Artificial Intelligence & Authoritarianism | What’s the Attraction?
Artificial Intelligence & Authoritarianism | What’s the Attraction?
Vicar Sayeedi
June 15, 2022
The most important lesson we have learned from history is that everyone is guilty. The second most important lesson we’ve learned is that if a society cannot overcome its intolerance of one another – ethnonationalism, religious and sectarian conflicts, clan and tribal rivalries, etc. – it will never rise to fulfill its potential. This is an open secret and is on display around most of the world – it’s very difficult to identify any leading nation which rests on a foundation of endemic, pervasive intolerance. The main reason for this is that diverse but simultaneously intolerant communities are unable to work together productively. As it turns out, working together in flexible, large Networks of Cooperation is humankind’s superpower; it distinguishes us from all other species and virtually all our great achievements across 12,000 years of civilization can be traced to our ability to establish these Networks of Cooperation.
Unfortunately, tolerating differences between people within the same society is something that most of humankind finds too difficult to achieve. Despite irrefutable evidence that the development of their shared society cannot be erected on a corroded foundation of endemic, pervasive intolerance, most societies have not demonstrated the ability to implement the cultural and societal changes required to establish tolerance. Even in a nation as advanced as the United States, it’s shocking to learn that 70% of America’s GDP is generated by just 5% of the nation’s landmass – these are the most tolerant communities and self-contained ecosystems including Boston-Cambridge, the LA Basin, NYC, the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley and a few other major metros.
These socio-economic ecosystems are able to attract, nurture and retain the best academic institutions, medical and scientific institutions, technological and industrial organizations, as well as the best of the Arts and Humanities. The remaining 95% of the American nation generates only 30% of the country’s GDP, overwhelmingly from traditional industrial output and services and the hospitality sector. This is similarly the case in the UK, prominent examples of world class ecosystems being London & Oxbridge. Sadly, although the pathway to achieving such advanced, developed, diversified economies with correspondingly literate societies is an open secret, the foundational tolerance underpinning such advanced socio-economic ecosystems has for most communities and societies around the world proven intolerable.
An examination of China is a unique case study in achieving a tolerant foundation upon which to build a developed society. The Chinese Communist Party [CCP] understood that it is impossible to build a modern, developed economy and society on a foundation infested with intolerance. The evidence of this was abundantly clear as they examined their own society along with the multitude of underdeveloped and failing societies across Africa, Asia and most of the world. The hallmark of these societies was endemic, pervasive intolerance – they were trapped in a perennial struggle to achieve sustainable economic and social development.
But China has also correctly observed that it took many centuries for North America and Western Europe to achieve the current degree of tolerance, vis a vis constitutionally and legally enforced Liberalism. The CCP could clearly see the extraordinary ecosystems erected upon these foundations, but they also didn’t want to and could not afford to spend several centuries catching up to North America and the European Union. They were thinking in five-year planning cycles. China has 55 distinct ethnic groups and they realized, probably correctly, that if they were to wait for all these groups to learn to tolerate one another, economic and social development to world class status might still be a millennium away. Or perhaps it would never happen.
Thus, the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] opted for a different pathway to achieve tolerance in their society. They chose an Authoritarian approach and used the power of the State to define an ideology for the people of China [“Xi Jinping Thought” is captured in what’s known as the Little Red Book and it is studied at lunch time in leading Chinese companies. Workers are encouraged to memorize passages and to compete in recitations]. The CCP has also chosen a uniform culture – Han – as well as a uniform language – Mandarin.
Any Chinese person who would like to progress from life as a peasant farmer or herdsman in the country’s harsh interior will need to successfully demonstrate the subjugation of their own culture, ethnicity, language and religion in favor of Han Chinese, the Mandarin language and “Xi Jinping Thought”. [We can observe this forced cultural, linguistic and religious identity transformation on display in the northwest province of Xinjiang in recent years.] Ethnically Han Chinese women are encouraged to have children whilst Chinese women from any of the other 54 ethnicities are told to use IUD’s to prevent pregnancy and are increasingly being forced to undergo sterilization.
Only once convincingly transformed into a Han Chinese citizen can people gain access to the developed parts of China where they can attain good paying jobs, schools for their children and access to better health systems. It is a novel experiment in the identity subjugation of hundreds of millions of people and not something that free people in the West will tolerate. Nevertheless, it does seem to be a palatable option to many Authoritarian figures in Africa, Asia, Central Europe and beyond. These tyrants would also like to erect the socioeconomic ecosystems of America and the UK without relinquishing their power as absolute, dynastic rulers whilst simultaneously crushing centuries of ethnic, religious, sectarian and tribal disputes which do not serve their economic or political interests.
Historically, the Chinese approach has proven very challenging. The Soviet Union also tried to purge cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious identities in favor of a Russo-Soviet identity, but they failed. They didn’t have the technological ability to forge and sustainably enforce a centrally planned socioeconomic system or polity. But with the advancements of 4th Industrial Revolution Sciences and Technologies things have changed.
