimism [which suggests] a new form of technological determinism according to which the Internet would be the hammer to nail all global problems, IS BULL SHIT.  SAY NO TO: