A precis collation of the dramas in tech in recent years, in pictures and charts

1. Tech: nirvana or nightmare?
State-of-play report:
19th May 2018
FutureToday

2. It is clear that AI and robotics
can create a lot of social good
10 examples

3. IBM's Watson supplies a life-saving diagnosis
for a patient who baffled doctors for months
8th Aug
2016
The super-computer powered with AI prescribes a leukemia treatment
within minutes, having scanned 20 million medical records.

4. Top surgeons talk about how much better robots
are at certain procedures than they are
5th Apr
2018
This in a new feature film released today that examines the pros and
cons of AI and robotics: “Do You Trust this Computer?”

5. “Nanobots kill off cancerous tumours as fiction
becomes reality”
7th Jan
2016
4th Mar
2018
A US/Chinese team shrinks tumours in mice and inhibits their spread by
injecting nanometre-sized bots made of folded DNA.

6. Robot asked at UN how AI and robotics can help
those without internet and electricity knows how
7th Jan
2016
12th Oct
2017
“Sophia”
UN Deputy Secretary General
Amina J Mohammed
“AI can increase efficiency and so make it possible for resources to be
more evenly distributed.”

7. First people to live in 3D-printed houses (very
resource efficient) likely to be in developing world
7th Jan
2016
12th Mar
2018
8 months to build a community of 100 homes, at c. $6k each.
With a 3-D printer, less than 4 months: a home a day at c. $4k each.
As successfully tested by charity
New Story in Austin, Texas

8. Google has built earbuds that translate
40 languages in real time
7th Jan
2016
4th Oct
2017
40 institutions, 4 times bigger than previous record
…on anniversary of death of St Francis of AssissiGoogle’s DeepMind AI can now translate fast enough to allow
conversation between people who do not share a language.

9. 7th Jan
2016
13th Feb
2017
SFO expected to promote crime-solving AI robot
after success in Rolls Royce corruption investigation
Ravn’s ACE software sifted 30 million documents: 600,000 a day, far
exceeding the capabilities of even a large team of humans.

10. 7th Jan
2016
12th Feb
2018
“A Powerful Mix of Solar and Batteries
Is Beating Natural Gas”
Costs of both technologies have fallen much faster than expected …and
this minus much synergistic application of AI and robotics in smart grids.
The Way Humans Get Electricity Is About To Change Forever

11. 7th Jan
2016
22nd Nov
2017
“Immense future benefits” available from AI use in
solar and wind industries: DNV GL report
Proxy founders and PR agency drafting
uncovered by a Bloomberg investigationSensors already deployed…. robots will increasingly be used…. huge
operational datasets ….and deep-learning analysis will be routine.

12. “Wild New Materials of the Future Will Be
Discovered With AI”
7th Jan
2016
22nd Mar
2018
The number of scientific papers has grown exponentially in recent years,
spanning multiple applications. “We are only at the beginning.”

13. But….
Many uses of tech hold potential
for both upsides and downsides

14. HSBC becomes the latest bank to deploy AI
to help spot money laundering
7th Jan
2016
8th Apr
2018
And who programmes the AI? Hopefully not the kind of HSBC staff
who oversaw the “regrettable mistakes” of 2012?

15. IBM develops an AI that can predict psychosis with
relative precision using only a person's speech
7th Jan
2016
5th Feb
2018
Computational Psychiatry and Neuroimaging group back-casts against
2015 dataset that matched speech patterns with later psychosis.

16. MIT researchers develop a device that can ‘hear’
words spoken in thought, via neuromuscular signals
7th Jan
2016
6th Apr
2018
The ‘AlterEgo’ device scores 92% transcription accuracy in a 10-person
trial with about 15 minutes of customising to each person.

17. We are being warned
loudly and clearly
about the downsides
….by a big constituency,
including many practitioners

18. Hawking, Musk and others on AI frontlines sign
letter pledging to ensure research benefits mankind
12th Jan
2016
Research must ensure “that increasingly capable AI systems are robust
and beneficial: our AI systems must do what we want them to do.”

19. George Soros: Facebook and Google are a “menace”
to society and must be regulated
7th Jan
2016
26th Jan
2018
He fears merger of their AI-based surveillance with that of states,
leading to “a web of totalitarian control the likes of which not even
Aldous Huxley or George Orwell could have imagined.”

20. 7th Jan
2016
13th Mar
2017
Microsoft researcher warns AI is “ripe for abuse”
by authoritarian regimes
“This is a fascist’s dream - power without accountability”:
Kate Crawford

21. 7th Jan
2016
19th Jan
2017
The implications for jobs, and social cohesion:
“We need a global convention on AI”
“Last year, the robot was pouring beer and picking up a wooden block.
This year, it knows how you are feeling through
facial recognition software.”

22. 7th Jan
2016
17th Jul
2017
Elon Musk: regulate AI to combat “existential
threat” before it's too late
“By the time we are reactive in AI regulation, it’ll be too late.
AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilisation.”