Specifically, Artificial Intelligence can now be used to constantly surveil an entire society, even one as large as China’s. People’s behavior can realistically be monitored from moment to moment, and offenders can be quickly punished. If misbehavior, vis a vis the expectations of the State, continue, a new AI-based system called the Social Credit Score can be employed to make life very expensive and inconvenient for offenders. In this system, everyone has a rank which rises and falls in response to their obedience to the State and subsequently, access, availability and costs of goods and services can be altered based upon behavior. In the infrequent cases in which this Social Credit Score is ineffective in controlling a citizen’s behavior, offenders can be made to return to an agrarian or pastoral existence in the remote western interior of the country or they can be made to disappear completely.
It's a chilling approach to achieving tolerance in a society but we must acknowledge that it has been effective in laying a foundation upon which to erect an advanced economy and society. Today, China is the second largest economy in the world. But what are the long-term ramifications of such a statist approach to tolerance? Will it be sustainable? How do the citizens of China feel about living in such a society and about losing all dimensions of their identity? Undoubtedly, this is a deeply emotive issue which goes to the core of who we are as humans. And how do the people of the world view the Chinese system and the nation? At least at this point, the evidence seems to show that Liberal Democracies are far preferable to the State enforced model for tolerance now on display in China. But time will tell. Liberal Democracies are not free from fault or flaws, either.
Vicar Sayeedi is a Computer Scientist and Bell Labs Alumnus, a Lecturer and a Consultant. He is also the author of several books. His most recent book is about Artificial Intelligence and is titled, The Génome Affair.
Vicar has lectured widely about Artificial Intelligence. He has recently lectured in New York at the National Hemophilia Foundation about AI & the Life Sciences. He has also lectured in London in the Royal Boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster, in Sunnyvale in Silicon Valley, the National Library of Singapore as well as in Düsseldorf [with invitations extended to Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne, Rome, Stockholm & Vienna] on AI and its implications for individuals and societies. Vicar has lectured at leading companies, as well.
Vicar is most interested in the big questions facing humankind. He is particularly focused on studying at the confluence of the five great disciplines of Human History, Political Science and Thought, International Affairs, Science and Technology. For geopolitical technologists, the symbiosis at this intersection offers a deep understanding and pedagogically important lessons of how advances in human endeavor have influenced and impacted civilization.
Vicar has been writing books, essays and poetry for many years. For the past 30 years, Vicar has worked in the Technology and Pharmaceutical industries. He is currently a Consultant in the Life Sciences Industry and lives in suburban Chicago with his wife and their three grown children.
You can find Vicar’s recent book on AI, The Génome Affair on Amazon at this link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YQ7M9Q7
The most recent episodes of Vicar’s ai & u! Podcast are on YouTube at the following links:
Episode 1 - https://youtu.be/yNYr28jtY_k
What is Artificial Intelligence? What is Human Intelligence?
Episode 2 - https://youtu.be/kAEgDNh1Nwc
How Did We Get Here? Machine Learning, Neural Networks & the AI Lexicon, Exciting AI Agents
Episode 3 - https://youtu.be/3PYCyv1pCgM
Deep Mind - How Powerful is Narrow AI? State Surveillance and Surveillance Capitalism
Episode 4 - https://youtu.be/WvobCMIM_H4
Impact on Societies That Possess Artificial Intelligence Versus Those that Do Not!
Episode 5 - https://youtu.be/4JVpvm4g79g
Surveillance Capitalism, Surveillance State, 4th Industrial Revolution, Bifurcation of Sapiens
Episode 6 - https://youtu.be/e1q2GgcWQok
AI, Blockchain & Quantum Computing - Implications for Global and National Governance
Episode 7 - https://youtu.be/4bDSUvrOdd4
Popular Perceptions of Intelligence, the Seat of Human Intelligence and Implications for AI
Episode 8 - https://youtu.be/3GjHqQZL7Pk
AI - Why Should I care? Plus Exciting Updates from Elon Musk and Neuralink!
Episode 9 - https://youtu.be/enpecqDecC8
AI - Excellence, Innovation & Genius
Episode 10 - https://youtu.be/UsriESlTjdA
Implications for AI as China and the West Decouple
Episode 11 - https://youtu.be/0CpaMb-yw3g
Artificial Intelligence: Ethics, Law & Society
Episode 12 - https://youtu.be/PLzodrLWMq0
AI & Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
Episode 13 - https://youtu.be/Lm_nrNyJRbA
AI & the Future of Work in Industry 4.0 – the 4th Industrial Revolution
Episode 14 - https://youtu.be/_3E1Mhr_Dt8
Artificial Intelligence and its Implications for Authoritarianism and Democracy
Episode 15 - https://youtu.be/IpMUqHOEd7w
Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness & the Future of Homo Sapiens
Episode 16 - https://youtu.be/mIf7_VMzGKo
AI and its Implications for America's Political Environment
Episode 17 - https://youtu.be/gsMRPnovZGI
Special Episode: Reading From The Génome Affair
Episode 18 - https://youtu.be/UxNxtWDCREM
Artificial Intelligence - Digital Tyranny, Datocracy and the Imitation Game
Episode 19 - https://youtu.be/Db8U0QQWWuY
Does Artificial Intelligence Really Replicate Human Intelligence?
