1/26/2023
by Paul DeCarlo, RE/MAX Preferred

Imagine an information database and algorithm that has collected so much time-series data that it can predict with very good accuracy where you might be tomorrow at 10 am or what you might eat for dinner next Monday?

This technology is here, and it’s very concerning.  Scientists all over the world have been working on complex machine-learning algorithms combined with deep-learning processes to gather information, analyze it in real time, and then predict what will happen next. And these scientists work for private corporations, governments, militaries, and universities.

But is prediction the end game?  No, that is just phase 2 of the plan.  Phase 1 is over.  The first phase was to provide third parties billions of data points that are given up freely by most people who are now dependent on their electronic devices.  But this data wasn’t shared freely only from electronic devices.  It was mined from websites, software, public records, and even from friends and family who never knew they gave away information about other people.  This mined data also comes from toll booth cameras, facial recognition software in most major airports, dark web exploits into personal financial information, and thousands of other ways.

But just think about your electronic devices.  Almost every second, our devices record time and location stamped information related to us and even those around us.  What time you woke up, your heart rate, when and what type of medication you take, the temperature you set your smart home devices, and where you have gone and are planning to go.

So what?  What could be the harm of such data warehouses?

An entity that is “all knowing” about what has transpired in the past has the ability to predict the future with a very high level of accuracy.  With the ability to predict the future, it is very possible to encourage people to have certain thoughts.  And more concerning is the ability to encourage an actual action to be taken by someone.  This is Phase 3.  The ability to manipulate people to think a certain way and actually carry out a physical action.

Some people don’t recognize that some of their actions are unknowingly based on a purposeful planned outcome by someone or something else.  Take, for example, your drive to work.  As you head down the highway, your navigation system tells you to take an exit you normally wouldn’t take.  However, your Google Maps or Waze app already knows that a wreck ahead will slow you down from your intended destination by 15 minutes.  So you take the exit to save time.  You have just completed an action suggested to you by predictive analysis of AI.  Artificial Intelligence “thinks” you want to save time to reach your destination (and was probably correct).  Big deal?  That might seem very helpful to you.

However, imagine that evil people with ill will have some bad intentions.  And they have gathered all of this information of millions of people to predict what, where, how, and when things will happen.  This is Phase 3.  And it becomes so dangerous.  Evil people (or just good people with bad motivations) can now influence, encourage, and launch actions by other people that otherwise would not have occurred.

The ability to change minds, manipulate thoughts, and initiate actions by other people by third parties is already happening.

If you knew all things, had the ability to predict the most likely outcome, and could then encourage and influence someone else to take some action they would not normally take, what would you do with that power?

~ Paul DeCarlo is a REALTOR with RE/MAX Preferred in the Birmingham, Alabama area.  Paul has 20 years of full time real estate sales and ranks as a top agent in the State of Alabama.
~ No legal or investment advice is offered or given by Paul DeCarlo, RE/MAX Preferred