By the author of The Prepper’s Guide to Post-Disaster Communications and The Faithful Prepper
Do you remember when drones were first released to the commercial market? There was a lot of talk about the privacy implications of them, and more than one case of where people were flying them over other peoples’ property, looking in peoples’ windows, and more of the like.
Now, drones are firmly entrenched in modern society and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. They’ve not only been incorporated into militaries throughout the world, but they’re now in search and rescue operations, used for photography, security, and more. During Covid, Baltimore PD even wanted to use them to enforce social distancing.
You probably don’t even think about it anymore.
Now enter AI.
AI is already all around you, but most recognize that ChatGPT ushered in a new era of AI. Right now, we’re all in the same stage that we were when drones were first released – theorizing about potential fears, costs, and what this could mean. But I would say one of the things that’s going to happen here is that it’s going to become mainstream just like drones did.
What will the world look like when this finally happens?
I think that there are a few day-to-day implications of all this.
I don’t think it’s long until a personal AI is as commonplace as a smartphone. You can sneak across the border into the US nowadays, and you still have a smartphone in your hand. I don’t think it’s too far off to say that a personal AI is on the horizon. Think Iron Man’s Jarvis, Will Smith’s I, Robot, and Ron from Ron’s Gone Wrong (the best Pixar-style movie of the past ten years).
This stuff is going to be all over the place.
Everybody will have their own super personal assistant. Entertainment, organization, wayfinding, learning – it’ll all be streamlined and maximized.
For science, I think you’re liable to see some amazing discoveries made over the course of the next few years. What happens when you have an AI that is able to devote all of its energy, 24/7 to a single issue without ever growing tired, needing a change of scenery, or going on a vacation? What happens when you take something that can do incredibly fast calculations and run predictive algorithms until it finds something that will successfully fight this-or-that genetic defect with an 85% success rate? You end up with a Johnny Depp Transcendence type of situation. Chemistry, epigenetics, epidemiology, physics, astronomy, mathematics, engineering, pharmaceuticals – all of these fields are going to be absolutely blasted with new information. AI is going to be used to study itself as well. As a result, advancements in robotics, coding, and AI are also going to come about. And those advancements, in turn, will be used to drive new advancements.
Militaries will have to adopt AI or they will consistently be beaten on the battlefield by those who already have AI generals and logistics experts. You’re talking about playing chess with somebody who can think 50,000,000 moves into the future. Militaries will use AI to tell them where is the best place to position their troops, the likelihood of success for different missions given the variables, and how much ammunition they need to ship to here, here, and here.
For nation states, the main thing here is going to be about surveillance. All of the cameras, sensors, cell towers, GPS units, satellites, microphones, and all other equipment that can be hooked up to the internet – all of that will feed a constant stream of data directly into an AI that can give up to date data on everything that is going on.
AI in the media
The implications? Minority Report, Shia Lebouf’s Eagle Eye, and Christian Bale’s computer when he fights Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. (Interestingly, in Ron’s Gone Wrong, all of the data generated by every kids’ personal AI was then collected and sold. Do you think that your personal AI would actually protect your privacy, even if it explicitly told you it did?)
For militaries? What does it look like when AI is pitted against AI? I think there are a couple of possibilities here.
Person of Interest did a fairly good job of tackling this concept. Absolutely you would have AI engaging in cyberattacks against each other. Whichever AI was faster to learn would be the one that would win each specific fight. Which AI can code better, faster? Which AI can monitor code better and push through containment protocols faster? Seeing these types of AI utilize actual attacks in the “real” world isn’t beyond the scope of possibility either. Keep in mind that one of the first things that ChaosGPT tried to do was to source nuclear weapons. In the future, if there was a battle between AIs going on, why would they not use similar logic?
What do you think?
No, I can’t predict the future, nor do I try to, but I can see some of the signs around me and draw deductions just like anybody else. If I see a kid playing around a campfire, I have a pretty good idea that he’s going to get burnt. The problem, is that I think this time, AI is the fire.