Episode 20 - https://youtu.be/Np18AEq-6DM
AI & Rising Geopolitical Tensions Between China & The West
Episode 21 - https://youtu.be/fOMSvNiixA0
AI & In-vitro Fertilization [IVF]
Episode 22 - https://youtu.be/EQPpRhIV6Kw
AI & Human Intelligence: A Complex Relationship
Episode 23 - https://youtu.be/EAbQ7stY7JQ
AI Upends the World of Structural Biology
Episode 24 - https://youtu.be/Bsb1F8uoBpA
AI & COVID-19: An Extraordinary Contribution
Episode 25 - https://youtu.be/PqL5PCRc8tA
AI, Connectomics & Transhumanism: the Future of Humankind
Episode 26 - https://youtu.be/HI8Zjl8VM8U
Dramatic Upheaval Inside Google's Ethical AI Team
Episode 27 - https://youtu.be/TqWwJYc2GxQ
AI & Cyber Espionage | How Will the Sunburst Attack Affect Our Security?
Episode 28 - https://youtu.be/89BcThqgcfQ
AI & the Rapidly Escalating Threat from Deep Fake Videos
Episode 29 - https://youtu.be/zvOHRMmJNB4
AI, Facial Recognition Technology & The Digital Surveillance State
Episode 30 - https://youtu.be/br4ygfEWdk0
AI & Social Media | The Most Destructive AI We've Ever Seen?
Episode 31 - https://youtu.be/sOy12ii8zwM
The Democratization of AI & The 2021 Maiflower Expedition | Plymouth, England to Plymouth, MA
Episode 32 - https://youtu.be/bixdLL74reE
Sino-American Cold War | A Blessing in Disguise for America?
Episode 33 - https://youtu.be/tTRm312DgMc
AI & the Tyranny of Meritocracy
Episode 34 - https://youtu.be/FpPzC5VP6GM
In the Midst of Chaos and Pandemic | A Big AI Announcement From the Trump Administration
Episode 35 - https://youtu.be/bK3xCBwrG8w
Artificial Super Intelligence – Can We Control It?
Episode 36 - https://youtu.be/Rc60DQ0L86Q
A New America | Hope with a Big Dose of Caution
Episode 37 - https://youtu.be/UBenYYHbYqM
Will AI [Science & Tech] Benefit From a New Cold War with China?
Episode 38 - https://youtu.be/JewJnPywnOU
Will AI Eventually Replace All Other Forms of Government?
Episode 39 - https://youtu.be/ibuJ8vozyqg
Will AI Perpetuate Bias in Employment, Health Systems, Law and Society?
Episode 40 - https://youtu.be/IJYbPfGC-08
AI | Will it be the Bain of Cyber Criminals?
Episode 41 - https://youtu.be/ozrO5_XTYKQ
AI | What Will it Mean for the Future of Work?
Episode 42 - https://youtu.be/kDKapDK-Vb0
AI | A Harbinger for the End of Democracy?
Episode 43 - https://youtu.be/7XeNyE8CA9I
AI & the Life Sciences | Developments in Connectomics & Radiology
Episode 44 - https://youtu.be/mWaPW_UolVo
AI & Geopolitics | Critical Strategic Planning in the Age of China
Episode 45 - https://youtu.be/qOSOc3vJRBk
AI & Humankind | What Might the Future Hold?
Episode 46 - https://youtu.be/atMSV1WAFkg
AI Enabled Surveillance | An Important Tool to Contain Dangerous Personality Traits?
Episode 47 - https://youtu.be/kz7-EDmlGXc
Will AI Favor Authoritarianism or Democracy?
Episode 48 - https://youtu.be/uTvKWQgdOaI
AI | A Key Enabler of Universal Basic Income?
Episode 49 - https://youtu.be/sy48Xqo-3qM
AI & The Future of Government, Industry, Markets &Trade
Episode 50 - https://youtu.be/JU1oGzb5TS0
AI & Surveillance | America’s New Strategy in the Middle East
Episode 51 - https://youtu.be/nOCQjUxLWJY
AI-Enabled Global Government | An Idea Whose Time Has Come?
Episode 52 - https://youtu.be/g1VJqiI3HyE
AI & Healthcare | What Will the Future Look Like? Will it be More Equitable?
Episode 53 - https://youtu.be/ie9KAg_kF7Q
AI & Surveillance | The Ethical Dilemma of Facial Recognition Software
Episode 54 - https://youtu.be/ie9KAg_kF7Q
AI & Regulation | Europe is Leading the Way
Episode 55 - https://youtu.be/l-gcYTZMsm8
AI & Consciousness | Will Machines Soon be Sentient?
Episode 56 - https://youtu.be/-8BaouCn9cs
AI & Regulation | Europe Announces New Rules
Episode 57 - https://youtu.be/243zm7aHImQ
AI & Human Emotion Recognition | Is it Inherently Flawed?