23. Elon Musk warns of prospect for “an immortal
dictator from which we can never escape”
7th Jan
2016
5th Apr
2018
This in a documentary on AI and robotics out today, “Do You Trust This
Computer?” Google’s DeepMind is a big step in this direction, he says.
“If one company or small group of people manages to
develop godlike digital superintelligence, they could
take over the world,"

24. 7th Jan
2016
20th Aug
2017
Tesla’s Musk and Google’s Suleyman lead 116
AI specialists calling on UN for ban on killer robots
“We do not have long to act. Once this Pandora’s box is opened, it will
be hard to close.” Open letter to UN
A scene from Robocop.
But…

25. 7th Jan
2016
14th April
2017
Russia’s deputy Prime Minister tweets video of
FEDOR humanoid robot shooting guns
Bloomberg NEF New Energy Outlook 2016
Dmitry Rogozin: “We are not creating a Terminator, but artificial
intelligence that will be of great practical significance in various fields.”

26. “...cheap and convenient assassination machines
available to everybody with an axe to grind”
7th Jan
2016
28th Aug
2017
So Max Tegmark, professor of physics at MIT, co-founder of the Future
of Life Institute, describes killer robots. As one of 10 reasons for a ban.

27. AI researcher Stuart Russell presents the film at an event at the United
Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva.
AI researchers create terrifying fictional video to
call for a ban on autonomous weapons at the UN
7th Jan
2016
1st Dec
2017
The CEO of a robotics company launches his killer drone Silicon Valley style

28. “South Korea to create ‘drone-bot combat unit’
to swarm North”
7th Jan
2016
6th Dec
2017
Initially for reconnaissance, the government says, but leaving open the
option of later arming of drones for swarm attacks on troops.

29. “A Global Arms Race for Killer Robots
Is Transforming Warfare”
7th Jan
2016
9th Apr
2018
Stuart Russell, professor of artificial intelligence at Berkeley: “We have
an opportunity to prevent this, but the window to act is closing fast.”

30. Zuckerberg labels Musk’s concerns about AI
and killer robots “pretty irresponsible”
7th Jan
2016
25 Jul
2017
“I have pretty strong opinions on this. I think people who are naysayers
….I just, I don’t understand it.”

31. “Our minds can be hijacked”: tech insiders warn that
a smartphone dystopia threatens democracy
7th Jan
2016
5th Oct
2017
“It is very common for humans to develop things with the best of
intentions that have unintended, negative consequences”
Justin Rosenstein, creator of the Facebook 'like' button

32. Ex-Facebook president Sean Parker: the site was
from the outset “to exploit human vulnerability”
7th Jan
2016
9th Nov
2017
“God knows what it is doing to our childrens’ brains”, he now says: a
network of 2 billion users has “unintended consequences.”

33. Former Facebook executive: social media is
“ripping society apart”
7th Jan
2016
12th Dec
2017
Facebook’s VP for user growth until 2011, feels “tremendous guilt”
about social media “destroying how society works.”

34. Apple CEO Tim Cook:
“I don’t want my nephew on a social network”
7th Jan
2016
16th Jan
2018

35. Apple investors call for action over iPhone
“addiction” among children
7th Jan
2016
8th Jan
2018
Owners of $2bn of stock including CalSTRS make a range of suggestions
for controls, oversight, and access to data on use.

36. Former Google and Facebook workers launch
campaign to fight tech addiction
7th Jan
2016
5th Feb
2018
Brainchild of the Center for Humane Technology, led by former Google
designer Tristan Harris & former Facebook advisor Roger McNamee.

37. Bill Gates warns Silicon Valley of
technology’s dangerous potential
7th Jan
2016
15th Feb
2018
“There’s always the question how much technology is empowering a
small group of people to cause damage.”

38. Apple's Cook slams Zuckerberg and Facebook's
business model, calling for regulation
7th Jan
2016
28th Mar
2018
Apple could make a “ton of money” but “We’re not going to traffic in
your personal life. Privacy to us is a human right, a civil liberty.”
“I wouldn’t be in
his position”

39. He tells Alphabet shareholders of the “great inspiration” that also brings
“new questions and responsibilities”, ….and quotes Charles Dickens.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin joins AI concerns: “It
was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
7th Jan
2016
28th Apr
2018

40. 7th Jan
2016
8th Jan
2017
Hundreds of AI / robotics researchers develop 23
principles for global use: the Asilomar Principles
Principle 23 Common Good: Superintelligence should only be
developed in the service of widely shared ethical ideals, and for the
benefit of all humanity rather than one state or organization
Principle 17 Non-subversion: The power conferred by control of highly
advanced AI systems should respect and improve, rather than subvert,
the social and civic processes on which the health of society depends.

41. But currently key major players seem to prefer
all-out competition to multilateral co-operation

42. The search for a military edge is one driver. But both US and Chinese
companies talk of new potential for open-source collaboration.
“The AI arms race: China and US compete to
dominate big data”: FT
7th Jan
2016
1st May
2018

43. So the FT reports. China is vulnerable, spending more on imported
silicon than oil, prompting a scramble to expand domestic chip supply.
US-China tech wars threaten ‘economic carnage’ as
US seeks to rein in growing power of Chinese tech
7th Jan
2016
8th May
2018

44. “China Vows to Fight Trump Tariffs ‘to the End’
as Tension Rises”
7th Jan
2016
5th Apr
2018
Shares tumble as Trump considers a further $100bn of tariffs. If China
played tit-for-tat, tariffs would be on all US exports to China.

