Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagChina

monument-of-chinese-communist-party-at-tiananmen-square-stockpack-adobe-stock
Monument Of Chinese Communist Party At Tiananmen Square
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 1, 2021
Categorized
Censorship
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Chinese Communist Party: 100 Years of Erasing, Rewriting History

Tiananmen Square: Anyone born after 1980 has no idea that the People’s Liberation Army turned against the demonstrators in front of a gate whose name is “Heavenly Peace.”
Heather Zeiger
July 1, 2021
8
Censorship

“The regime wants us to forget. I hope to use my camera to remember…We are resisting in our memories. We are resisting forgetfulness.” – Kiwi Chow, documentary filmmaker in Hong Kong, referring to the events in Hong Kong in 2019, “In a Scarred Hong Kong, ‘Beautiful Things Are Gone’” Reuters, June 29, 2021 The centenary commemoration of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Mao Zedong in 1921 commemorates a myth. The party was founded on July 23, but this year’s celebrations commenced July 1, which coincides with the date of the British handover of Hong Kong in 1997. According to China Digital Times, July 1 has a nice symmetry to the dates of the founding of the Read More ›

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Human brain with an implanted chip.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 27, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Can Implanted Computer Chips Cure Depression?

Brain–computer interface (BCI) is promising for paralysis and prosthetics but raises concerns in the treatment of depression
News
June 27, 2021
5
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Brain computer interface (BCI) shows promise in treating paralysis or enabling prosthetics to work almost naturally. But BCI for treating depression sounds like hype: Say goodbye to pills, therapy, and all that. With such gloomy prospects, it was only a matter of time scientists realized there must be better ways to treat depression rather than pills. After all, drugs only work because they act on certain brain regions to modulate the concentration of certain neurotransmitters, like serotonin or dopamine. Therefore, in the end, the regulation of mood depends on stimulating brain signals in certain parts of the brain — that is, neurons firing — and this can be done more accurately by just zapping the neurons directly with electricity. Diego Read More ›

total-population-control-concept-with-cctv-videocam-and-small-figures-of-people-stockpack-adobe-stock
Total population control concept with CCTV videocam and small figures of people
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post
Author
News
Date
June 19, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Surveillance
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A One-Girl War With the Total Surveillance State —Sci-fi Saturday

The acting, ambience, and special effects in “Bolero” are top quality
News
June 19, 2021
14
Arts & Culture, Surveillance

“Boléro” at DUST by Sarah Gross (June 13, 2021, 17:24) In a future where telepaths are used by the government to monitor the public and root out insurgents, Maya, a non-speaking teen, witnesses her father’s brutal and unjust execution. Set on a path of revenge and destruction, Maya joins the Resistance, hellbent on tracking down Reader 8, the telepath responsible for her father’s death. However, when Maya finally locates her target after years of searching, she is confronted with a choice: either capture Reader 8 and deliver essential intelligence to the Resistance or take him out and fulfill her vengeful quest. Review: “Boléro” debuted at IMDB in 2019 and has deservedly won some industry awards. The acting, ambience, and special Read More ›

accurate-facial-recognition-software-detection-technology-blur-people-with-facial-scan-showing-digital-personal-data-and-social-credit-stockpack-adobe-stock
accurate facial recognition software detection technology. blur people with facial scan showing digital personal data and social credit
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 15, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Surveillance
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U.S. Ranked #8 in Countries Using Facial Recognition Technology

7 in 10 governments widely use facial recognition technology
News
June 15, 2021
4
Artificial Intelligence, Surveillance

A new report has ranked the United States #8 among 100 countries for widespread use of facial recognition technology (FRT). The report came out of Comparitech last week. A team evaluated the 100 most populated countries to compare their use of FRT. The study analyzed the use of FRT in governments, police departments, airports, schools, banks, workplaces, and on public transportation. The U.S. scored 18 on a scale of 0-40 (0 indicating an invasive use of FRT, and 40 indicating no evidence or an outright ban on the technology), pairing it with Mexico for the eighth ranking in the top 10 list. “There is…growing use of this technology within the US, but buses don’t appear to have FRT installed as Read More ›

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Egg power fear hammer
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post
Author
News
Date
June 6, 2021
Categorized
Economics, Philosophy of Mind
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Is More Coercion — in Principle — an “Extension” of Morality?

