20171128 Decepticon
November 28, 2017•169 words
In the arms race between deception engines and deception detectors, ML/AI (machine learning / artificial intelligence) will escalate sophistication past the human limits of perception and judgment. This will render moot education-based inoculation against manipulation. We will no longer be able to distinguish fact from fabrication unaided.
To know what is actually going on beyond our local senses, we will have to use dynamic deception detectors to filter out the barrage of bullshit narrative (in words, images, videos, VR). Who of integrity will fund, build, run, and defend impartial, state-of-the-art deception filters? (Note from future: In 2019 Wolfram conceived and called these "final ranking providers" by third parties to suit the values and tastes of subscribers.)
How will we develop a healthy competing ecosystem of filters not overwhelmed by state and commercial interests? Yes, these questions have been relevant since the first newspaper was published. The difference is that the information war will soon be played almost entirely with technology we can barely scrutinize, much less outperform as humans.