Episode 58 - https://youtu.be/rdXllGj8rbo
AI & Autonomous Vehicles | Where are We Now?
Episode 59 - https://youtu.be/EMbqpN5mbqw
AI & the 4 Little Trees | More on Emotion Recognition
Episode 60 - https://youtu.be/K5wtkj-VTrk
AI & the Colonial Pipeline Attack | Cyber Threats are Growing Rapidly
Episode 61 - https://youtu.be/03KysO3VJgI
AI & the Coronavirus | A Postmortem
Episode 62 - https://youtu.be/7wmSIWgbuQI
AI on the Battlefield | The Conflict in Gaza
Episode 63 - https://youtu.be/a_1AmLJD3lo
AI and Xenophobia | Will We Finally Break the Cycle?
Episode 64 - https://youtu.be/9s-Go1TYK9c
AI, Cyber Attacks & the Future of War | Where are We Headed?
Episode 65 - https://youtu.be/1nKbTMzfpqM
Artificial Intelligence | Humankind’s Final and Greatest Invention
Episode 66 - https://youtu.be/cplR62KTa88
America & the 4th Industrial Revolution | Where do We Go from Here?
Episode 67 - https://youtu.be/RMrqreI-PRw
Artificial Intelligence | [Digital] Life After Death
Episode 68 - https://youtu.be/KzR8NkVdT0Q
Artificial Intelligence | The Fear Factor
Episode 69 - https://youtu.be/BI0HqACc4Ek
Artificial Intelligence | The Trust Factor
Episode 70 - https://youtu.be/nKhqVtQC_NI
Artificial Intelligence | Implications for the Future of Democracy
Episode 71 - https://youtu.be/GKD5hXmnpTU
Artificial Intelligence | Deep Fakes & Pornography
Episode 72 - https://youtu.be/KJdoBm5Kmw8
Artificial Intelligence | Working in the 21st Century
Episode 73 - https://youtu.be/lLY6gF_eeas
AI & Disinformation | Implications for Democracy & Geopolitics
Episode 74 - https://youtu.be/URsauWURj5A
AI, Climate Change & Pandemics | A Case for Global Governance?
Episode 75 - https://youtu.be/cu7xOHpNiO4
Artificial Intelligence | New Year’s Resolutions & Societal Reformation
Episode 76 - https://youtu.be/1-orEsKg5fM
Artificial Intelligence | Meritocracy and the Gathering Storm
Episode 77 - https://youtu.be/jYzyrxhxCJk
AI, Authoritarianism & Democracy | What Does the Future Hold?
Episode 78 – https://youtu.be/G5dlaB8TZJQ
AI & Speciation | Symbiosis and the 4th Industrial Revolution
Episode 79 – https://youtu.be/8pq2ZAxRdcY
AI and Disinformation | Echo Chambers in an Age of Division
Episode 80 – https://youtu.be/bewLnveVpDI
AI & Human Conflict | Objectivism, Tribalism & the Dunning-Kruger Effect
Episode 81 – https://youtu.be/Z5ZvMYuNhLQ
AI, Climate Change & Migration | Sowing the Seeds of Intraplanetary Discord
Episode 82 – https://youtu.be/mP-r_0pS3P8
Artificial Intelligence in 2022 | Where are We Now and What Does the Future Hold?
Episode 83 – https://youtu.be/vYSW-pceOQE
Artificial Intelligence in 2022 | Is Protein Folding Our Most Important Achievement?
Episode 84 – https://youtu.be/IBgF_oyCvpE
Artificial Intelligence & 21st Century Military Doctrine | Tora! Tora! Tora!
Episode 85 – https://youtu.be/IBgF_oyCvpE https://youtu.be/sxGeIZSlYYo
Artificial Intelligence & Healthcare | A Revolution in the Making
Episode 86 – https://youtu.be/IBgF_oyCvpE https://youtu.be/gARgH5rlCG8
AI & Thermonuclear Fusion | The Ultimate Solution for Climate Change
Episode 87 – https://youtu.be/IBgF_oyCvpE https://youtu.be/baWRuYBKgu4
Putin’s Russia | A State of Humiliation
Episode 88 – https://youtu.be/6TP5AFtg-6g
AI & Genomics | Accelerating Gene Therapies
Episode 89 – https://youtu.be/_vgLJEoQFY4
Unipolar, Bipolar & Multipolar Worlds | Implications for Humankind
Episode 90 – https://youtu.be/8S7SDcqKNZ0
https://youtu.be/_vgLJEoQFY4AI & Neocolonialism | Datocracy & the Surveillance State
Episode 91 – https://youtu.be/RfEIbPNAALo
AI & the Truman Doctrine | The Merits of Preserving the New World Order
Episode 92 – https://youtu.be/q1ybdNC5MiI
The Apollo Moon Landing | Lessons for Civilization in the Age of AI
Episode 93 – https://youtu.be/r1oc9uU8Ct4
Artificial Intelligence & Sapiens 3.0 | Are We Ready?
