AI is ricocheting off every aspect of society, destroying entry-level jobs, causing massive environmental damage, degrading intelligence, triggering a global memory shortage that is sending computing and gaming prices skyrocketing, and depleting water in poor regions that desperately need it. What do we get in return for this reckless destruction? Annoying chatbots that do everything wrong. It's no wonder people feel frustrated by the endless waste of money that is artificial intelligence.
But if you decide to post about how much you hate AI and what unsightly wastes of space and resources data centers are, American law enforcement might label you as “preventing tech extremism.” A new report obtained by WIRED from New York's Office of Intelligence and Counterterrorism warns that the technology will lead to increased insecurity.
“The chaotic atmosphere that could be created by new AI technologies in the next five years could trigger large-scale protests leading to civil unrest and anti-technology violent extremist activities, especially in metropolitan areas,” the report said. These concerns have led to a national network of 80 fusion centers linking federal intelligence agencies with state and local law enforcement agencies to gather “intelligence” about potential threats to data centers.
For example, one fusion center based in western Pennsylvania asserted that “hostile actors, including state-sponsored groups, criminal groups, and extremists such as domestic violent extremists and environmental extremists, may target U.S. data centers.” “These actors could exploit the strategic importance of data centers to the U.S. economy, using them for activities such as cryptocurrency mining, or leverage third-party entities, such as shell companies, to gain access to the United States,” it asserted. “Data and infrastructure.”
Peaceful protesters and skeptics can be categorized as “anti-technology extremists.”
“Anti-tech extremists” is a broad description that is open to interpretation, and legal experts say some of the acts listed in the Suspicious Activity Report document describe actions that could easily be interpreted as peaceful protests rather than terrorist attacks.
“These intelligence reports are part of a long tradition of agencies having strong opinions that identify protests or simply as precursors of violence,” said Spencer Reynolds, senior staff attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “Suspicious activity reports are incredibly unreliable and are often about vague or innocent behavior issued under permissive standards. Often received in bulk, these reports allow officers to inject their own biases and confirm what they want to see in the facts.”
For example, an April 2015 open source report from SITE Intelligence featured a video from More Perfect Union, a nonprofit progressive organization, detailing the impact of regional data centers in Georgia. Although the video did not advocate violence, the group is currently listed as a potential threat vector among U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Simply speaking out against the harmful effects of technology is enough, and there are now fears that the widespread labeling of detractors as “anti-tech extremists” could be used against peaceful protesters and skeptics.
Valve has raised the price of Steam decks by hundreds of dollars.
Steam Deck now joins the PS5, Xbox Series, and both generations of Switch in this regard.
