media – Flame in the Schell

Resurrecting the dead with AI vol.2 – “Project December “

In my previous post I touched o the subject of AI and Virtual Reality technologies intertwining with the realm of the dead and causing quite understandable confusion among the living…

Algorithms are being used to mimic deceased persons, and the simulation is being done either i na form of animated 3D models or semi-intelligent chatbots.

Not long after I finalized my post, a new case emerged in the internet describing an experiment in which a grieving man encountered hi dead fiancée “resurrected “ in a form of a chat bot.

A detailed case study of that disturbing story has been published in San Francisco Times and it’s definitely a captivating read.

A program nicknamed“ Project December“, has been silently released to the public and the consequences of it are at the center if that story.

“Designed by a Bay Area programmer, Project December was powered by one of the world’s most capable artificial intelligence systems, a piece of software known as GPT-3. It knows how to manipulate human language, generating fluent English text in response to a prompt. While digital assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa also appear to grasp and reproduce English on some level, GPT-3 is far more advanced, able to mimic pretty much any writing style at the flick of a switch”

Now imagine a young man getting hold of this program one evening and thinking;

“What if I would feed the algorithm with some of my fiancé’s Facebook and whatsApp messages? Would the end result be a chatbot with a “ soul”?

Would I be able to talk to Samantha, my fiancée again?”

Sounds like a movie scenario?

Far from it.

As the creator of the program Jason Robert explains it;

Rohrer felt a stab of sympathy for Samantha, and it made him realize that A.I. technology had crossed a threshold. (…) “It may not be the first intelligent machine,” Rohrer said. “But it kind of feels like it’s the first machine with a soul.”

Full story here:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2021/jessica-simulation-artificial-intelligence/

“Choose your damn sacrifice” & other lessons from Jordan B. Peterson

The Fire

Jordan B. Peterson’s books are at the top of my shelf, just next to G.K Chesterton and C.S Lewis.

They call him controversial. They call him dangerous. Mainstream press (or should say “presstytutes”?) line up in forming all kinds of tactics aimed at discrediting him.

They really don’t like what he has to say.

And the reason is simple.

That’s because we already reached the times of which Orwell spoke in his famous quote:

“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.”

Dr. Peterson’s “12 rules for life” is a treasure chest of great lessons. Some are new and some are the ones, we always knew yet needed to be reminded of.

I could write long essays on how they resonate with me & how they helped me in some of the toughest moments of my life. But that’s story for another time.

There is one common theme, that is at the core of Jordan B. Peterson’s writings.

His relentless pursuit of the Truth.

Since writing my thesis (more than a decade ago) on methods of influence and manipulation and their ethical aspect, this is the theme that I can relate to on deeply personal level.

So for those of you who do not know Peterson’s writings really well I highly recommend that you disregard everything you heard about him in media, just grab his “12 lessons for life” and start reading it.

But for start if you are not up for such a big leap, a brand new opportunity has arrived. Official channel of Jordan B. Peterson just posted a well animated video which illustrates some of his essential ideas.

The animations are brilliant and on the point, much like Dr. Peterson’s lectures themselves.

I would not recommend to treat the video as a ‘ersatz’ to the proper thing which are his books.

But surely it is a great, short & crisp introduction to what he has to say.

And to start understanding why it is so damn important.

Who is really driven by hate here?

The Fire

In their recent efforts of promoting so called “inclusion” one of the major cartoon TV published a graphic on their social networks, targeted at children, which was encouraging the use of “gender non-conforming pronouns” (hope, I got it right…).

In case you didn’t know (but hey, your kids ought to know now!) everyone can come up with their (his/her/zis/them etc…) pronouns to identify their (his/her/zis/them etc…) own gender category, and expect everyone else to follow that. Refusing to do this is disrespectful, not inclusive and simply hateful. (Source: https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/milton-quintanilla/there-are-many-gender-identities-cartoon-network-teaches-children-how-to-use-different-gender-pronouns.html )

So… Rejoice Fellow Citizen, your TV channel is now teaching Newspeak to your kids!
Huxley’s Brave New World and Orwell’s 1984 are not knocking at your door anymore, they have already stormed your house with their muddy boots and making themselves comfortable on your couch.

Apparently language matters. And the proponents of the great cultural revolution perfectly know that, after all they are all good Marxist scholars.

Once you hijack the language you can pave the way to people’s minds and souls.

If I can bend society around me and all my social interactions, so that they subdue to my subjective view of reality then indeed the possibilities are limitless.
I can be anything.
Anything, in that amorphous, pudding-like mass of conforming jelly (non-conforming to gender, resisting supremacies yet so obedient in whatever the corporations are telling them) that our society becomes.

And so… I can’t help but wonder.

Who is really driven by hate here?

People, who refuse acknowledging something that just plays whack-a-mole with their inherent sense of Truth?
Or people, who despise the Truth so much that they are expecting everyone around them to participate in their lie?

Who is really trying to impose their worldview and not being ‘inclusive’ enough?

