Where has Philip Agre disappeared, the scientist who predicted the hostility of artificial intelligence 30 years ago

Professor Philip Agre (Philip Agre) in the early 90s foresaw the surveillance of people via the Internet. Back then, he predicted the collection of data about users without their consent and the technology of mass manipulation. The scientist warned about the danger, but then his predictions seemed dystopian. Now that almost all of this has come true, they have remembered about Agra, but this will not change anything.

In 1994, a young professor at the University of California, Philip Agre, published an unusual article. In it, he told how computer systems will collect data about people in the future. The information will be provided completely voluntarily, without violation of rights and freedoms.

This is how Agre described the future, if the Internet develops in the way chosen already then.

As a result, 30 years have passed and everything has come true. After all, now the data is successfully collected by social networks, programs and search engines. They are received by those who know perfectly well how to benefit from them. These people now control the masses, and in a variety of situations. For example, they can force us to buy a new TV, listen to certain music, vote in elections for the "right" candidate.

The Washington Post columnist Reed Albergotti writes about this as follows:

Reed Albergotti eventually managed to meet with friends and colleagues of the professor. All of them are stunned by what is happening and first of all because of the accurate predictions of Philip Agre. Unfortunately, the scientist himself will not tell how he came to such conclusions. And all because the professor disappeared in 2009, leaving home and work. He didn't warn anyone about his plans, but the police found him a year later.

Agre was examined by doctors and found completely sane. After returning, the scientist refuses to communicate with journalists and even former colleagues. Moreover, his place of residence is now unknown. They say he was seen in Los Angeles, but this is unverified information.

The year Philip Agre received his doctorate coincided with the year of the creation of WWW - the World Wide Web. It was 1989. Then no one took seriously any network of computers connected to each other. At that time, even Silicon Valley venture experts could not predict the future of IT. But Agre already knew what would happen next and openly talked about it.

Today it is clear to many that the Internet is developing in the wrong direction. And Dr. Philip Agre came to this in the early 90s. Now the scientist is often remembered. For example, Agre said that artificial intelligence (AI) would be bad at distinguishing people of different races long before the advent of recognition systems. Then he believed that this would lead to bias, which is what we are seeing now.

Jeffrey Bowker, Professor Emeritus of computer Science at the University of California, draws attention to Agre's 1997 paper. It's called "Lessons Learned from Trying to Reform AI." In it, the author argues that neural network developers do not listen to criticism. But it is criticism that should be at the forefront of AI development.

Reed Albergotti writes:

Thanks to the most powerful computers, AI collects huge amounts of information about people. And this is instead of dealing with important and useful problems for humanity. Technologies do not make the world a better place, but sow discrimination, spread misinformation and help dictatorships and monopolies.

Leading IT companies do not accept and are even afraid of criticism. For example, in 2020, the leadership of the technology giant Google fired Timnit Gebra— a leading researcher of artificial intelligence problems. The woman's fault was only that she wrote an article about the ethical problems of AI.

Back in 1994, Philip Agre told the world that when the global collection of confidential information begins, people will not resist it. This will happen because they simply will not understand which of the data collectors is working for good and who is planning evil.

The professor foresaw that thanks to innovations it would become very easy to manipulate the masses and individuals. And what can prevent those who know the preferences, weaknesses, mood and plans of each member of society from doing this? Reed Albergotti writes:

Years after the first articles were published, Agre protested against the mass introduction of facial recognition systems. "Your face is not a barcode," he bitterly ironized about cameras and scanners that determine a person's identity. Then the technology of face recognition in public places was just being born. The doctor wrote that as soon as systems of this type appear in the United States, they will be adopted in other countries. And these will not necessarily be countries of developed democracy.

He was right, because China is now considered the leader in this industry, not the United States. In a country where the persecution of dissidents is known to flourish, AI can find anyone in the crowd and hand them over for arrest or execution. In the USA, the capabilities of such systems are now limited and there is a continuous debate about this. But in China, hardly anyone will do this — there AI works for the Communist Party, which is not subject to criticism.

30 years ago, Professor Philip Agre understood that his articles were "the voice of one crying in the desert." They didn't understand him, didn't hear him, and didn't want to know him. He tried to tell the deaf and show the blind, and it depressed him. Before going into the shadows, Agre started writing a book about the Internet. In it, he wanted to analyze his work and influence on people.

The scientist did not finish it. He stopped working on it for an unknown reason. When Agre's colleagues tried to systematize his works and create their collection, the author asked them not to do this.