AI Steps in to Increase Censorship Efforts

A company called Logically Intelligence has announced plans to help combat what they call the ‘new normal’ of online misinformation with their new “threat intelligence platform.” The AI-based system is reportedly capable of not only recognizing misinformation, but also counteracting it, and doing so on a large scale.

If the idea doesn’t sound new, it’s because it isn’t. Americans have been faced with online censorship practices by social media giants like Facebook and Twitter for months. But now that society has decided it’s acceptable for content deemed false or dangerous by certain elite parties to be removed from public view, a new industry focused on making censorship faster and easier has emerged.

Our culture seems to cry out for help from the big-brother-nanny-state. The power-hungry people in charge are all too eager to rush in and save the day with tools to control us under the guise of safety and protection.

What’s the big deal, you ask? We’re bombarded with massive amounts of information on a daily basis. Why not accept a little help from the latest and greatest censor-bot so we’re not overwhelmed with having to think for ourselves?

In case you can’t see where this is heading, let me provide you with a hypothetical scenario. Let’s say a new pandemic has broken out. A major pharmaceutical company is rushing to develop a new drug to treat the deadly disease. Weeks pass. More and more people are becoming ill and dying from the pandemic. The world is gripped with fear.

Then, from out of nowhere, a small group of independent research physicians come forward with a viable treatment option that they claim is both safe and effective. The treatment is derived from a precise combination of a very specific vitamin and a very specific herb, both of which are found in nature. In desperation, people around the globe who are suffering from the pandemic begin trying this concoction. Amazingly, it is found to work in 99% of cases, completely curing those who have fallen ill.

But wait! That major pharmaceutical company has already poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the development of a new drug to treat this pandemic! If an effective cure is already available their efforts will have been for naught. How will they recoup the money they poured into new drug development? More importantly, how will they secure the projected annual profits they promised to shareholders by banking on bringing the pandemic cure to the market?

The major pharmaceutical company reacts by leveraging its power, influence and monetary resources to mount a massive smear campaign against the natural cure. They argue that it isn’t safe, it isn’t effective, and its results aren’t permanent. They attack the group of physicians who discovered the cure, slinging false narratives to harm their credibility. They even make use of government officials who are susceptible to bribery to advance the war they’ve waged.

Before long, all news and information about the efficacy of the vitamin/herbal remedy has been labeled false by the powers that be. The researchers are demonized. Those who continue to claim that it works are considered conspiracy theorists. Then, in the name of public safety, a censorship campaign ensues. All information about the natural cure is removed from the internet. Anyone who comes down with the pandemic is prevented from finding out about the simple natural cure. Hundreds of thousands of people continue to suffer and die while the major pharmaceutical company finalizes its miracle drug.

In the end, millions are dead because those with power and money withheld lifesaving information. The public were tolerant of the censorship because they had been manipulated into believing the false narrative. The public safety mantra (“for the greater good”) acted as a virtue signal that further cemented the manipulation.

The point is, without the freedom and ability to investigate, research, learn and explore for ourselves, we are placing a tremendous amount of trust in a small group of rich and powerful elites who can use our trust to their advantage. Some types of material should definitely be censored from polite society. Pornography, pedophilia, snuff films, etc. are evil, destructive distractions that we can do without. But people in a free society should not be subjected to censorship of an information source just because some deem it harmful or misleading. As the scenario in this article showed, that kind of censorship is NOT what’s best “for the greater good.”

Further, the premise that artificial intelligence can be used to keep us safer by accurately identifying and removing, in an unbiased manner, what it considers harmful is ludicrous. Do you really want a computer program deciding what you can read, watch or know?

---

Cover photo by Yuyeung Lau.