What do you think about all this? Is AI going to spread all over the place, or do you think it’s mainly going to be contained? What are your thoughts on AI versus AI? Are you concerned about this or do you welcome it?
Tell us what you’re thinking in the comments section.
About Aden
Aden Tate is a regular contributor to TheOrganicPrepper.com and TheFrugalite.com. Aden runs a micro-farm where he raises dairy goats, a pig, honeybees, meat chickens, laying chickens, tomatoes, mushrooms, and greens. Aden has four published books, What School Should Have Taught You, The Faithful Prepper, An Arm and a Leg, The Prepper’s Guide to Post-Disaster Communications, and Zombie Choices. You can find his podcast The Last American on Preppers’ Broadcasting Network.
I think it’s going to be hell. The whole world is going to hell in a handbasket. AI is going to make everything worse than it already is. The w.h.o.and the w.e.f. are going to take over the .world
Governors are complicint to open borders. Texas gov. is going along with title 42 being suspended Texas said on a comment,, We are under UN control and there are no states rights. More crime, drugs, child trafficking and mass murders as illegals flood the country ongoing.
Corr: a Texan said on a comment.
And then AI will take over the WHO and the WEF.
Great article Aden! I think every time a new piece of technology is introduced it is promoted as something fantastic for humans, but there is always a hidden dark side. Some one is already working on AI to enslave humanity a little bit more.
I remember thinking I would never have a smart phone (until realizing I could order takeout, pick it up and have it on the table within a few minutes of getting off work!) and now I have a calendar, email, notes, etc at my fingertips. And now the government (and probably other nefarious individuals or groups) can track everything I say or think, everywhere I travel, every recipe I look up, whether I am up to date on COVID vax, etc.
Social Security numbers were rolled out to help the common good for people and now we are all numbered as soon as we are born, and those numbers are used in ways never intended.
Do I think AI will become mainstream? Yes I do. Do I think it will help humanity? In some ways. Do I think it will be used as weapons against humanity? Definitely, given some time.
I’d say whenever a new tech is introduced, there’s both excitement and fear. Lots of it. That’s normal, and neither extremes of predictions come true.
When TV was introduced, it was called the devil’s box. Everybody would be enslaved, or killed by the gamma rays or whatever. Obviously none of that happened, tech just got integrated into society’s lifestyle and there are good and bad aspects like with everything else.
Same with industrial machines, nuclear, cell phones, then internet, then recreational drones, more recently it was 3G and 5G, now it’s AI’s turn. It won’t end the world, certainly will change it I believe in great part for better like most others – though some will weaponize and misuse it for sure. Tech changes, humans not so much.
But the transition period until it grows and wins space will be turbulent and painful, that’s also for sure. Change is always painful, no way around it. So let’s keep preparing.
Inevitably it makes people stupid. You can get all kinds of stuff programmed to mix cakes for you, fire a gun, call the cops, turn your lights on, when to get up/lie down, predict health conditions, health passports, moisture of grain, electric consumption, even how much meat you eat etc. I think you get the idea. Pretty soon folks won’t even know how to boil water on their own!
One can be smart about using technology but stupid about simple common sense of everything tech wants to do for you. Use it or lose it folks.
It is a convenience and I do have a smart phone. I do enjoy the convenience of having one and using the internet. Could I put it down forever, yes I could. Didn’t need one growing up as they didn’t exist and we did just fine.
AI is only as good as the humans who programmed it. Algorithms are overrated. Then there is that pesky electric plug that can ultimately be pulled out of its supply.
Hollywood makes it look like AI is the beat all, end all of everything. Technology is the way of the future!
I beg to differ. There is no way this will ever replace humans. It will be used for evil against humanity. It cannot love, feel compassion/empathy. It does not understand hunger or desperation. It certainly does not understand God and it cannot create life. It can however, end life. Hmmmm, what could possibly go wrong?!