Activist Garrett Hardin popularized government coercion to “save the planet” in 1968
News
June 6, 2021
5
Economics, Philosophy of Mind

Recently, the Communist Party of China has announced permission for the three-child family, possibly because of the demographic ruin that the previous one-child family has occasioned in that country. But the basic idea that government should control everything is not new and it did not originate in China. Let’s go back to the 1960s in the United States. In 1968, Garrett Hardin (1915–2003) made a famous appeal in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s magazine, Science, for good old-fashioned coercion of human beings to stop having so many children: The abstract for his “Tragedy of the Commons” (Science, 1968), a Cool concept at the time, read simply “The population problem has no technical solution; it requires a fundamental Read More ›

new-yuan-digital-currency-of-china-on-red-economy-graph-chart-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
New Yuan digital currency of china on red economy graph chart
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
May 10, 2021
Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology, Technocracy
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China Sharply Reins in Big Tech Amid All-Digital Currency Rollout

Ant Group must turn over its vast customer database to the government in exchange for the easing of strict regulations
Heather Zeiger
May 10, 2021
6
Business and Finance, Global Technology, Technocracy

Earlier, we looked at what China’s new digital yuan, also called Digital Currency Electronics Payment or e-CNY, will mean for Chinese citizens. The rollout may relate to billionaire e-commerce founder Jack Ma’s critiques of China’s regulators and subsequent (temporary) disappearance. Also to the subsequent denial of his Ant Group’s billion-dollar initial public offering on the Shanghai index. Since then, the Chinese government has cracked down on several Big Tech companies while promoting the digital yuan. How China is rapidly reining in its Big Tech industries Chinese media have been promoting the second annual Double Five (i.e., May 5) Shopping Festival in Shanghai. This month-long state-organized shopping festival is part of “National Consumption Promotion Month.” The first Consumption Month festival, held Read More ›

face-recognition-and-personal-identification-technologies-in-street-surveillance-cameras-law-enforcement-control-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Face recognition and personal identification technologies in street surveillance cameras, law enforcement control.
Type
post
Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
April 28, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Law, Surveillance
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Canada Orders Facial Recognition App to Cease and Desist

Your face is likely already stored in this app's database
Caitlin Cory
April 28, 2021
9
Artificial Intelligence, Law, Surveillance

In February, Canada released the findings of a year-long investigation into the US-based facial recognition app, Clearview AI. The investigation declared Clearview’s actions illegal within Canada and ordered the company to cease operations within the country and to remove all Canadian citizens from its database. “What Clearview does is mass surveillance, and it is illegal,” said Canadian Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien. So what is Clearview AI? And why has it raised the ire of our neighbors to the North? Clearview AI, Inc. Clearview AI is a facial recognition company marketed primarily to law enforcement agencies. It boasts a database of over 3 billion facial images “scraped” from public sources online such as news articles and social media sites. In other Read More ›

padlock-china-flag-on-a-smartphone-and-china-map-symbolizing-the-great-firewall-of-china-concept-or-gfw-and-all-extreme-internet-censorship-in-china-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Padlock, China flag on a smartphone and China map, symbolizing the Great Firewall of China concept or GFW and all extreme Internet censorship in China
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
April 28, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Censorship
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The Academy Award Goes to… 404

Chinese citizens were suddenly no longer allowed to know of an Oscar for Best Director won by a Beijing-born woman, let alone see the film
Heather Zeiger
April 28, 2021
7
Arts & Culture, Censorship

As the hoopla from the 92nd Academy Awards last weekend fades, if you search for “Chloe Zhao” on Google, you’ll discover a curious thing: She is the first Asian director and second female director to win an Academy Award for best director, for her film Nomadland. Search for “Chloe Zhao” or her Chinese name, “Zhao Ting,” on Baidu in China and you’ll find “only scattered links to deleted articles about the Academy Award honor” (Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2021). Posts on Weibo and WeChat congratulating her were removed within minutes of the announcement of her win for best director. Rewriting the story in the U.S. Zhao (pictured) was born in Beijing, went to a boarding school in the U.K., Read More ›

changing-the-past-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Changing the Past
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
April 22, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Social Media, Technocracy
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China: Snitching on Those Who Recall Non-Approved History

