He predicted the dark side of the Internet 30 years ago. Why did no one listen?

[Judi Lynn]

Philip Agre, a computer scientist turned humanities professor, was prescient about many of the ways technology would impact the world

By
Reed Albergotti
Today at 1:30 p.m. EDT

In 1994 — before most Americans had an email address or Internet access or even a personal computer — Philip Agre foresaw that computers would one day facilitate the mass collection of data on everything in society.

That process would change and simplify human behavior, wrote the then UCLA humanities professor. And because that data would be collected not by a single, powerful “big brother” government but by lots of entities for lots of different purposes, he predicted that people would willingly part with massive amounts of information about their most personal fears and desires.

“Genuinely worrisome developments can seem ‘not so bad’ simply for lacking the overt horrors of Orwell’s dystopia,” wrote Agre, who has a doctorate in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in an academic paper.

Nearly 30 years later, Agre’s paper seems eerily prescient, a startling vision of a future that has come to pass in the form of a data industrial complex that knows no borders and few laws. Data collected by disparate ad networks and mobile apps for myriad purposes is being used to sway elections or, in at least one case, to out a gay priest. But Agre didn’t stop there. He foresaw the authoritarian misuse of facial recognition technology, he predicted our inability to resist well-crafted disinformation and he foretold that artificial intelligence would be put to dark uses if not subjected to moral and philosophical inquiry.

. . .

But Agre isn’t available. In 2009, he simply dropped off the face of the earth, abandoning his position at UCLA. When friends reported Agre missing, police located him and confirmed that he was OK, but Agre never returned to the public debate. His closest friends declined to further discuss details of his disappearance, citing respect for Agre’s privacy.

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/08/12/philip-agre-ai-disappeared/

[dweller]

1. Whoever fights monsters ...

if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you

✌🏻

[Doc Sportello]

2. K&R

Fascinating, with one big takeaway: AI and every other facet of digital technology has to have an element of self-criticism that is taken to heart. As with climate change, I fear it may be too late to change the direction we are heading.

[ShazamIam]

3. Interesting, he noticed in 1994, AOL sent that first wave of discs out in 1993 and AOL was a

right wing operation from day one. It included things like if you used the AOL search insted of the browser search, the top listings would be right wing, paid to AOL for positioning, or otherwise favored by AOL offerings and maybe there would be some general internet offerings.
Their news feed must have been selected by Steve Chase himself.

[SharonAnn]

4. They predicted global warming 30 years ago. Why did no one listen?

[Duppers]

6. A few of us did.

Like Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, but most plugged their ears because they didn't like the solutions.

I remember being challenged here on DU by someone who thought global warming was a hoax.

[dalton99a]

5. His webpage at UCLA:

https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/agre/

[Hekate]

8. Thanks for this

[Hekate]

7. I have long thought (& said) that Big Brother is a corporate conglomerate, to whom we willingly...

… give all our personal information. In fact we willingly pay for the privilege, as long as we get new toys in exchange.

I would like to read the paper referenced in the article — any ideas how to find it? Looks like he decided to just drop off the grid, escape the matrix…. Can’t say I blame him. The comment above about the Abyss staring back is all too true.

As for who listens — well, any number of us have and do. Look in the Science Fiction section of your bookstore, for starters. Turns out the power and money all reside elsewhere, though.