(These are excerpts from my book "Intelligence is not Artificial")
The Dangers of Machine Intelligence: You Are a Budget
Another danger is that what will truly increase exponentially is the current trend to use computing power as a sales tool. The reason that people are willing to accept the terms and conditions of e-commerce websites is that these companies have been very good at concealing what they do with the information that they collect about you. The best minds of Hammerbacher's generation are thinking about how to make people click ads, and they do it by exploiting every tiny data that they can put their hands on. It's not only the best minds but also the best machines. Artificial Intelligence techniques are already being used to gather information on you (what used to be called "spy on you") for the purpose of targeting you with more effective sales strategies.
The original purpose of the World-wide Web was not to create a world in which smart software controls every move you make online and uses it to tailor your online experience; but that is precisely what it risks becoming. Computer science is becoming the discipline of turning your life into somebody else's business opportunity.
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