Episode 94 – https://youtu.be/OqUfXNwqtDU
Artificial Intelligence & Authoritarianism | What’s the Attraction?
Vicar Sayeedi
June 15, 2022
The most important lesson we have learned from history is that everyone is guilty. The second most important lesson we’ve learned is that if a society cannot overcome its intolerance of one another – ethnonationalism, religious and sectarian conflicts, clan and tribal rivalries, etc. – it will never rise to fulfill its potential. This is an open secret and is on display around most of the world – it’s very difficult to identify any leading nation which rests on a foundation of endemic, pervasive intolerance. The main reason for this is that diverse but simultaneously intolerant communities are unable to work together productively. As it turns out, working together in flexible, large Networks of Cooperation is humankind’s superpower; it distinguishes us from all other species and virtually all our great achievements across 12,000 years of civilization can be traced to our ability to establish these Networks of Cooperation.
Unfortunately, tolerating differences between people within the same society is something that most of humankind finds too difficult to achieve. Despite irrefutable evidence that the development of their shared society cannot be erected on a corroded foundation of endemic, pervasive intolerance, most societies have not demonstrated the ability to implement the cultural and societal changes required to establish tolerance. Even in a nation as advanced as the United States, it’s shocking to learn that 70% of America’s GDP is generated by just 5% of the nation’s landmass – these are the most tolerant communities and self-contained ecosystems including Boston-Cambridge, the LA Basin, NYC, the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley and a few other major metros.
These socio-economic ecosystems are able to attract, nurture and retain the best academic institutions, medical and scientific institutions, technological and industrial organizations, as well as the best of the Arts and Humanities. The remaining 95% of the American nation generates only 30% of the country’s GDP, overwhelmingly from traditional industrial output and services and the hospitality sector. This is similarly the case in the UK, prominent examples of world class ecosystems being London & Oxbridge. Sadly, although the pathway to achieving such advanced, developed, diversified economies with correspondingly literate societies is an open secret, the foundational tolerance underpinning such advanced socio-economic ecosystems has for most communities and societies around the world proven intolerable.
An examination of China is a unique case study in achieving a tolerant foundation upon which to build a developed society. The Chinese Communist Party [CCP] understood that it is impossible to build a modern, developed economy and society on a foundation infested with intolerance. The evidence of this was abundantly clear as they examined their own society along with the multitude of underdeveloped and failing societies across Africa, Asia and most of the world. The hallmark of these societies was endemic, pervasive intolerance – they were trapped in a perennial struggle to achieve sustainable economic and social development.
But China has also correctly observed that it took many centuries for North America and Western Europe to achieve the current degree of tolerance, vis a vis constitutionally and legally enforced Liberalism. The CCP could clearly see the extraordinary ecosystems erected upon these foundations, but they also didn’t want to and could not afford to spend several centuries catching up to North America and the European Union. They were thinking in five-year planning cycles. China has 55 distinct ethnic groups and they realized, probably correctly, that if they were to wait for all these groups to learn to tolerate one another, economic and social development to world class status might still be a millennium away. Or perhaps it would never happen.
Thus, the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] opted for a different pathway to achieve tolerance in their society. They chose an Authoritarian approach and used the power of the State to define an ideology for the people of China [“Xi Jinping Thought” is captured in what’s known as the Little Red Book and it is studied at lunch time in leading Chinese companies. Workers are encouraged to memorize passages and to compete in recitations]. The CCP has also chosen a uniform culture – Han – as well as a uniform language – Mandarin.
Any Chinese person who would like to progress from life as a peasant farmer or herdsman in the country’s harsh interior will need to successfully demonstrate the subjugation of their own culture, ethnicity, language and religion in favor of Han Chinese, the Mandarin language and “Xi Jinping Thought”. [We can observe this forced cultural, linguistic and religious identity transformation on display in the northwest province of Xinjiang in recent years.] Ethnically Han Chinese women are encouraged to have children whilst Chinese women from any of the other 54 ethnicities are told to use IUD’s to prevent pregnancy and are increasingly being forced to undergo sterilization.
Only once convincingly transformed into a Han Chinese citizen can people gain access to the developed parts of China where they can attain good paying jobs, schools for their children and access to better health systems. It is a novel experiment in the identity subjugation of hundreds of millions of people and not something that free people in the West will tolerate. Nevertheless, it does seem to be a palatable option to many Authoritarian figures in Africa, Asia, Central Europe and beyond. These tyrants would also like to erect the socioeconomic ecosystems of America and the UK without relinquishing their power as absolute, dynastic rulers whilst simultaneously crushing centuries of ethnic, religious, sectarian and tribal disputes which do not serve their economic or political interests.
Historically, the Chinese approach has proven very challenging. The Soviet Union also tried to purge cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious identities in favor of a Russo-Soviet identity, but they failed. They didn’t have the technological ability to forge and sustainably enforce a centrally planned socioeconomic system or polity. But with the advancements of 4th Industrial Revolution Sciences and Technologies things have changed.
