The Man Behind The Curtain

I came across this amazingly "fucked up" video while I was researching social engineering science topics. This is primarily driven by the seemingly increasing "online violence" and bullying incidents, and perhaps pretty much aligning to our PM and why decision was made to ban young kids accessing "PG++" topics. Notice that I haven't really used the social media terminology because I have my doubt for this... I think the news also mentioned that if they don't use Facebook, Instagram (it will be ok)?! Does it mean Feetbook, Outstagram will also be ok? I am sure with AI's help, Twitter to X transition can be done fairly quickly, and as needed basis, eg, the day of migration will be the effective date of the proposed legislation. On the other hand, I am this is the first step our Government is doing to protect our future generation, which I too agree to the certain extend. But my question here is, are they targeting the right issue, using the right tool? Or simply thinking blocking something without addressing the root cause would be enough. I think history has taught us the longer we ignore the problem, turning a blind eye on it, the more expensive / time consuming to get it fixed down the track (if it even can be done with no long term unreversible impact as such).

Imagine this scenario.... this can be completely made up, fiction, or maybe even someone's reality, but that's not the point. Let's explore what this looks like.

Government: We would like to ban alcohol, or reducing the alcohol's consumption, due to its potential of harming human life and our society, which can be somehow scientifically proven. Can AI help with this campaign?

Team AI: Of course no problem. Based on our extensive researches (with or without proper peer views), and our access to information, historical data, machine learning ++ blah blah blah...

Government: Say no more, we already know your capability, which was well documented and signed off. Can you or can you not be able to reduce the alcohol's harm to the society?

[On face value, this sentence is completely positive and seems normal. But this could also become the underlying cause of undesirable cultural shift & the catalyst of other associated damage to human behavioral, interaction, society .....]

Team AI: Consider it done - standard & general assumptions apply as usual. To give you the conform, the intended solution will be thoroughly tested, within isolated environment to ensure safety. [Very Umbrella Corporate like hey but believe me, there isn't any ill intention or foul play here?]

One Possible Scenario: Fake news / accounts / other audio visual medium (through deepfakes) flooded those intended audience group, like targeted marketing, can you imagine how damaging it can do to them? Haven't we experienced being tracked by websites, services we use, literally unwelcomely in your face experience? Telemarketer, you can hang up, browsing online, it already got your attention in your brain before you could even skip / scroll it out of the way. That is just from the "good guys"' perspective, what if we add in the malicious, cybercrime related social engineering techniques, which is completely designed to destroy human relationships and trust, to divide. Instantly we delved into another problem, which also exists in today's world - whose responsibility to teach others to think? Is it the designer of the app? Or the readers' self education? Is it the government's job (maybe this will be the next upcoming goldmine).... the battle never ends, if there was a battle. However, I think the way moving forward, it isn't a battle at all, it is literally for everyone to chip in, tone down, to consider, so that the space itself can truly be for everyone.

----------------------------------------------------- END OF SCENARIO --------------------------------------------

Some people may think what the fuck? What is the issue here?

To be fair, it isn't a realised issue as yet, but a continuum of how AI and our adoption of it through time will ultimately drive the outcomes, and of course a possibility of those that we want to avoid, but didn't know at the start. E.g. One of the hottest topic would be ethic, legal, and in certain cases, even "logical" thinking.

We human, when we make mistakes, there will be times that we "do know" that mistakes were made. Like made a wrong turn, shouldn't have driven this path in rush hour traffic etc. Machine / AI, pretty much like human - as much as they are programmed to be I suppose.

Fun Fact / Brain Tease:

In the video, it has mentioned a few times, the man behind the curtain.... I only came across this video yesterday, I have no connection to the video maker, author whatsoever and did not know the existence of the video prior to this. So why did I find this video trippy? For those who have visited my place, they would know instantly...... Can it be more wild? You bet! During the video, a mate knocked and I paused the video probably halfway and invited him in. We then continued to watch the video.... Why is it weird? You may notice that the video started with the man behind the curtain, and then moved on to two men behind the curtain. Good & Evil they said. Not quite - both good, or perhaps, there isn't a definite cutting point of good and evil in history, in time. What was good, could be bad now, and vice versa. I am sure we can all come up with plenty of examples of that.

Throughout the video - There are countless things that I couldn't explain in a logical way, unless I "unlearn" some of the things that I think I know. Even like the video's date of upload which is 25 April 2024. I did not really have a curtain at that time, not till Oct anyway. Some of those topics covered in their conversations resonated with me very well, not because it was "correct", but I feel those are the exact questions we ought to ask ourselves and re-validate as time goes by. Asking all sort of questions, or trying to answer all questions, in my opinion is just crazy and inefficient. I'd much prefer, asking the right questions, at the right time. Or just like here, written for the future, when someone, or something found it interesting to read. The video itself, may not change anything, but now has manifested into something else, enhanced, added maybe a little bit more meaning and purpose through this website. Does it make it more real than before? I wonder as time goes by, if this page gets discovered in the future... will they become a form of reality? As least "realer" than in 2024....