It will ultimately fail, and I will not shed a tear over it.
Technology can be a double edged sword.
Sure, smartphones are great for a number of things.
And it also has isolated us from the real world.
There already was a movie about a guy who falls in love with his computer assistant (Her, 2013).
Then here is this line from The Increadibles2,
“Screenslaver interrupts this program for an important announcement. Don’t bother watching the rest. Elastigirl doesn’t save the day; she only postpones her defeat. And while she postpones her defeat, you eat chips and watch HER confront problems that you are too lazy to deal with. Superheroes are part of your brainless desire to replace true experience with simulation. You don’t talk, you watch talk SHOWS. You don’t play games, you watch game SHOWS. Travel, relationships, risk; every meaningful experience must be packaged and delivered to you to watch at a distance so that you can remain ever-sheltered, ever-passive, ever-ravenous consumers who can’t bring themselves to rise from their couches, break a sweat, and participate in life. You want superheroes to protect you and make yourselves ever more powerless in the process; while you tell yourself you’re being “looked after”, that your interests are being served, and your rights are being upheld. So that the system can keep stealing from you, smiling at you all the while. Go ahead, send your supers to stop me. Grab your snacks, watch your screens, and see what happens. You are no longer in control. I am.”
Swap out superheros with most any technology or even AI.
I have read a few articles noting ChatGPT while novel, is actually way behind the government funded AIs. What do those look like? SKYNET anyone?
Some have commented on whoever wins the AI race will dominate the globe.
Or will there be some whom opt out. Form a new version of Amish like community where they shun technology to a degree and only allow technology to say, the mid 1980s?
Dear 1stMarineJarHead,
Anyone getting out of the cities and trying to do this will be wiped out, I´m afraid.
Not if they fight back….and they will.
“Strange game. The only way to win is not to play.”
— “War Games” (1983)
No, it’s not going to be contained! I mean, really…why? Kidding. The things we don’t know about that are going on around us and possibly inside us will grow and expand. I guess I should watch Ron’s Gone Wrong. Or not?! Bringing out my light saber to cut through the AIBS.
AI is already all around us. We just haven’t recognized it as AI. Siri, Alexa, and similar “helpers” are already AI, they just haven’t been marketed as such.
AI is only as good as the programmers who set it up. ChatGPT is already losing its WOW factor as people are finding massive errors in its data sets and programming. The developers of ChatGPT limited its data sets to be drawn from “approved sources” which almost invariably turned out to be politically slanted. That political slant often includes errors or often deliberate falsehoods authored by those “approved sources”.
What could go wrong? Censorship, for one. Any idea that is not deemed “approved” can be flagged to be censored. Ostensibly, the government targets “foreign” influences, but that has already been expanded to include any American who repeats “foreign disinformation”. How far will that go? Will it include prison for those domestically who repeat such “unapproved information”? Who decides what is “foreign disinformation”? Can it be weaponized against disfavored political foes and ideas?
What else can go wrong? Plenty. Think of the Chinese social credit system. The spying even inside of one’s home from the “security cameras”, Alexa, and the like. The technology is not the main problem, rather the main problem is who controls the technology?
So many people are oblivious to what’s going on or they simply don’t care. I can assure you most, if not all, of your “smart” technology is tracking your every move and listening. My husband and I were taking about prepping stuff, very specific things that you would not see an ad for, things like emp proofing. Within the next couple minutes my husband is scrolling through fb and sees an ad for the exact thing we were discussing. This has happened several times. Very eerie feeling to know that you can’t even have a private conversation in your home.
Sure you can. Think before you just blurt out things that you don’t want broadcast….Take both phones and wrap them in aluminum foil and put them away, under something or in a closet with the door closed or in a drawer etc…You will do your talking and when you are finished remove them for use…Works every time. The Smart Tv is listening and watching everything in the house and yes even the bedroom where you are undressing for bed, or where you may be nude (many people sleep in the nude), or perhaps it’s time to have intimacy…They are watching it all and listening. Some say it’s free porn for the people that are being paid to watch it all…It does this whether the tv is ON or OFF, it doesn’t matter…The FBI even put out a warning for people about this invasion of privacy…If you care about it then do something about it, if you don’t care then go ahead and talk, do whatever you wish…It’s all being recorded.
