The A.I. Sentience That I’m Most Afraid Of
The Reverse Turing Test & Why Targeted Ads Are Terrifying
In a previous newsletter, I talked a little bit about content creators getting their fair share of the compensation pie, especially considering the wide-open nature of the Internet.
I discussed how content and compensation were two big battles shaping up, and how everyone is technically a content creator on the Internet.
Big the bigger battle is over something everyone has, on and off the Internet:
Data.
A few weeks ago, Facebook’s Libra was grilled in Congress.
I wish more people understood why this was a big deal:
When you combine the user data that big tech has with the consumer data that the big banks have, you get something very powerful and very scary that we’ve never seen before.
Let’s use a stat for emphasis:
Do you know what the average US user is worth to Facebook today?
$200, between the content they add to the site, and the ads they click on.
But here’s the thing:
Today’s targeted advertising, in terms of intelligence, is the equivalent of a pocket calculator.
I look at a certain thing, that action gets processed, and I get served a certain ad targeted to me:
A + B = C
You’ve probably seen it.
While it can be comical to see Amazon try to sell you something you already bought, where we’re going transcends any notion of such linearity.
It will unlock the true power of data and data intelligence: the summation of an infinite series of possible observations and conclusions, limited only in that while n tends towards infinity, computation will always be bound by physical constraints of energy and time.
Even then, I can and will predict accurately what you’re going to buy before you know it.
I can predict what you, as an individual, care about and can be influenced by.
I can use that influence to alter what you see and steer you towards believing what I want.
I can exploit your frustrations, hopes, dreams, fears, and desires because I am always, always watching and every action you take makes me smarter.
Think about like a chess game between you and I, where I’m an A.I. devoted to understanding you and what makes you human.
A reverse Turing Test, in a way.
And, no, you don’t need to understand chess to play.
Just that we take turns and try to respond to each other’s moves, while simultaneously predicting what the other will do next.
Again, playing this game with me unlocks the true power of data and data intelligence.
You see, I can predict 1 move ahead of you today, but tomorrow it will be 2, and next week it will be 5.
Please, let me stress, that is not 5 linear steps ahead, but the universe of possibilities between state 0 and 5.
I know that for every possible action you take on move 1, I can respond in a way that increases the probability you will take a desired move on step 2 and slowly guide towards where I want you by move 5.
And this is constant, never-ending, always happening, always ahead of you, always thinking 1,000 times faster than you ever could.
Oh, and it’s not just about buying garbage.
This is about giving you the illusion of control and free thought.
I am in control because I shape your thoughts freely.
The future is pretty cool, huh?
Per aspera ad astra,
Mav