Specifically, Artificial Intelligence can now be used to constantly surveil an entire society, even one as large as China’s. People’s behavior can realistically be monitored from moment to moment, and offenders can be quickly punished. If misbehavior, vis a vis the expectations of the State, continue, a new AI-based system called the Social Credit Score can be employed to make life very expensive and inconvenient for offenders. In this system, everyone has a rank which rises and falls in response to their obedience to the State and subsequently, access, availability and costs of goods and services can be altered based upon behavior. In the infrequent cases in which this Social Credit Score is ineffective in controlling a citizen’s behavior, offenders can be made to return to an agrarian or pastoral existence in the remote western interior of the country or they can be made to disappear completely.
It's a chilling approach to achieving tolerance in a society but we must acknowledge that it has been effective in laying a foundation upon which to erect an advanced economy and society. Today, China is the second largest economy in the world. But what are the long-term ramifications of such a statist approach to tolerance? Will it be sustainable? How do the citizens of China feel about living in such a society and about losing all dimensions of their identity? Undoubtedly, this is a deeply emotive issue which goes to the core of who we are as humans. And how do the people of the world view the Chinese system and the nation? At least at this point, the evidence seems to show that Liberal Democracies are far preferable to the State enforced model for tolerance now on display in China. But time will tell. Liberal Democracies are not free from fault or flaws, either.
Vicar Sayeedi is a Computer Scientist and Bell Labs Alumnus, a Lecturer and a Consultant. He is also the author of several books. His most recent book is about Artificial Intelligence and is titled, The Génome Affair.
Vicar has lectured widely about Artificial Intelligence. He has recently lectured in New York at the National Hemophilia Foundation about AI & the Life Sciences. He has also lectured in London in the Royal Boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster, in Sunnyvale in Silicon Valley, the National Library of Singapore as well as in Düsseldorf [with invitations extended to Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne, Rome, Stockholm & Vienna] on AI and its implications for individuals and societies. Vicar has lectured at leading companies, as well.
Vicar is most interested in the big questions facing humankind. He is particularly focused on studying at the confluence of the five great disciplines of Human History, Political Science and Thought, International Affairs, Science and Technology. For geopolitical technologists, the symbiosis at this intersection offers a deep understanding and pedagogically important lessons of how advances in human endeavor have influenced and impacted civilization.
Vicar has been writing books, essays and poetry for many years. For the past 30 years, Vicar has worked in the Technology and Pharmaceutical industries. He is currently a Consultant in the Life Sciences Industry and lives in suburban Chicago with his wife and their three grown children.
You can find Vicar’s recent book on AI, The Génome Affair on Amazon at this link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YQ7M9Q7
The most recent episodes of Vicar’s ai & u! Podcast are on YouTube at the following links:
Episode 1 - https://youtu.be/yNYr28jtY_k
What is Artificial Intelligence? What is Human Intelligence?
Episode 2 - https://youtu.be/kAEgDNh1Nwc
How Did We Get Here? Machine Learning, Neural Networks & the AI Lexicon, Exciting AI Agents
Episode 3 - https://youtu.be/3PYCyv1pCgM
Deep Mind - How Powerful is Narrow AI? State Surveillance and Surveillance Capitalism
Episode 4 - https://youtu.be/WvobCMIM_H4
Impact on Societies That Possess Artificial Intelligence Versus Those that Do Not!
Episode 5 - https://youtu.be/4JVpvm4g79g
Surveillance Capitalism, Surveillance State, 4th Industrial Revolution, Bifurcation of Sapiens
Episode 6 - https://youtu.be/e1q2GgcWQok
AI, Blockchain & Quantum Computing - Implications for Global and National Governance
Episode 7 - https://youtu.be/4bDSUvrOdd4
Popular Perceptions of Intelligence, the Seat of Human Intelligence and Implications for AI
Episode 8 - https://youtu.be/3GjHqQZL7Pk
AI - Why Should I care? Plus Exciting Updates from Elon Musk and Neuralink!
Episode 9 - https://youtu.be/enpecqDecC8
AI - Excellence, Innovation & Genius
Episode 10 - https://youtu.be/UsriESlTjdA
Implications for AI as China and the West Decouple
Episode 11 - https://youtu.be/0CpaMb-yw3g
Artificial Intelligence: Ethics, Law & Society
Episode 12 - https://youtu.be/PLzodrLWMq0
AI & Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
Episode 13 - https://youtu.be/Lm_nrNyJRbA
AI & the Future of Work in Industry 4.0 – the 4th Industrial Revolution
Episode 14 - https://youtu.be/_3E1Mhr_Dt8
Artificial Intelligence and its Implications for Authoritarianism and Democracy
Episode 15 - https://youtu.be/IpMUqHOEd7w
Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness & the Future of Homo Sapiens
Episode 16 - https://youtu.be/mIf7_VMzGKo
AI and its Implications for America's Political Environment
Episode 17 - https://youtu.be/gsMRPnovZGI
Special Episode: Reading From The Génome Affair
Episode 18 - https://youtu.be/UxNxtWDCREM
Artificial Intelligence - Digital Tyranny, Datocracy and the Imitation Game
Episode 19 - https://youtu.be/Db8U0QQWWuY
Does Artificial Intelligence Really Replicate Human Intelligence?