45. Democracy is now clearly under threat
from use of tech, in multiple countries
And so far, we have allowed this to
unfold with few effective challenges

46. 7th Jan
2016
26th Dec
2016
“2016: The Mainstream Media Melted Down
as Fake News Festered”
By August fake news was increasingly outperforming
the top stories at the 19 major news outlets

47. 7th Jan
2016
14th Feb
2017
“The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda
Machine”: How Cambridge Analytica wins elections
• Big data surveillance
meets computational
pyschology
• Automated
engagement scripts
that prey on your
emotions
• A propaganda
network to accelerate
ideas in minutes
• A bot Gestapo to
police public debate
One of the first post-election investigations of fake news by journalists,
for Scout, leads to a worrying conclusion about threats to democracy.

48. 7th Jan
2016
16th Feb
2017
“Mark Zuckerberg’s Answer to a World Divided by
Facebook Is More Facebook”
“He might be in denial, because a lot of the rest of us are”: Nikki Usher,
Professor of new media and technology, George Washington University

49. Mark Zuckerberg: I regret ridiculing fears over
Facebook's effect on the election
7th Jan
2016
28th Sep
2017
Company admits to $100k in ad revenue from Russia-based organisation
promoting racial divisions favouring Trump.
14th Nov
2016

50. Facebook and Google spead politicized
fake news about Las Vegas shooter
7th Jan
2016
2nd Oct
2017
Within hours of the worst massacre in US history, alt-right users create a false
viral rumour that the perpetrator is an anti-Trump Democrat.

51. Trump digital director Brad Parscale tells CBS 60
Minutes that Facebook helped win the White House
7th Jan
2016
9th Oct
2017
Facebook provided employees embedded in the Trump campaign’s
digital office to teach use of ads to reach rust belt target voters.

52. “Things happened on our platform in this election
that should not have happened”
7th Jan
2016
19th Oct
2017
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO: “Especially, and very troubling,
foreign interference in a democratic election.”

53. US Congress releases ads paid for by Russian agents
and seen by 150 million Americans
7th Jan
2016
1st Nov
2017
They include these:

54. Facebook's fact checkers say the effort is failing,
and worse, their efforts are being used for PR
7th Jan
2016
13th Nov
2017
Guardian: “The reporters also lamented that Facebook had refused to
disclose data on its efforts to stop the dissemination of fake news.”

55. Facebook must drop its silence on Russian
interference in UK as well as US, say MPs
7th Jan
2016
16th Nov
2017
Facebook breaking its silence on Russian interference in the US election
….on the eve of Congressional hearings, 22 September 2017.

56. Mark Zuckerberg has a “rat-catching” team to keep
a lid on leakers, even of internal cultural discussions
7th Jan
2016
16th Mar
2018
An employee tells the Guardian about these “secret police”:
“It’s horrifying how much they know ….they’ll squash you like a bug”.

57. 50m Facebook profiles harvested unlawfully by
Cambridge Analytica, whistleblower tells Guardian
7th Jan
2016
17th Mar
2018
Christopher Wylie says Steve Bannon used CA for “microtargeted” FB
ads during Trump campaign. CA CEO lied to UK MPs about FB data use.

58. Christopher Wylie explains formative role in creating
a “cultural weapon”, & how it was done
7th Jan
2016
17th Mar
2018
“We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of profiles. And built
models to exploit that and target their inner demons.”

60. Cambridge Analytica CEO captured selling tactics,
beyond microtargeting, for swinging elections
7th Jan
2016
19th Mar
2018
Alexander Nix: “These are things that don’t necessarily
need to be true as long as they’re believed.”

61. Edward Snowden: Facebook is a surveillance
company rebranded as social media
7th Jan
2016
19th Mar
2018
“They are not victims. They are accomplices.”

62. Second Cambridge Analytica whistleblower makes
firm’s blueprint for Trump victory public
7th Jan
2016
23rd Mar
2018
Brittany Kaiser says CEO Nix lied about doing no work on Brexit data.
That oil billionaires funded CA rigging of Nigerian election. And and.

63. Brexit: Third whistleblower says Vote Leave broke
law on spending limits, and destroyed evidence.
7th Jan
2016
24th Mar
2018
They funneled £650k to Cambridge Analytica creation AIQ for dark arts
ads. He gives files to the Electoral Commission and the police.
Shahmir Sanni
Secretary & Treasurer
BeLeave

64. Facebook logged SMS texts and phone calls
without explicitly notifying users
7th Jan
2016
29th Mar
2018
FB claims that “uploading this information has always been opt-in only.”
But the Guardian finds it wasn’t, for a whole year, before 2016.

65. Facebook improperly shared data of 87m people
with Cambridge Analytica, company now says
7th Jan
2016
4th Apr
2018
This is 37m more than reported earlier. It also admits that data of most
of its 2 billion users could have been accessed improperly.

66. “Why Zuckerberg’s 14-Year Apology Tour Hasn’t
Fixed Facebook”
7th Jan
2016
6th Apr
2018
Zeynep Tufekci: “Facebook's CEO's constant apologies aren't a promise
to do better. They're a symptom of a profound crisis of accountability.”

67. Facebook suspends data firm hired by Vote Leave
over alleged Cambridge Analytica ties
7th Jan
2016
7th Apr
2018
FB says AggregateIQ “may be affiliated with SCL and may, as a result,
have improperly received FB user data.”

