A quote from one of Clearview’s investors, David Scalzo, has been rattling around in my head since I first read it in Kashmir Hill’s initial New York Times article: “I’ve come to the conclusion that because information constantly increases, there’s never going to be privacy,” Scalzo told Hill. “Laws have to determine what’s legal, but you can’t ban technology. Sure, that might lead to a dystopian future or something, but you can’t ban it.”
Scalzo is presenting a candid expression of one of the enduring, foundational principles of Silicon Valley: The creep of new technologies is inevitable, and attempts to stop or control it are foolish. Even as the messianic confidence that characterized Silicon Valley philosophizing in the ’90s and aughts has curdled, the faith in technological inevitability has remained. The sense that we are powerless to arrest—or in some cases even direct—the ceaseless expansion of technology into our lives is somehow even stronger now that we’ve seen the negative effects of such expansion. In Silicon Valley, zealous techno-optimism has given way to a resigned but impotent techno- pessimism, shared by both fearful critics who can’t imagine an escape and predatory cynics like Scalzo, for whom the revelation of an unstoppable, onrushing dystopian future represents, if nothing else, an investment opportunity. “It is inevitable this digital information will be out there,” Scalzo later told “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams in an interview. Sure, we might be headed toward hell—too bad we can’t do anything about it!
Denne historien er fra February 3 – 16, 2020-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra February 3 – 16, 2020-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Early and Often: David Freedlander - Momentum vs. Machine The Trump and Harris campaigns battle it out for every last vote.
WIth two weeks left to go, the contours of the 2024 presidential election are clear: Both campaigns need voters who usually don’t vote, and Kamala Harris needs to bring the Democratic coalition, including its Trump-curious members, back home.While the Republican side plans to spend the remaining days of the contest trying to lure low-propensity voters to the polls, the Harris team will attempt to persuade voters of color to return to its side and will try to increase numbers among white voters in previously red suburbs.
Drowning in Slop - A thriving underground economy is clogging the internet with AI garbage-and it's only going to get worse.
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The City Politic- The Other Eric Adams Scandal The NYPD shot a fare evader, a cop, and two bystanders. He defends it.
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Can the Media Survive?
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Creator, Destroyer
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In a time of war, there is a danger in surveying the world as if it were a novel.
Trust the Kieran Culkin Process
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The Funniest Vampires on TV
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