Mr. Beagles has a good handle on the Chinese system of social reputation (social credit is too misleading). It can be implemented quickly in China because the government has a piece of every business and it's a trivial matter to integrate the databases to apply pressure on the citizenry to keep them well behaved. I think the system allows the citizenry to rat each other out. See someone littering? A quick pic from a smartphone can be uploaded to the authorities and using facial recognition the culprit can be nailed. AI is just a part of the system, Uncle Ken, so I wouldn't put too much emphasis on it; humans are still needed for critical decision making, as far as I understand it.
A social reputation program is not in place in the US, yet, but it's coming with the enhanced integration of databases. I don't know if the data is being bought, sold, or simply shared but there will be interesting implications. Suppose the banks start sharing data with other companies. Your insurance company might discover that you make a lot of ATM withdrawals at the machine outside a tavern and decide you have a drinking problem and raises your rates. Or your employer learns that you might be spending a lot of time in an off-track betting parlor because of ATM usage; a perceived gambling problem could tag you as a security risk and you are denied a promotion. Smart phones can track your location and movements, credit card usage can track spending patterns, Google tracks your search requests, and security cameras can recognize your face if you have a driver's license. All this might just be the tip of the iceberg of our brave new world.
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I don't know, those bikers sure turned on Harley Davidson when Trump told them too,.
A tempest in a teapot. Harley is selling bikes on the global market and they're too
expensive (tariffs!) unless they are made locally. The bikes for the American market will still be made here, and even then they're too expensive except for the aging Baby Boomers who are buying them. The younger riders can't afford them which is why Harley has some smaller (and cheaper) bikes on the drawing board. The market can be cruel.
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That Woodward book has brought things to a boil, even if only temporarily. And today the New York Times published a piece by an anonymous "senior White House staffer" outlining the goings on in Crazytown. It's like there has been a coup and the staffers have overstepped their bounds and are making decisions that are not theirs to make. The anonymous author, along with his cronies, is being called out on this one to reveal himself. Time to put up or shut up?
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