68. “Congress tried to crack Zuckerberg – but Facebook
still has all the power”
7th Jan
2016
10th Apr
2018
“Zuckerberg may not want us to know where he slept last night, but his
company sure as hell knows where the rest of us are sleeping.”

69. Zuckerberg evasive on tracking, browsing, profiling,
& need to change business model to protect privacy
7th Jan
2016
11th Apr
2018
Congressman Frank Pallone: “Our laws are not working” …”we need
“comprehensive privacy and data protection legislation.”
Congresswoman reads
long list of Zuckerberg’s
apologies, starting in 2003,
as evidence that self
regulation can never work

70. Amanda Taub & Max Fisher on role of fake news: “Facebook’s newsfeed
played a central role in nearly every step from rumor to killing.”
“Where Countries Are Tinderboxes and Facebook
Is a Match”
7th Jan
2016
21st Apr
2018
Buddhist mob
burns a Muslim
- owned shop
in Sri Lanka,
March 2018

71. In Congress, Zuckerberg dodged questions on whether he would apply
GDPR to Americans, promising GDPR “controls” not “protections.”
Facebook moves 1.5bn users out of reach
of new European privacy law
7th Jan
2016
19th Apr
2018

72. Aeisha Mastagni: “Who is it that holds Mr Zuckerberg to account?” One
share should equal one vote. “Facebook, it is time to act like an adult.”
“Facebook’s dual-class share structure is akin to a
dictatorship”: Calstrs portfolio manager in the FT
7th Jan
2016
10th May
2018

73. Schroepfer told MPs that targeted ads had not been used by Russian
agencies. New evidence released by US Congress shows it was.
Facebook mislead UK Parliament over Russian
interference in Brexit vote, MPs say
7th Jan
2016
12th May
2018
Masayoshi Son, Softbank founder and CEO Mike Schroepfer, Facebook CTO

74. At least a dozen U.S.-designated terror groups use Facebook, Bloomberg
discovers, and when banned soon reappear with slight modifications.
“Terrorists Are Still Recruiting on Facebook, Despite
Zuckerberg’s Reassurances”
7th Jan
2016
10th May
2018

75. Facebook and Google share prices as yet unaffected
by burgeoning concerns about disinformation
7th Jan
2016
27th Nov
2017
Zuckerberg warns in early November that the cost of defending against
people manipulating the platform would hit profits. Result?

76. “What Hearings? Advertisers Still
Love Facebook”
7th Jan
2016
13th Apr
2018
Ad agencies expect FB’s $40bn 2017 revenue to rise steeply and FB &
Google to take >65% of all 2018 ad revenue. “Too big to fail,” says one.

77. Scientists find fake news reaches users up to 20
times faster than factual content on Twitter
7th Jan
2016
8th Mar
2018
Truth rarely reaches more than 1,000 people. The top 1% of false-news
cascades reach up to 100,000 people. Real people disseminate > bots.

78. Twitter exec on Trump election: “We all had this
‘holy shit’ moment …Did we create this monster?”
7th Jan
2016
6th Apr
2018
It would still take months after the election for CEO Jack Dorsey to
concede a responsibility to clean up the social media service.

79. Russia-based troll farm created pro-Trump
Twitter star Jenna Abrams
7th Jan
2016
3rd Nov
2017

80. Uber had a special team to obstruct legal cases
and spy on rivals, whistleblower tells court
7th Jan
2016
28th Nov
2017
“lacks ethics, morals
and is obsessed with
making money”
Uber did not disclose allegations, or its payoff to silence them, in run
up to Waymo vs Uber hearing, which judge has now deferred.

81. 7th Jan
2016
3rd Nov
2016
“5 Big Tech Trends That Will Make This Election
Look Tame”
By 2020, the next election:
1 Social media will have continued to explode
2 Machine learning/AI will move forward 10x
3 50 billion devices and 1 trillion sensors will come online
4 Digital avatars will be photorealistic & fully programmable
5 Micropayments, smart objects, and blockchain applications
will go mainstream

82. All the above is current commercial practice
in “surveillance capitalism”, and remains
almost entirely unregulated today
Meanwhile in cybercrime and cyberwar…

83. • One or more of the three US
grids down for weeks or months
“not just possible but likely”
It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when:
Centcom Commander General Lloyd Austin
15th Nov
2015
• NSA says Russians and Chinese
have conducted reconnaissance
• US government unprepared

84. 7th Jan
2016
12th Aug
2016
The inevitable failure
of the US grid
• more blackouts than any other developed nation
• average age of large power transformers (LPTs) is 40 years
• $1.15 billion per year in upgrades, $150 losses from outages

85. Hackers shut down Ukraine power grid:
Russian special forces accused by Kiev
Malware used that had previously infected power suppliers in US and
Europe, without shut down
5th Jan
2016

86. 7th Jan
2016
9th Nov
2016
“Trump’s win signals open season for
Russia’s political hackers”

87. 7th Jan
2016
6th Jan
2017
CIA / NSA / FBI report: Vladimir Putin “ordered”
operation to get Trump elected
Declassified assessment says Russia “had clear preference” for Trump,
who met with US intelligence chiefs & refused to endorse their findings.

88. 7th Jan
2016
11th Jun
2017
First solid evidence that Russian hacking threatens
the core systems of America’s voting apparatus
NSA leak shows they attempted to phish the credentials of employees
at VR Systems, a Florida-based tech firm that sells equipment
and software used in voting registration.