The Communist Party of China wants its centennial to proceed this year without memory of the millions dead in the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and Tiananmen Square
Heather Zeiger
April 22, 2021
7
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Social Media, Technocracy

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” – George Orwell, 1984 The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was formed on July 23, 1921, so is gearing up for the hundredth anniversary of its founding with the theme “Forever Following the Party.” In preparation, the Cyberspace Administration of China has launched a hotline for citizens to report online statements that contradict the Party’s official version of its history. A translation of the announcement from the Central Network Information Office Reporting Center is available on former American diplomat David Cowhig’s blog: One part of the announcement reads: In order to avoid misleading the public with false statements, maintain a clear cyberspace and create a good atmosphere Read More ›

Businessman hand holding tablet and Yuan currency sign on digital map backgroung.Chinese Yuan digital currency and circuit background.Technology digital Financial and china cryptocurrency concept.
Businessman hand holding tablet and Yuan currency sign on digital map backgroung.Chinese Yuan digital currency and circuit background.Technology digital Financial and china cryptocurrency concept.
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
April 20, 2021
Categorized
Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy
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Why China Is Making a Bold Gamble With Digital Currency

“Controllable anonymity” means that all transactions between individuals are visible to the People’s Bank and trackable by the Chinese government
Heather Zeiger
April 20, 2021
8
Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

Last week, China announced the national rollout of the electronic yuan, a plan in the works since 2014. The e-CNY* or Digital Currency Electronics Payment (DCEP) was piloted last year in four major Chinese cities: The digital yuan resides in cyberspace, available on the owner’s mobile phone — or on a card for the less tech-savvy — and spending it doesn’t strictly require an online connection. It appears on a screen with a silhouette of Mao Zedong, looking just like the paper money. In tests in recent months, more than 100,000 people in China have downloaded a mobile-phone app from the central bank enabling them to spend small government handouts of digital cash with merchants, including Chinese outlets of Starbucks Read More ›

bundel-roher-baumwolle-gossypium-arboreum-sudindien-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Bündel roher Baumwolle (Gossypium arboreum), Südindien
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
April 12, 2021
Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Ethics
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Clothing Retailer H&M Canceled for Revealing China’s Forced Labor

About a fifth of the world’s cotton is grown in Xinjiang, for which Uyghur labor is conscripted, partly through the detention camps complex
Heather Zeiger
April 12, 2021
6
Business and Finance, Censorship, Ethics

Recently, I wrote about the fact that many fashionable products consumed in the West are produced by forced Uyghur labor. Those who speak out pay a steep price, as Swedish clothing retailer H&M can attest. Two weeks ago, H&M was Canceled in China after the Communist Youth League decried the company’s comments on forced labor in Xinjiang on Weibo, China’s biggest social media platform. The comments themselves dated from last year (March 2020). The online vitriol is likely in response to sanctions recently imposed by the European Union, the U.S., the U.K., and Canada on Chinese officials for human rights abuses. Earlier in March (2021), Newslines Institute for Strategy and Policy, an international independent organization, published a report showing that Read More ›

electronics-engineer-works-with-robot-checking-voltage-and-program-response-time-computer-science-research-laboratory-with-specialists-working-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Electronics Engineer Works with Robot Checking Voltage and Program Response time. Computer Science Research Laboratory with Specialists Working.
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
April 5, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Military, Surveillance
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Has the United States Lost Silicon Valley?

Once on friendly terms with the U,S, Department of Defense, Silicon Valley must consider the views of its friends in China
Denyse O'Leary
April 5, 2021
8
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Military, Surveillance

Recently, we learned that China had, for the first time, surpassed the United States in AI patent filings: The development was revealed by Li Yuxiao, Deputy Head of the Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies at the 7th World Internet Conference (WIC), reports SCMP. With this, China is now bolstering its position of being a leader in AI. As per the report, China had filed more than 110,000 artificial intelligence patents last year, more than the patents filed by the United States but the number of patents filed by the country has not been disclosed. “China surpasses US for the first time in artificial intelligence patent filings” at TECHregister (November 27, 2020) Now, people have been claiming that innovative competitiveness is Read More ›

arrested-man-handcuffed-hands-at-the-back-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Arrested man handcuffed hands at the back
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
April 2, 2021
Categorized
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Law, Programming
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How China’s “Hostage Diplomacy” Traps Unsuspecting Visitors

