allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step — WIRED
"For instance, people with low ratings will have slower internet speeds; restricted access to restaurants, nightclubs or golf courses; and the removal of the right to travel freely abroad with, I quote, "restrictive control on consumption within holiday areas or travel businesses". Scores will influence a person's rental applications, their ability to get insurance or a loan and even social-security benefits. Citizens with low scores will not be hired by certain employers and will be forbidden from obtaining some jobs, including in the civil service, journalism and legal fields, where of course you must be deemed trustworthy. Low-rating citizens will also be restricted when it comes to enrolling themselves or their children in high-paying private schools. I am not fabricating this list of punishments. It's the reality Chinese citizens will face. As the government document states, the social credit system will "allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step"'.
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4 Comments
I suppose the question is, is this just an official announcement and admission of something that happens everywhere? Let's face it, most places have a strong social hierarchy - the US which likes to believe in the idea of meritocracy has an ever decreasing evidence of upward mobility. Restaurants will bump for those with high standing, retail vendors give preference and varying prices (as do art galleries), etc. There are scoring systems for government jobs, etc.
Scary that a government would make this official, but a bit of food for thought on ratings and rankings on apps like uber...
How is this different from a credit score?
Seems somewhat similar to credit scores and social media followers... both of which are mostly based on how much time/effort one puts into achieving a high number for either.
Agreed with D.C. Algorithms will be the downfall. Have you ever tried to find a book on amazon, or been to the store? Started a radio on Spotify? The results are horrendous and a perfect example of why human curation and assessment are very necessary.
The ultimate result or 'goal' of any algorithm let run wild is a flat line with one of each type of product for an infinite number of interchangeable-exactly the same-consumers. What a bland existence. China is already bland and lacks innovation within its borders due to its government's insistence on coercion, control and some uniform 'perfect' ideal. Chinese peoples' only option for uniqueness or innovation is to leave or chineseify/copy some foreign invention.
Any parallel that could be drawn in the US is/will be drastically different based on the cultural obsession with individualism and the inability of government to harness enough resources/organization to legitimately monitor all citizens.
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