The Coming Bio-Fin-Tech Technocracy
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." (Daniel 12:4)
We, as humanity, are on a dangerous path. We live in times that are too convenient, days of instant gratification that lead to impatience with people and things that aren’t immediate.
While some advances, such as those in modern medicine, have improved our lives, others have led to laziness and complacency. Our dinners are delivered to our doorstep, along with our groceries and prescriptions. We summon drivers, like Uber, at a moment’s notice to transport us day or night. World news headlines are at our fingertips. Google and YouTube help us solve algebra equations, perform research without a library, and even build a backyard shed. Highly customized advertisements are served up on our phones, TVs and browsers. Our personal data is collected and stored, sliced and diced, and then used by others under the guise of making life easier. Yes, all for the sake of making life easier. Better, safer, faster. More knowledge, more data, more convenience. Less hassle.
And so, I bring you a glimpse of the future of our world, which indeed will be faster, easier, and likely more convenient. But not necessarily better because the tradeoffs are freedom and privacy. Even our sewage will be subject to data collection and analysis. If you doubt my claim, do a little “google” on a company called Biobot Analytics. Their website explains that they “analyze sewage to map population health in states, counties, and cities.” Their clients use the information to determine, for example, the use of opioids in a community. A press release on Biobot’s website claims that they used wastewater analytics in Cambridge, Massachusetts to help “guide COVID safety decisions for reopening public schools.”
Biobot is quite candid about the nature of their dirty, dirty business:
Wastewater contains valuable information about the health of communities. We collect it. We analyze it. We tell you how to leverage it to make your city better.
There you have it - leveraging the data collected from our feces in an effort to make our cities better. Is there nothing sacred in this day and age?
If so, it’s certainly not our purchase data. Companies have been able to track and trace our buying habits for years through credit card usage, point of sale data, loyalty club memberships, etc. But the future of data collection via financial technology (i.e. fin-tech) will be much more intrusive, and that future is right around the corner.
Perhaps nothing has helped usher in support for a cashless, digital form of currency like the COVID-19 situation. Such a new currency would replace all paper (and plastic) money, thus making cash and coins virtually obsolete. No more worries about having exact change for the turnpike, carwash, or soda machine. Convenient, right? Sure, but it also renders every transaction completely traceable. You can’t tip a barber under the table in a cashless society. Every penny you pay him will be digitally recorded in order to ensure accurate transfer of your digital funds.
We’ve already seen the lengths (or depths) at which some people will go to collect personal data. If Biobot will collect and analyze our sewers, you’d better believe a company will emerge ravage our purchase data. But what’s really concerning is the control that such a system would allow nefarious people to exert over society. For example, when the antichrist introduces his obligatory mark of the beast system, he will be able to prevent his adversaries from even buying food.
Take that idea a step further and consider China’s social credit system. An article published last summer on Wired.com describes it as follows:
China's social credit system expands that idea to all aspects of life, judging citizens' behavior and trustworthiness. Caught jaywalking, don't pay a court bill, play your music too loud on the train — you could lose certain rights, such as booking a flight or train ticket.
Think that could never happen in the US? Think again.
Whether it’s bio-tech, fin-tech or some other tech, the not too distant future state of our world is that of a technocracy. We will live in smart cities where light LED streetlights change themselves, power, water and other utilities are rationed amongst the populace, personal refuse is weighed and checked for evidence of unlawful items (real meat being among them). Our home and office security systems will consist of AI-based facial recognition software, all to make it easier to open the door without one’s keys. These same systems will monitor our movements throughout the city, recording, collecting, analyzing and profiling us – all to determine, for the good of the group, whether we pose any sort of threat based on the plethora of data collected about us.
If you doubt the capabilities of facial recognition technology, consider ZKTeco’s SpeedFace+ Body Temperature and Mask Detection system. According to a demonstration video posted on YouTube, a wall- or stand-mounted panel (which looks like a standard iPad) stands guard at the entrance of an establishment and determine the individual identity of every person it encounters. Then, based on pre-programmed security settings, the panel will determine whether or not the person it has identified should be granted access to the facility (retailer, office, house, etc.). But the panel can do so much more than just that:
With temperature detection enabled, you can be sure that everyone walking onto your premises is fever-free. An alarm will go off anytime someone passes the panel with body temperature over the threshold. Turn on mask detection to make sure everyone who enters your building is wearing a mask, and wearing it properly.
Few would argue that we are living in the days about which the prophet Daniel long ago wrote. Mankind is keener than ever. We’ve built machines that can fly across continents, over entire oceans, and even into outer space. We’ve learned how to remove cancers, replace failing organs, and reattach severed limbs. We have treatments for diabetes, depression, blood pressure, and we can even change the shape of the human eye to correct poor vision. We’ve freed ourselves from repetitive and routine tasks through automated robotics and virtual personal assistants.
Technology has freed us from the bounds of time, the chains of hard labor, and countless efforts required for comfortable living. As our knowledge has increased, so have our ambitions. We strive for faster, better, more! We simply can’t keep from it. But an uncanny paradox exists in the fact that our knowledge and our advancements are forming a vast technocracy that will eventually enslave us.
An Afterthought: Even though we know that these, and other, terrible things must come during the last days, we also know how the story ends. All is not lost for believers in Jesus Christ. He is forever our Hope and our assurance.
Sources:
Biobot Website: https://www.biobot.io/
Kobie, N. (2019, June 7). The complicated truth about China’s social credit system. Wired.com. Retrieved from
SpeedFace+ Body Temperature and Mask Detection Demonstration. (2020, April 22). YouTube video. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/O6go_wFsgiA.
Comentarios