Canada’s “Two Michaels” await their fate in prison in China, hostages to the growing tensions in a high-tech war
Heather Zeiger
April 2, 2021
6
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Law, Programming

Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor (pictured) and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig were arrested in China in 2018 on charges of espionage and sharing state secrets, and held in prison since then. Spavor’s trial was on March 19, 2021, in Dandong near China’s border with North Korea. Kovrig’s trial was on March 22 in Beijing. As of this writing, no verdict has been announced. Their trials coincided with the U.S-China Summit in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18 and 19, 2020, which involved a tense back-and-forth between the two countries. Court proceedings were closed-door and Spavor’s and Kovrig’s lawyers were not allowed to be present. That, according to Canada’s deputy chief of mission in China, violates the Canada-China consular agreement. Prime Minister Read More ›

denim-jean-production-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
denim jean production
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
March 11, 2021
Categorized
Business and Finance, Economics, Ethics, Global Technology
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In China, Forced Uyghur Labor Produces Many Fashionable Products

Industries such as fashion and solar panels rely heavily on supplies from detention centers and concentration camps in China
Heather Zeiger
March 11, 2021
8
Business and Finance, Economics, Ethics, Global Technology

China has been called the “world’s factory.” American companies like Apple, may assemble their tech in the U.S., but the parts are made elsewhere, including Xinjiang, China (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region). Industries such as fashion and solar panels also rely heavily on Xinjiang for their supply lines. Reports from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the U.S., as well as testimonials from Uyghurs, show that many such factories in Xinjiang involve the forced labor of Uyghurs in what are called “vocational training schools.” These vocational training schools are more appropriately described as detention centers. In many cases, they are essentially concentration camps. Many Uyghurs are also sent from Xinjiang to other Read More ›

electric-vehicle-of-the-future-using-smart-electric-car-charging-station-at-home-frontal-perspective-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
electric vehicle of the future using smart electric car charging station at home frontal perspective
Type
post
Author
News
Date
March 3, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Environment
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Apple Is Once Again Eyeing the Smart Car Market

Other firms are jumping in or ramping up and, with the fog from the COVID-19 pandemic clearing, we are looking out at a broader array of new vehicle plans
News
March 3, 2021
5
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Environment

Early in February, rumor had it that Apple is once again eyeing the smart car market, both electric and self-driving. Improved batteries and new environment regulations might make smart cars a promising new business area. According to USA Today, the “iCar” is certain to be an electric vehicle costing over $40,000. The self-driving part is more of a challenge: But a self-driving car could introduce a “longer timeframe” in part due to Apple CEO Tim Cook’s cautious approach to unveiling new products, Ives said. Automakers and tech companies have yet to solve the thorniest challenges associated with autonomous driving. Nathan Bomey, “Is Apple making an electric, self-driving car? If it does, here are 5 things you could see” at USA Read More ›

asian-woman-is-wearing-facial-mask-during-virus-epidemic-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Asian woman is wearing facial mask during virus epidemic
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
March 1, 2021
Categorized
Media, Medicine and Health, Science
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Was the WHO Investigation of COVID-19’s Origin Thwarted by China?

The World Health Organization team was not really allowed to conduct a proper investigation in China
Heather Zeiger
March 1, 2021
11
Media, Medicine and Health, Science

On January 14, 2021, an international team from the World Health Organization (WHO) landed in Wuhan in Hubei province in China to investigate the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19. From the outset, the investigation was plagued with three issues: 1) It ‘s been a year since the outbreak in Wuhan, which makes an investigation into the origins of the outbreak difficult. 2) WHO has catered to the Chinese government since the beginning of the pandemic, and 3) the scientists involved in the investigation had to be approved by Beijing. Two of them had conflicts of interest. When the WHO team arrived, they faced additional barriers to a thorough investigation. They were quarantined for two weeks so they Read More ›

social-scoring-and-rating-symbol-abstract-3d-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Social scoring and rating symbol abstract 3d illustration
Type
post
Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
February 19, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Surveillance
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Face recognition: Is the U.S. Copying China’s Surveillance State?