89. Russian hacking went far beyond US election,
hitlist of 4,760 g-mail accounts reveals
7th Jan
2016
2nd Nov
2017
Breadth of players targeted in accidentally acquired list only
makes sense if hackers are Kremlin connected.
95% of hacking took place in Moscow office hours.

90. Hackers take over safety system in “watershed”
attack on undisclosed energy plant
7th Jan
2016
16th Dec
2017
Schneider Electric reports first breach of their safety systems, used in
fossil-fuel and nuclear plants. Malware dubbed “Triton” used.

91. Three men in their early 20s plead guilty to causing
a massive US cyber attack in October
7th Jan
2016
14th Dec
2017
They - not a foreign cybercrime agency - created the Mirai botnet that
took hundreds of sites offline in a “distributed denial of service” attack.

92. Two hardware bugs, worst ever, found on virtually all
computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones
7th Jan
2016
4th Jan
2018
They are in chips for CPUs. “Meltdown” is patchable. “Spectre” is not.
Class actions against Intel et al are pending. So is hacker exploitation.

93. Special counsel indicts Russians for illegally
influencing the US presidential campaign
7th Jan
2016
16th Feb
2018
13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian organizations join 4 former Trump
aides on criminal charge sheet.

94. Eternal Blue, the NSA “spy tool that hacked the
world”, still creates cyber havoc a year after its leak
7th Jan
2016
8th Mar
2018
Many networks and machines remain unpatched against it. It will be a
go-to tool for attackers for years to come, cybersecurity experts say.

95. Cyberattacks have turned potential control of US
power plants over to Russia, DHS reports
7th Jan
2016
15th Mar
2018
Russian cyberattacks surged last year, starting three months after
Donald Trump took office, the Department of Homeland Security says.

96. US agencies & UK’s GCHQ blame the Kremlin for a
sustained cyber-offensive in recent months
7th Jan
2016
16th Apr
2018
“Millions of machines” targeted in apparent effort to lay foundations
for an assault on network infrastructure devices, they say.

97. Use of drones is the biggest growing trend among criminals, including
smuggling gangs, drug cartels, and in robberies.
A criminal gang has used a drone swarm to obstruct
and spy on an FBI hostage surveillance operation
7th Jan
2016
7th May
2018

98. We are building infrastructure
perfect for lethal police states
seemingly without much consideration

99. “Privacy is under threat from the facial recognition
revolution”
7th Jan
2016
3rd Oct
2017
Editorial
“If those who care about individual rights do not start thinking about the
implications now, those changes will be forced upon us rather than chosen.”

100. Even a mask won’t hide you from the latest face
recognition tech
7th Jan
2016
7th Sep
2017
The system accurately identified people a wearing scarf 77% of the time
– a cap and scarf 69% of the time: University of Cambridge study.

101. AI can predict sexual orientation
from photos of faces
7th Jan
2016
8th Sep
2017
Stanford University study of 35,000: 81% correct for men,
74% for women. 5 photos: 91% and 83%.

102. Face-reading AI will be able to detect your politics
and IQ, Stanford professor Michal Kosinski says
7th Jan
2016
12th Sep
2017
Early results suggest this is the case. Kosinski suggests this is consistent
with other studies that have shown political views to be heritable.

103. 7th Jan
2016
5th Sep
2016
Implications of revolutions in big data & bioscience:
Homo Deus, by Yuval Noah Harari
ever more advanced
algorithms
+
ever more targeted
biometrics
ever
decreasing
free will
=

104. 7th Jan
2016
28th Jul
2017
The biggest facial recognition system in the world
is rolling out in China ….and the most invasive use
600 million CCTV
systems nationwide
Officials aim to enroll every Chinese citizen into a nationwide database by 2020.
A recently pioneered social credit system aims to give every citizen a rating.

105. 7th Jan
2016
23rd Jul
2017
Chinese companies are helping police develop AI
intending to identify criminals before they act
Li Meng, vice-minister of science and technology: If we use AI, “we can know
beforehand . . . who might be a terrorist, who might do something bad.”

106. The world's most valuable AI startup targets
nationwide facial recognition
7th Jan
2016
9th Apr
2018
Co-founder of China’s $3 bn SenseTime Group Xu Li: “It will not affect
privacy because only authorized persons can access it.”

107. 7th Jan
2016
22nd Feb
2017
China has deployed robots for facial recognition
at an airport and a railway station
The AnBot, developed by the National Defence University, can answer
travellers’ questions ….while monitoring them. And is popular….

108. In the government-backed project, artificial intelligence algorithms scan
the data for outliers that could indicate anxiety or rage.
Chinese companies conduct ‘emotional
surveillance’ of workers via hat or helmet sensors
7th Jan
2016
30th Apr
2018

109. They blame poor quality source images and say the technology will
improve with use. Chinese citizens will have to hope so.
Welsh police used face scanning software that
incorrectly flagged >2,000 as criminals
7th Jan
2016
5th May
2018

110. “It Takes Just $1,000 to Track Someone's Location
With Mobile Ads”
7th Jan
2016
18th Oct
2017
Univ. of Washington study: “Mobile advertising networks’ intentional
tracking features allow relatively cheap, highly targeted spying.”

