I had to file my application to renew my PAL the other day. With the mail system being so dysfunctional these days I was told by my local gun retailer to file on line as it would be faster. As well, I was in the six month window prior to the current one expiring.
One of the requirements of the application is to include a picture of one’s self, a selfie so to speak. A thought occurred to me. What if the picture you sent was an artificial intelligence representation of you?
The current Federal Budget covers an enormous range of items, including of course the gun buy back, which eludes the grasp of many Canadians. One of the items noted is the money destined for AI infrastructure.
The amount is reported to be almost one billion dollars. Now, not unlike the gun buy back program, we can assume that such an amount will end up being another boondoggle for sure. Some thoughts on AI.
Most folks don’t have a clue what “AI infrastructure” is all about. Things like data centres, and data verification centres run by sub contractors, usually predominantly in third world countries, staffed by employees from the lower end of the socioeconomic pool of talent. In other words the disenfranchised.
Both the data centres and the verification centres create huge profits for the owners and it isn’t government making the money. They also come with a huge cost to the public and to those who work for them.
AI is not, as a popular song would say; “a spirit in the sky” such as the “cloud” we all associate with the computer world. Those giant servers that store all that information, and is lauded by politicians when one is built in their riding, is not a “cloud”.
It is brick and mortar data storage centres which consume huge quantities of two essential elements: energy and water. Gotta keep ‘em running and cool.
So, what is the effect of this energy drain on climate change and greenhouse gases? We don’t have a clue yet. Our once environmentally concerned government has, it seems, totally changed its stripes and is all in on these servers ‘cause, you know, they create jobs, which they don’t.
All those data verification people needed to input and check what goes into the AI machine are not usually Canadian workers. They reside in third world countries and are sub-contracted to do data input working long hours for very minimal pay, six and seven days a week. Each time you enter a request into your phone, some poor soul toiling twelve to fourteen hours a day, in a far away land, has to verify the information that comes back to you.
If the employees get sick or take time off, they are replaced by the contractor immediately so that the profits go to shareholders and not the employees or the government. Doesn’t sound very Liberal to me.
I am sure that the average Canadian considers AI to be a clean process. After all, one does not see smoke or other emissions coming out of a building full of computer servers. But heat has to dissipate somehow and our air is were it goes.
For those tree-huggers who attend all these global warming rallies protesting our industrial output as it causes damage to our world, I have one question. To save the world, are you willing to put down that phone in your hand and not text or tweet or whatever the hell it is you do with that device?
There was a report the other day that AI is now taking over the child pornography world, just prior to the announcement that our Prime Minister is investing heavily in AI infrastructure! A coincidence perhaps? This AI stuff could get interesting.