I don’t recall where I heard this idea but if you cover your phone/computer cameras with a drop of dark nail polish it peels right off if you need to use it the camera. My son has to record himself reciting Bible verses for school on his school chrome book. He informed me that the teacher saw a student as he was reciting his live. Apparently as a teacher they have access to their cameras and I’m so not happy about that. Since finding this out we keep his chrome book in the basement until he has to use it.
Then regarding the “smart” TV, there seems to be a simple solution to it’s privacy threat. Unplug it and keep it unplugged.
Back-to-nature “Amish-style” communities will not be allowed to exist. People in those communities will be labeled as extremists and “domestic terrorists” because they don’t follow the party line. You can see this in the vaccine mandates. In some countries around the globe, you could not simply opt out. You were considered a threat because you might spread the virus.
Having a large group of people trading and bartering with each other will undermine the system. IMO it won’t be tolerated. It will also likely be impossible because you will need to be in the system to pay your taxes using the digital currency.
What is protecting this type of community now is religious freedom. I believe at some point, this freedom will also be destroyed if it doesn’t align with the current group-think of the society. If you believe a different way about any social issue (abortion, LGBTQ+, etc), you will be labeled as having “hate beliefs.”
Some states are fighting back against this, but I think it is a losing battle.
If you can find a small group of people to quietly barter with and work on staying completely under the radar, you will have a better chance. For most of us who don’t have large families or like-minded neighbors, we don’t have much of a chance.
That’s my opinion. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully I am too pessimistic.
With all due respect, I believe you are being too pessimistic. The appearance of defeatism will not make things better, whether in one’s local community, nationally or globally.
To use a quote from – – of all people – – Dr. Phil, this war against the bad guys won’t be a “success-only journey”. You have to think in terms of an iron-man triathlon rather than a three hundred meter dash when pushing back against things like AI dominance or making barter illegal and so on.
The answer is in the Bible. This is the Beast System rising.
Not only in the Bible, Rabbit. And the Beast can be fought, thanks be to God.
I recently ordered some transmission fluid from Amazon. As soon as I entered the request, a picture, year, make & model of my vehicle showed up. The fact Amazon knows EXACTLY what I’m driving unnerved me……however, it also made it possible for me to order the correct item for my vehicle.
I automatically think of the original Star Trek episode ‘A Taste of Armageddon’ and, of course, the movie ‘War Games’. I think the best prediction story is the Hyperion/Endymion series of books. It’s set in our distant future where AI has been incorporated into people’s bodies as a matter of course.
The potential for good is obvious, the potential for evil is even more so and since the designers don’t have our welfare in mind, we can assume the opposite.
The only thing I know for sure is, good wins in the end.
Sita,
Dan Simmons is one of my favorite authors. Loved that series.
When the AI gets taken down, and the system with it, the part about how people had different rooms in their homes on different planets suddenly were cut off. If families were not in the same room, it would take decades for them to reach each other by slower than light drive.
AI cannot exist without a computer. So, it doesn’t exist outdoors in Nature. It doesn’t exist when I interact with other humans. We need to return to living our lives only minimally using computers. Use ground phone lines, use snail mail, live life a bit more slowly. Make our computer use mostly at work. Only carry cell phones that cannot be tracked.
so what are you, Tolerance4, doing on this comment string?
I use computers to communicate with folks hundreds or thousands of miles from me. I can compose and send a message by computer in 3 minutes that would take me 10 minutes by phone.
I use computers to get news from sites like this one.
I use computers to learn how to fix things, or to learn lyrics and chord progressions of songs that interest me.
I have zero interest in living life more slowly.