Episode 20 - https://youtu.be/Np18AEq-6DM
AI & Rising Geopolitical Tensions Between China & The West
Episode 21 - https://youtu.be/fOMSvNiixA0
AI & In-vitro Fertilization [IVF]
Episode 22 - https://youtu.be/EQPpRhIV6Kw
AI & Human Intelligence: A Complex Relationship
Episode 23 - https://youtu.be/EAbQ7stY7JQ
AI Upends the World of Structural Biology
Episode 24 - https://youtu.be/Bsb1F8uoBpA
AI & COVID-19: An Extraordinary Contribution
Episode 25 - https://youtu.be/PqL5PCRc8tA
AI, Connectomics & Transhumanism: the Future of Humankind
Episode 26 - https://youtu.be/HI8Zjl8VM8U
Dramatic Upheaval Inside Google's Ethical AI Team
Episode 27 - https://youtu.be/TqWwJYc2GxQ
AI & Cyber Espionage | How Will the Sunburst Attack Affect Our Security?
Episode 28 - https://youtu.be/89BcThqgcfQ
AI & the Rapidly Escalating Threat from Deep Fake Videos
Episode 29 - https://youtu.be/zvOHRMmJNB4
AI, Facial Recognition Technology & The Digital Surveillance State
Episode 30 - https://youtu.be/br4ygfEWdk0
AI & Social Media | The Most Destructive AI We've Ever Seen?
Episode 31 - https://youtu.be/sOy12ii8zwM
The Democratization of AI & The 2021 Maiflower Expedition | Plymouth, England to Plymouth, MA
Episode 32 - https://youtu.be/bixdLL74reE
Sino-American Cold War | A Blessing in Disguise for America?
Episode 33 - https://youtu.be/tTRm312DgMc
AI & the Tyranny of Meritocracy
Episode 34 - https://youtu.be/FpPzC5VP6GM
In the Midst of Chaos and Pandemic | A Big AI Announcement From the Trump Administration
Episode 35 - https://youtu.be/bK3xCBwrG8w
Artificial Super Intelligence – Can We Control It?
Episode 36 - https://youtu.be/Rc60DQ0L86Q
A New America | Hope with a Big Dose of Caution
Episode 37 - https://youtu.be/UBenYYHbYqM
Will AI [Science & Tech] Benefit From a New Cold War with China?
Episode 38 - https://youtu.be/JewJnPywnOU
Will AI Eventually Replace All Other Forms of Government?
Episode 39 - https://youtu.be/ibuJ8vozyqg
Will AI Perpetuate Bias in Employment, Health Systems, Law and Society?
Episode 40 - https://youtu.be/IJYbPfGC-08
AI | Will it be the Bain of Cyber Criminals?
Episode 41 - https://youtu.be/ozrO5_XTYKQ
AI | What Will it Mean for the Future of Work?
Episode 42 - https://youtu.be/kDKapDK-Vb0
AI | A Harbinger for the End of Democracy?
Episode 43 - https://youtu.be/7XeNyE8CA9I
AI & the Life Sciences | Developments in Connectomics & Radiology
Episode 44 - https://youtu.be/mWaPW_UolVo
AI & Geopolitics | Critical Strategic Planning in the Age of China
Episode 45 - https://youtu.be/qOSOc3vJRBk
AI & Humankind | What Might the Future Hold?
Episode 46 - https://youtu.be/atMSV1WAFkg
AI Enabled Surveillance | An Important Tool to Contain Dangerous Personality Traits?
Episode 47 - https://youtu.be/kz7-EDmlGXc
Will AI Favor Authoritarianism or Democracy?
Episode 48 - https://youtu.be/uTvKWQgdOaI
AI | A Key Enabler of Universal Basic Income?
Episode 49 - https://youtu.be/sy48Xqo-3qM
AI & The Future of Government, Industry, Markets &Trade
Episode 50 - https://youtu.be/JU1oGzb5TS0
AI & Surveillance | America’s New Strategy in the Middle East
Episode 51 - https://youtu.be/nOCQjUxLWJY
AI-Enabled Global Government | An Idea Whose Time Has Come?
Episode 52 - https://youtu.be/g1VJqiI3HyE
AI & Healthcare | What Will the Future Look Like? Will it be More Equitable?
Episode 53 - https://youtu.be/ie9KAg_kF7Q
AI & Surveillance | The Ethical Dilemma of Facial Recognition Software
Episode 54 - https://youtu.be/ie9KAg_kF7Q
AI & Regulation | Europe is Leading the Way
Episode 55 - https://youtu.be/l-gcYTZMsm8
AI & Consciousness | Will Machines Soon be Sentient?
Episode 56 - https://youtu.be/-8BaouCn9cs
AI & Regulation | Europe Announces New Rules
Episode 57 - https://youtu.be/243zm7aHImQ
AI & Human Emotion Recognition | Is it Inherently Flawed?
Episode 58 - https://youtu.be/rdXllGj8rbo
AI & Autonomous Vehicles | Where are We Now?