People who denounce the right of others to ‘self-identify’?
Or rather those who deny the others the right to objectively observe & name reality for what it is?

The Great Reset

The Fire, The Future

It seems we are living in interesting times, indeed. We are seeing a global shift. Wheels have been put into motion.

The Great Reset is nigh.

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Chairman of the World Economic Forum described it like this;

“The pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world to create a healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous future.”
source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/

That future is being decided, as it seems above the head of a common man. The governments and big corporations, are putting their hands together in a tight grip to secure peace and prosperity.

What do these new plans for The Great Reset mean, exactly?

Well for one, a shift to a so called “stakeholder capitalism” where private corporations play the role of “trustees of society” and directly or indirectly influence the way the economy is shaped as well as the some of the laws.

In theory, this means that all the big players, governments and major private organisations come together to tackle global challenges such as social, environmental issues or, you got it… the pandemic.

But what that could mean in practice?

It could mean further acceleration of the trends we are seeing today.

Globalisation, higher taxation, invigilation, more rules to follow (such as climate/diversity/inclusion) which only big players can abide in order to stay afloat. More barriers and obstacles for small and medium size business, which not only have to deal with a post-Covid impact but also higher taxes (which big players can avoid more easily) and an additional set of requirements with regards to policies/infrastructure etc. enforced by them via legislature.

So in short – when big boys/girls get together (even if in theory for the”greater good”) then there might not be any space left for the little ones.

So fellow Citizens… erm… rejoice?

Some are pointing out, that such a merger of state and business, is always a murky water (as history shows).

Some even go further, and call The Great Reset an openly a fascist agenda, as in it’s original definition where fascism means “using the state to protect and advance the interests of the wealthy elite.“. (Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/a-look-at-the-fascist-agenda-behind-the-great-reset-and-the-wefs-reboot-propaganda/)

Others warn of neo-feudalism and there are those who see it as a paving road to… you got it New World Order.

And I do mean here some backwater, foil hatter from demonetised YouTube channel – but a renown dignitaries such as Archbishop Vigano (former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States).

In his recent letter to President Donald Trump, Vigano writes a dire warning of a things to come, if the globalist agenda continues in it’s current form.

“The purpose of the Great Reset is the imposition of a health dictatorship aiming at the imposition of liberticidal measures, hidden behind tempting promises of ensuring a universal income and cancelling individual debt. The price of these concessions from the International Monetary Fund will be the renunciation of private property and adherence to a program of vaccination against Covid-19 and Covid-21 promoted by Bill Gates with the collaboration of the main pharmaceutical groups. Beyond the enormous economic interests that motivate the promoters of the Great Reset, the imposition of the vaccination will be accompanied by the requirement of a health passport and a digital ID, with the consequent contact tracing of the population of the entire world”
source: https://taylormarshall.com/2020/10/archbishop-viganos-open-letter-president-trump-great-reset.html

Conspiracy theory? An accurate prediction of how things are going to play out?

Regardless, of ones opinion on this – there is one thing we all should bare in mind, in these times of Great Reset.

Freedom once taken, is very difficult to be reclaimed.

New World Order goes mainstream? BBC warns of a global totalitarian government that could rise to power “indefinitely”.

The Future

It is a rare treat to see, an article in the mainstream media hinting on the New World Order scenario, that is not mocking or dismissive.

The marriage of AI & some kind of a global power (such as world government or multi-national corporation) that enslaves society through powerful technology is a theme which has been explored a lot in various sci-fi stories and scientific books. Max Tegmark is analysing such scenario in the first chapter of his book “Life 3.0” with such a terrifying accuracy that one can’t help but wonder, if this is a prediction or a glimpse to what is really happening behind the curtain.

BBC picked up on writings of another famous AI expert – Nick Bostrom, and entertains the thought of a AI-powered dystopia, in their recent article The grim fate that could be ‘worse than extinction’.

The Author of the article does not only explore the grim possibility of the global enslavement done through the means of omnipresent surveillance but also quite accurately points out to how the AI-supported technology can already be used in politics, media or propaganda.

“AI also underpins the growth of online misinformation, which is another tool of the authoritarian. AI-powered deep fakes, which can spread fabricated political messages, and algorithmic micro-targeting on social media are making propaganda more persuasive. This undermines our epistemic security – the ability to determine what is true and act on it – that democracies depend on. “
Credit: BBC Di Minardi

In the era of Facebook and TikTok controversies, in the world where our personal data is the new oil, the primary resource through which the industries gain their wealth and governments stay in power we ought to take such scenarios seriously. And we ought to ask have a discussion on where this is leading us. What will eventually happen if we just “go with the flow”?

Yet, much too often, such concerns are marginalised and thrown into the same pot as the flat Earth theories.

So did BBC just join the Foil Hat club?

Truth be told, the bare fact that this story appeared in the mainstream media leaves me with a question.

Are we being warned to resist?
Or are we just being familiarised with the notion… so that we accept?