111. Meanwhile, forces are on the rise in society
that we know from history stoke fascism

112. Inequality gap widens as 42 people
hold same wealth as 3.7bn poorest
7th Jan
2016
22nd Jan
2018
Oxfam survey of 70,000 in 10 countries shows nearly two-thirds of
people – 72% in the UK – want urgent action to close rich / poor gap.

113. 7th Jan
2016
16th Dec
2016
The bottom half of US earners have seen
no income growth since the 1970s

114. America’s richest 3 have as much wealth as
the poorer half of the population …160 m people
7th Jan
2016
8th Nov
2017
Multinational companies shift
ever more profits offshore:
€600bn in the last year
A combined $248.5 billion ….and Trump’s tax cuts for the rich
would channel 80% of benefits to 1%

115. Echoes of history here: in 1930, 1,028 economists urged Congress to
reject the protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.
>1,000 economists warn Trump his trade views
echo errors that led to the 1930s Great Depression
7th Jan
2016
2nd May
2018

116. All this just as authoritarian governments, and
authoritarian-leaning elected governments,
gain strength, and in some cases ascendancy

117. "How the Populist Right Is Redrawing the Map
of Europe"
7th Jan
2016
11th Dec
2017
“A rising tide of anti-immigrant and populist sentiment that is sweeping
aside or weakening mainstream party politics across the continent.”

118. Russia and Syria are “weaponising the refugee
crisis” in an effort to destabilise Europe
2nd Mar
2016
2nd Mar
2016
3rd Mar
2016
So General Phil Breedlove, Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander for
Europe and head of the US European Command, testifies.

119. 7th Jan
2016
9th Nov
2016
The Syrian and Russian despots have ready allies:
ultra-nationalist hate-mongers, in many countries

120. 7th Jan
2016
10th June
2016
Vote Leave's £350m weekly EU cost claim is wrong, UK Statistics
Authority says. But with no follow up, Leave keep repeating the mantra.
Populists seem to have embraced the use of wilful
falsehoods, even after expert correction

121. 7th Jan
2016
24th June
2016
“Probably the most disastrous single event in British
history since the second world war”: Martin Wolf

122. 4 November 2016
7th Jan
2016
4th Nov
2016
As UK judges rule on legality of Brexit vote, ultra-
right controllers of mainstream media turn on them

123. 7th Jan
2016
17th Oct
2016
UK security agencies unlawfully collected data
for 17 years, court rules
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal rules UK security services have
violated European Convention on Human Rights- under Tories & Labour.

124. 7th Jan
2016
19th Nov
2016
“The UK has just legalised the most extreme
surveillance in the history of western democracy”
The Investigatory Powers Act passes, barely noticed, including by MPs.
“It goes further than many autocracies”, says Ed Snowden.

125. 7th Jan
2016
12th Feb
2017
Draconian new proposals by UK government
advisors “threaten democracy”: Guardian
Up to 14 years for whistleblowers, and journalists for even handling
their leaked material.
Alan Rusbridger, Editor of The Guardian at the
time of the Snowden files, could have faced jail

126. UK spy agencies unlawfully shared citizens’ data
with foreign agencies, tribunal told
7th Jan
2016
18th Oct
2017
GCHQThis data is supposed to be subject to stringent oversight by
independent Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office.

127. 7th Jan
2016
20th Dec
2016
Trump the demagogue could easily morph
to Trump the despot: Martin Wolf
“The demagogue’s campaign leads naturally to despotism — the tyranny
of the majority that is a mask on the tyranny of one.”

128. 7th Jan
2016
12th Aug
2017
A new dimension in American politics emerges
in Charlottesville
“an unconstitutional fishing expedition”
Electronic Frontier Foundation

129. alt-right violently protests removal of a Confederate
statue, and one kills a civil rights activist
7th Jan
2016
12th Aug
2017
15th Aug: President Trump refuses to attack the alt-right and spars with
reporters about what he terms the “violent alt-left”.

130. 7th Jan
2016
15th Aug
2017
US DoJ demands details on all 1.3 million visitors
to site co-ordinating protest at Trump inauguration
“an unconstitutional fishing expedition”
Electronic Frontier Foundation

131. US Homeland Security to compile database for
monitoring of journalists and ‘media influencers’
7th Jan
2016
7th Apr
2018
“24/7 access to a password protected, media influencer database,
including journalist, editors, ….social media influencers, bloggers etc.”

132. Orban immediately targets Soros-backed NGOs
after huge populist win in Hungarian election
7th Jan
2016
9th Apr
2018
OECD describes campaign as “intimidating, xenophobic”. In his previous
term, Hungary’s corruption rating plunged to second worst in EU.

133. The election hate campaign now leads to “Stop Soros” legislation that
requires NGOs to have a government licence to represent refugees.
Hungarian government repression forces Soros
Open Society Foundations to retreat to Berlin
7th Jan
2016
15th May
2018
Future Today

134. Vietnam army reveals 10,000-strong cyber warfare
unit to counter “wrong” views
7th Jan
2016
28th Dec
2017
A 22-year-old blogger was jailed for 7 years recently for “spreading anti-
state propaganda” about a devastating chemical waste spill.

135. Amid all this chaos, the danger
of nuclear war builds

136. US plans to loosen constraints on nuclear weapon use
and develop more ‘usable’ warheads
7th Jan
2016
9th Jan
2018
Leak of policy review shows return to the first-strike thinking
of the Reagan years (the SDI, the “maritime strategy” etc).