Episode 59 - https://youtu.be/EMbqpN5mbqw
AI & the 4 Little Trees | More on Emotion Recognition
Episode 60 - https://youtu.be/K5wtkj-VTrk
AI & the Colonial Pipeline Attack | Cyber Threats are Growing Rapidly
Episode 61 - https://youtu.be/03KysO3VJgI
AI & the Coronavirus | A Postmortem
Episode 62 - https://youtu.be/7wmSIWgbuQI
AI on the Battlefield | The Conflict in Gaza
Episode 63 - https://youtu.be/a_1AmLJD3lo
AI and Xenophobia | Will We Finally Break the Cycle?
Episode 64 - https://youtu.be/9s-Go1TYK9c
AI, Cyber Attacks & the Future of War | Where are We Headed?
Episode 65 - https://youtu.be/1nKbTMzfpqM
Artificial Intelligence | Humankind’s Final and Greatest Invention
Episode 66 - https://youtu.be/cplR62KTa88
America & the 4th Industrial Revolution | Where do We Go from Here?
Episode 67 - https://youtu.be/RMrqreI-PRw
Artificial Intelligence | [Digital] Life After Death
Episode 68 - https://youtu.be/KzR8NkVdT0Q
Artificial Intelligence | The Fear Factor
Episode 69 - https://youtu.be/BI0HqACc4Ek
Artificial Intelligence | The Trust Factor
Episode 70 - https://youtu.be/nKhqVtQC_NI
Artificial Intelligence | Implications for the Future of Democracy
Episode 71 - https://youtu.be/GKD5hXmnpTU
Artificial Intelligence | Deep Fakes & Pornography
Episode 72 - https://youtu.be/KJdoBm5Kmw8
Artificial Intelligence | Working in the 21st Century
Episode 73 - https://youtu.be/lLY6gF_eeas
AI & Disinformation | Implications for Democracy & Geopolitics
Episode 74 - https://youtu.be/URsauWURj5A
AI, Climate Change & Pandemics | A Case for Global Governance?
Episode 75 - https://youtu.be/cu7xOHpNiO4
Artificial Intelligence | New Year’s Resolutions & Societal Reformation
Episode 76 - https://youtu.be/1-orEsKg5fM
Artificial Intelligence | Meritocracy and the Gathering Storm
Episode 77 - https://youtu.be/jYzyrxhxCJk
AI, Authoritarianism & Democracy | What Does the Future Hold?
Episode 78 – https://youtu.be/G5dlaB8TZJQ
AI & Speciation | Symbiosis and the 4th Industrial Revolution
Episode 79 – https://youtu.be/8pq2ZAxRdcY
AI and Disinformation | Echo Chambers in an Age of Division
Episode 80 – https://youtu.be/bewLnveVpDI
AI & Human Conflict | Objectivism, Tribalism & the Dunning-Kruger Effect
Episode 81 – https://youtu.be/Z5ZvMYuNhLQ
AI, Climate Change & Migration | Sowing the Seeds of Intraplanetary Discord
Episode 82 – https://youtu.be/mP-r_0pS3P8
Artificial Intelligence in 2022 | Where are We Now and What Does the Future Hold?
Episode 83 – https://youtu.be/vYSW-pceOQE
Artificial Intelligence in 2022 | Is Protein Folding Our Most Important Achievement?
Episode 84 – https://youtu.be/IBgF_oyCvpE
Artificial Intelligence & 21st Century Military Doctrine | Tora! Tora! Tora!
Episode 85 – https://youtu.be/IBgF_oyCvpE https://youtu.be/sxGeIZSlYYo
Artificial Intelligence & Healthcare | A Revolution in the Making
Episode 86 – https://youtu.be/IBgF_oyCvpE https://youtu.be/gARgH5rlCG8
AI & Thermonuclear Fusion | The Ultimate Solution for Climate Change
Episode 87 – https://youtu.be/IBgF_oyCvpE https://youtu.be/baWRuYBKgu4
Putin’s Russia | A State of Humiliation
Episode 88 – https://youtu.be/6TP5AFtg-6g
AI & Genomics | Accelerating Gene Therapies
Episode 89 – https://youtu.be/_vgLJEoQFY4
Unipolar, Bipolar & Multipolar Worlds | Implications for Humankind
Episode 90 – https://youtu.be/8S7SDcqKNZ0
https://youtu.be/_vgLJEoQFY4AI & Neocolonialism | Datocracy & the Surveillance State
Episode 91 – https://youtu.be/RfEIbPNAALo
AI & the Truman Doctrine | The Merits of Preserving the New World Order
Episode 92 – https://youtu.be/q1ybdNC5MiI
The Apollo Moon Landing | Lessons for Civilization in the Age of AI
Episode 93 – https://youtu.be/r1oc9uU8Ct4
Artificial Intelligence & Sapiens 3.0 | Are We Ready?
Episode 94 – https://youtu.be/OqUfXNwqtDU
Artificial Intelligence & Authoritarianism | What’s the Attraction?
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