Although facial recognition (and the resulting “social credit score”) prevail in China, the technology is getting pushback in America
Caitlin Cory
February 19, 2021
8
Artificial Intelligence, Surveillance

In a recent article, I recounted the story of Dana Kurtbek, who has faced harassment from the DHS and the FBI after facial recognition technology and anonymous reports placed her inside the Capitol Building during the riot on January 6th. By her own account, she never came closer than a mile from the Capitol. She expressed concern to Mind Matters News that the continuing harassment may have resulted from neighbors who disagree with her pro-Trump views reporting her to the federal government. Facial recognition technology and neighbors as informants may sound strange to American ears, but in China, both are essential elements of the Chinese Communist Party’s technocratic regime. In 2014, China unveiled a social credit system that Human Rights Read More ›

like-facebook-3d-box-with-white-background-3d-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Like facebook 3d box with white background. 3d rendering
Type
post
Author
News
Date
February 17, 2021
Categorized
Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance
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Who’s Afraid of Facebook? Maybe We Should All Be More Wary

A whistleblower showed that rules are enforced very unevenly. Facebook allows extremist language to flourish in some venues and censors mainstream speech in others
News
February 17, 2021
7
Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance

Facebook is, according to Fortune Magazine, the “dominant social media app,” with $84.2 billion in revenue in 2019, especially after acquiring Instagram. So dominant that government hearings into questionable activities offer mere slaps on the wrist. There is a reason for that, as we shall soon see. Facebook is, of course, a censor but at best a clumsy one. It removed a page by international disease experts critical of the COVID lockdowns, as if they were mere health cranks. Recently, Facebook announced that it plans to continue to take down posts whose claims its fact checkers “deem false” (February 8, 2021). To get some sense of what that means, Facebook censored an article at UnHerd that was critical of the Read More ›

classic-club-sandwich-with-ham-and-bacon-on-a-wooden-board-next-cup-is-a-mixture-of-pickled-miniature-onions-gherkins-tomatoes-gray-background-close-up-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Classic club sandwich with ham and bacon on a wooden board. Next cup is a mixture of pickled miniature onions, gherkins, tomatoes. Gray background. Close-up.
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
February 15, 2021
Categorized
Surveillance, Technocracy
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For Five Days There Was Free Expression in China

Then censors blocked the Clubhouse app
Heather Zeiger
February 15, 2021
7
Surveillance, Technocracy

In March 2020, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Paul Davidson and former Google engineer Rohan Seth launched their newest app, Clubhouse. The app is an invite-only audio chat app that lets users talk in virtual rooms. These conversations can be one-on-one or they could have an audience of up to 5,000 users (the current room limit in the beta version of the app). The app is only available on the iPhone and, once invited, users must use their actual phone number and Apple ID to join. Each user is only allowed to invite up to five people. The app’s exclusive nature gave it the tantalizing aura of the “next-big-thing” among the tech types. On January 31, Space-X’s Elon Musk made an appearance Read More ›

high-ranking-military-man-holds-a-briefing-to-a-team-of-government-agents-and-politicians-shows-satellite-surveillance-footage-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
High-Ranking Military Man holds a Briefing to a Team of Government Agents and Politicians, Shows Satellite Surveillance Footage.
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
February 6, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Military
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Sci-fi Saturday Books: Will World War III Be the U.S. vs. China?

One thing that is certain is that it will be a cyber war
Heather Zeiger
February 6, 2021
7
Arts & Culture, Military

Wired Magazine devoted its entire February 2021 issue to the first four chapters of a book depicting a near-future dystopia in which the U.S. goes to war with China. You can read the first part of the book here. The authors of 2034: A Novel of the New World War have military backgrounds and were inspired by Cold War literature that speculated on the worst-case scenario if the U.S. and Russia had gone to war. The reason for the Wired editors’ interest is that 2034 is no ordinary thriller. Admiral James Stavridis comes with a wealth of experience in how such a conflict might play out. He is a retired four-star U.S. naval officer who has received numerous medals and Read More ›