137. “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger &
more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
7th Jan
2016
2nd Jan
2018
Trump on Twitter, responding to Kim Jong Un mentioning in a new year
speech that the North Korean button was on his desk at all times

138. Russia to deploy ‘unstoppable’ nuclear weapons
says Putin
7th Jan
2016
1st Mar
2018
“Avangard” ICBM flying 20x the speed of sound, hypersonic air-launched
“Dagger” missile, plus long-range torpedo & cruise missiles.

139. US trade spokesperson: “Greater access to American arms will ..reduce
their reliance not just on Chinese knock-offs but also Russian systems.”
Trump permits US weapons companies to sell laser-
guided killer drones direct to other countries
7th Jan
2016
19th Apr
2018

140. The Economist: The NPT, INF, and START (due for renewal 2021) treaties
are all under threat, thanks to “complacent, reckless” leaders.
“Despite North Korea, arms control is unravelling”
“a complacent world is playing with Armageddon”
7th Jan
2016
2nd May
2018

141. France, Germany and UK express their “regret and concern” and
emphasise their “continuing commitment” to the deal.
Trump violates the Iran nuclear agreement,
imperiling the global non-proliferation regime
7th Jan
2016
8th May
2018

142. Remembering the Cold War, it wasn’t simply the Russians
on offence and the West on defence
(e.g. The “Bomber Gap” and the Missile Gap” proved to be
inventions designed to justify new weapons for the western
military-industrial complex
Might the UK and UK therefore
be doing anything similar this time?

143. US Air Force posts a video on You tube about its
cyber training: “The Making of a Cyberwarrior”
7th Jan
2016
16th Apr
2013
“They are fighting a war every day on the wire’, says one officer. The
video does not make it look as if this is purely a defensive war.

144. 7th Jan
2016
2nd Nov
2016
British government pledges to “damage, disrupt
and destroy” cyberattackers - including proactively
Attacking tools being developed by the National Offensive Cyber
Programme, a partnership between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ.
Philip Hammond, Defence Minister, in a speech

145. As in the Cold War, some speak out: we need a
global cyberwar treaty, says a former head of GCHQ
7th Jan
2016
21st Feb
2018
Richard Hannigan: “I think the worrying thing is that international
relations at the moment mean that people don't feel constrained.”

146. As for Russian arms buildup, cyber aggression
and proxy warfighting, much could be
achieved by pressuring Russian capital
from / in the West
….but

147. “Russia and the west’s moral bankruptcy”
7th Jan
2016
28th Mar
2018
Edward Luce: Unlike most western democracies, the US and UK permit
anonymous ownership. Annual laundering: c.$300bn in US, $125bn UK.
“Estimates of Mr Putin’s
personal wealth range
from $50bn to $200bn”

148. The corrupt hide billions in shell companies. US &
UK Beneficial Ownership Registries could stop them
7th Jan
2016
3rd Apr
2018
So suggest Panama Paper journalists Frederik Obermaier and Bastian
Obermayer. The registries would show “ultimate beneficial owners.”

149. Some actors in civil society
are trying to step up
to the challenge

150. AI experts call for boycott over killer robots project
teaming a South Korea university with Hanwha
7th Jan
2016
5th Apr
2018
A UN meeting on autonomous weapons convenes in Geneva next week.
> 20 countries have already called for a total ban on killer robots.
The technology to make killer
robots is already here

151. AI experts call for boycott over killer robots project
teaming a South Korea university with Hanwha
7th Jan
2016
9th Apr
2018
A UN meeting on autonomous weapons convenes in Geneva next week.
> 20 countries have already called for a total ban on killer robots.
The technology to make killer
robots is already here

152. Governments meet in Geneva to consider global
ban on killer robots, with an arms race underway
7th Jan
2016
9th Apr
2018
At least 381 partly autonomous weapon & military robotics systems are
deployed or in development in 12 states, incl. US, Russia, China, UK.

153. China joins 34 other nations pushing for
a total ban on killer robots at the UN
7th Jan
2016
9th Apr
2018
The US, the UK, France, Israel and Russia oppose a ban.
The UN meeting ends without agreement.

154. “Only the EU can break Facebook and Google's
dominance”: George Soros
7th Jan
2016
15th Feb
2018
Reasons: “more far sighted” social policies, stronger privacy & data
protection laws, tighter monopoly laws, “no problem giants” of its own.
Margrethe Vestager
EU Competition Commissioner

155. Tech sector struggles to prepare for
new EU data protection laws
7th Jan
2016
30th Aug
2017
Max Tegmark, professor of physics at MIT
co-founder of the Future of Life InstituteGeneral Data Protection Regulation comes into force
26th May 2018

156. Facebook ordered to stop collecting user data
by Belgian court, or face fines of up to €100m
7th Jan
2016
16th Feb
2018
A battle which began in 2015, with evidence Facebook’s tracking of all
visitors without explicit consent used cookies breaching EU law.

