250
12 Digital Democracy
say that we are not on a good course to achieve the UN Agenda 2030 sustainable
development goals (SDGs) on time.
It turns out that neoliberalism, globalization and free trade have multiplied global
resource consumption.
2 The lack of sustainability of the industrialized word was
exported to the entire planet, and so the consumption of resources increased dramatically even in industrialized states and per capita. The global competition of everyone
against everyone had created a “race to the bottom”, a “tragedy of the commons”,
3
and the outcome could be billions of early deaths.
So, what should we do? It appeared natural to measure the remaining resources
in the world, where they were located, and who consumed them. It also seemed
plausible to control consumption. For this, however, it would be necessary to control
individual behavior. Nevertheless, some people found it justified to do this. It seemed
necessary to “save the planet”. Humans were “enemies” of the very environment they
needed to survive—and effectively an enemy of humanity, some people claimed.
4
And so it appeared justified to create a system to control humanity altogether.
In the meantime, mass surveillance made its way.
5 The Big Data collected about
the world and us would be fed into giant AI systems, which—some day in the
future—would potentially be smarter than any human on this planet. Consequently,
some argued, people would have to do what this superintelligence recommends or
demands, as if it was a “digital God”.
Moreover, tools were developed to simulate the entire world.
6 In these simulations,
everyone would be represented by a digital double.
7 You may imagine it as a “black
box”
8 learning to behave like you, when fed with a lot of surveillance data.
The world simulator would simulate different scenarios. The best one for the
planet would be implemented. For this, however, everyone would have to contribute
to the realization of the plan. Everyone would have to submit to it and behave as
suggested. We would be manipulated by personalized information (called “big nudging”
9 ). If we would not follow the recommendations, i.e. “mess with the plan”, we
would be punished by negative points in their citizen score (no matter whether this is a
“social credit score”
10 as in China, a “customer lifetime value”
11 as companies in the
2 Why Malthus Got His Forecast Wrong (December 12, 2012) https://ourfiniteworld.com/2012/12/
12/why-malthus-got-his-forecast-wrong/ (accessed August 6, 2020).
3 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons.
4 King and Schneider [2].
5 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance.
6 Sentient world: war games on the grandest scale, The Register (June 23, 2007) https://www.the
register.com/2007/06/23/sentient_worlds/.
7 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_twin.
8 Pasquale [3].
9 I.e. nudging based on Big Data, namely personal data gained through mass surveillance, see https://
www.spektrum.de/kolumne/big-nudging-zur-problemloesung-wenig-geeignet/1375930.
10 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System.
11 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_lifetime_value.
12 Digital Democracy
say that we are not on a good course to achieve the UN Agenda 2030 sustainable
development goals (SDGs) on time.
It turns out that neoliberalism, globalization and free trade have multiplied global
resource consumption.
2 The lack of sustainability of the industrialized word was
exported to the entire planet, and so the consumption of resources increased dramatically even in industrialized states and per capita. The global competition of everyone
against everyone had created a “race to the bottom”, a “tragedy of the commons”,
3
and the outcome could be billions of early deaths.
So, what should we do? It appeared natural to measure the remaining resources
in the world, where they were located, and who consumed them. It also seemed
plausible to control consumption. For this, however, it would be necessary to control
individual behavior. Nevertheless, some people found it justified to do this. It seemed
necessary to “save the planet”. Humans were “enemies” of the very environment they
needed to survive—and effectively an enemy of humanity, some people claimed.
4
And so it appeared justified to create a system to control humanity altogether.
In the meantime, mass surveillance made its way.
5 The Big Data collected about
the world and us would be fed into giant AI systems, which—some day in the
future—would potentially be smarter than any human on this planet. Consequently,
some argued, people would have to do what this superintelligence recommends or
demands, as if it was a “digital God”.
Moreover, tools were developed to simulate the entire world.
6 In these simulations,
everyone would be represented by a digital double.
7 You may imagine it as a “black
box”
8 learning to behave like you, when fed with a lot of surveillance data.
The world simulator would simulate different scenarios. The best one for the
planet would be implemented. For this, however, everyone would have to contribute
to the realization of the plan. Everyone would have to submit to it and behave as
suggested. We would be manipulated by personalized information (called “big nudging”
9 ). If we would not follow the recommendations, i.e. “mess with the plan”, we
would be punished by negative points in their citizen score (no matter whether this is a
“social credit score”
10 as in China, a “customer lifetime value”
11 as companies in the
2 Why Malthus Got His Forecast Wrong (December 12, 2012) https://ourfiniteworld.com/2012/12/
12/why-malthus-got-his-forecast-wrong/ (accessed August 6, 2020).
3 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons.
4 King and Schneider [2].
5 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance.
6 Sentient world: war games on the grandest scale, The Register (June 23, 2007) https://www.the
register.com/2007/06/23/sentient_worlds/.
7 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_twin.
8 Pasquale [3].
9 I.e. nudging based on Big Data, namely personal data gained through mass surveillance, see https://
www.spektrum.de/kolumne/big-nudging-zur-problemloesung-wenig-geeignet/1375930.
10 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System.
11 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_lifetime_value.