I use computers to write, generate code, and videos, and make a living out of it. But I´m not blind enough to avoid recognizing that the AI is a HUGE problem in the wrong hands. And it IS in the wrong hands. Your chugga-chugga desktop with a hard drive filled up to the brim with Bad Bunny songs is not the problem. It´s the Quantum computer with a narrow AI that can solve the nuclear warhead launching codes in days. Got it now?
Visions of 1968 film ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ by Stanley Kubrick where HAL the spaceship AI, took over. Or 1982 film ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Terminator’ in 1984. They were supposed to be SciFi entertainment but ‘Sociopaths & Psychopaths’ were taking notes & here we’re today!
We need to expand the Second Amendment to include personal defense EMP weapons, to be used against the countless electrical-based threats we face. Somebody please market a hand-held, rechargeable, directional EMP weapon with variable range output (e.g., 50 feet to 200 meters).
I will be a thorn in the side of AI. I don’t have a smart phone. I don’t have an Alexia. I don’t have Ring. My car is old enough to qualify for social security. My husband’s car is old enough to vote. I don’t own a TV either. I choose not to be a drug addict despite VA clinic best effort. I am on no medications or drugs. Okay, maybe coffee and chocolate.
You are not alone……..
I haven’t put much thought into it, partially because I’m already Paranoid, and I don’t need to be any more Paranoider (LOL, I’ve college degrees, I can make up a word).
Seriously though, there’s very little one can do, unless we want to isolate ourselve like the Amish have done for a long time.
It means lifestyle changes and limited choices.
85% accuracy may be good enough for some applications, but there are others that require 99.9% accuracy. A 14 to 15% deviation could have deadly consequences.
And an EMP could wipe all that fancy programming out in a nanosecond.
I’ve a limited amount of time left in this life. It’s already getting harder to function. They’ve opened Pandora’s Box, and Lord only knows how bad it will get. One blessing is I won’t be here to see just how bad it will get.
Best of luck to everyone.
This is what I think: https://harakhti.substack.com/p/the-big-lie-about-ai
I couldn’t help it, I asked ChatGPT why a prepper website would cover AI. This was the answer:
“Future-oriented perspective: Many preppers are interested in preparing for potential future scenarios, such as societal collapse, natural disasters, or geopolitical instability. As AI is rapidly advancing, it is possible that it may play a role in future emergencies or crises. Covering AI may reflect a future-oriented perspective.
“Impact on society: AI is likely to have a significant impact on society in the coming years, in fields such as healthcare, transportation, and finance. Prepper websites may cover AI as part of a broader discussion of how technology is changing society and how individuals can prepare for these changes.
“Personal security: Some preppers may be interested in AI as it relates to personal security. For example, they may be concerned about the use of AI in surveillance or the potential for AI to be used in cyber attacks. Covering AI may be a way of addressing these concerns.
“Technological self-sufficiency: Some preppers may be interested in developing their own technological self-sufficiency, such as by learning how to code or by using open-source software. Covering AI may be a way of exploring this theme.”
Damn, ChatGPT is making a much better case for talking about AI in a prepper website than an actual human being! Because I couldn’t get at all why the topic was covered here, even after reading the article.
There will most likely never be personal AIs that can be carried around, the hardware is massive and thats with the micro micro chips. It would be like everyone having their own google. What will and is happening is, like google anyone can query an AI or LLM just like they query google.
The biggest “disruption” with AI is that it will and is creating massive job loss. I mean economy wide, economic collapsing job loss. I personally know several people in industrial design who have been laid off along with dozens others in their departments.
Think about it, as a boss you task someone to do something and that someone tasks AI to do it and it gets done 10X faster and better than the someone could have done. Do you as a boss still need the someone? Actually the boss is also redundant very shortly after too.
Has anyone asked an AI just how F#(k#d we all are?
It will not be contained, it will be used to control us. Those that control AI will control what information we get, or don’t.
About to be? It already is (and has been).