157. “It is time for antitrust regulators to start
blocking deals”
7th Jan
2016
27th Oct
2017
But:
“We are a long way from having reason to break up the tech giants”
Editorial
$19 bn

158. Global financial regulators (FSB) urge caution over
rise of AI and robots in financial services industry
7th Jan
2016
1st Nov
2017

159. Following a crowdfunded challenge by Liberty, the 2016 Investigatory
Powers Act, (the Snoopers’ Charter) must be rewritten within 6 months.
High court rules the UK government mass data
surveillance legislation is incompatible with EU law
7th Jan
2016
27th Apr
2018
Liberty director, Martha Spurrier: “Police and security
agencies need tools to tackle serious crime in the
digital age, but creating the most intrusive
surveillance regime of any democracy in the world is
unlawful, unnecessary and ineffective.”

160. Berkeley and Davis have laws requiring citizen oversight of surveillance
technology use and Oakland has a bill pending.
California laws seek to keep smart city surveillance
tech in check, especially re who accesses data
7th Jan
2016
7th May
2018

161. UK and US lawyers launch a joint class action
against Facebook and Cambridge Analytica
7th Jan
2016
10th Apr
2018
US Stored Communications Act involves a minimum $1,000 penalty for
any violation found by a court, meaning FB could face $70bn damages.

162. “Unilever warns Big Tech to drain online
ads ‘swamp’”
7th Jan
2016
12th Feb
2018
“As one of the largest advertisers in the world, we cannot have an
environment where our consumers don’t trust what they see online.”
Keith Weed, CMO
Who had a €7.7 bn
budget in 2017
…world’s second biggest

163. 7th Jan
2016
1st Feb
2017
Siemens CEO criticises Trump “noise”,
attacks on the press, and Mexican wall
Joe Kaeser:
“America has become great
because of immigrants”
Siemens employs more than 50,000 people in the US, and
has invested more than €30bn there over the past 10 years

164. Vince Cable: Facebook should divest itself of Instagram and WhatsApp
as a condition for EU operation, creating 2 new social media networks.
Former UK Secretary of State for Business calls for
break-up of Google, Facebook and Amazon
7th Jan
2016
19th Apr
2018

165. Join fight against “titans of technology”, UK union
chief urges Catholics in a speech in the Vatican
7th Jan
2016
24th Nov
2017
“lacks ethics, morals
and is obsessed with
making money”
Frances O’Grady
General Secretary
UK Trades Unions Congress

166. Polemic takes aim at surveillance capitalism
and absence of its regulation
7th Jan
2016
12th Oct
2017
“Their algorithms have pressed
us into conformity and laid waste
to privacy… few have grasped the
sheer scale of the threat”
“Sophia”
National correspondent, The Atlantic
Needed: A Data Protection
Authority to regulate use of data
cf Federal Communications
Commission and the airwaves

167. American tech guru Vivek Wadhwa likens Silicon
Valley to the colonial British East India Company
7th Jan
2016
16th Nov
2017
“lacks ethics, morals
and is obsessed with
making money”
“India should put restrictions as
regulations on Facebook, Google and
others. Put up barriers. Regulate the
heck out of Amazon. Have a policy to
support local startups. India has to
build its own ecosystem.”

168. Big Tech itself holds the power to reduce the
threats and unlock the social potential
of the upside scenarios for tech

169. Tech companies own a trillion-dollar offshore “cash
pile” that is actually a giant bond portfolio
7th Jan
2016
11th Feb
2018
10 companies hold 80% of this. They are “the new investment banks”,
using their own low-interest debt to buy high yield corporate debt.
Rana Foroohar in the
Financial Times

170. 7th Jan
2016
31st Jan
2017
“Google Employees Rally in Thousands
Against Trump Immigration Ban”

171. 7th Jan
2016
6th Feb
2017
100 Silicon Valley firms file opposition to Trump's
exec order banning travel from 7 Muslim countries
including:

172. 7th Jan
2016
16th Aug
2017
Apple pledges to double employees’ donations to
anti-hate human rights organisations
“We must not witness or permit such hate and bigotry in our country,
and we must be unequivocal about it”: Tim Cook, CEO.

173. 7th Jan
2016
16th Aug
2017
Tech giants denounce and expel
neo-Nazis

174. 7th Jan
2016
19th Aug
2017
“The moral voice of corporate America”
FLNG vessel Prelude
Length 488 metres
“This is a seminal moment in the
history of business in America”
Darren Walker, President
Ford Foundation
“Today, to keep silent is to jeopardize
the reputation of the company.’
Nancy Koehn, Harvard Business School

175. “We believe that Google should not be in the
business of war”: so say > 3,000 Google employees
7th Jan
2016
4th Apr
2018
An open letter to CEO, in the New York Times, urges the company not to
work on a Pentagon ‘AI surveillance engine’ used for drone warfare.

176. “Amid growing fears of biased and weaponized AI,
Google is already struggling to keep the public’s
trust. By entering into this contract, Google will join
the ranks of companies like Palantir, Raytheon and
General Dynamics. The argument that other firms, like
Microsoft and Amazon, are also participating doesn’t
make this any less risky for Google. Google’s unique
history, its motto “don’t be evil”, and its direct
reach into the lives of billions of users set it
apart.”

177. Trying to conclude:
Tech: nirvana or nightmare
what do you think?
…as things stand?

178. - far closer to nightmare than nirvana
- we have to act, far more strongly, across the board
- many actors / constituencies are beginning to do so
- how best to do so is another story
- please engage, and follow on www.jeremyleggett.net
My view