That’s what it can feel like, a clock ticking down.
Is A.I. and social-media technology about to take over?
And with it: Will free speech be a thing of the past?
Last week, a video we posted on the social media site (above, trying to reach young folks) was deleted (below) for violating “community guidelines.”
The video looked at Taylor Swift (no need for an intro, is there?), her charisma, the charisma of people in the past (some not so good), and where such supernova charisma originates (hint: often, not Heaven).
We stated explicitly that Swift was not herself evil, but deceived, and passing on that deception. This must have been the work of A.I., for it was negated before there was a single view (and thus before there could have been a human complaint).
Several months before, we were halted from running religious-based “sponsored” ads with Google. No reason was given and there was no way of finding out why because there was no way of speaking with an actual human; and so, again, with no recourse to appeal, and no reason given, we were left holding an empty bag. (One got the feeling a tech there saw what we were about and didn’t much take to it.)
The same happened with Facebook: We’ve never used it for personal, “social” reasons, but every day or two or three would log in for a minute and post whatever our headline was that day. We still don’t really know how Facebook functions and have never tried wending our way through its myriad of convoluted features.
Suddenly, around the same time as the ad thing, we were locked out of our account (again with no reason) and could find no one with whom, human to human, we could speak to (you submit an appeal and wait to see when, or if, anyone responds; odds are not great; even Disney has issues getting through to this titanic tech company).
We put that aside and just opened up a new Facebook page).
Does it matter? We’re not sure. We never put many eggs in the social-media basket (thank God). Simply put, we hardly use it.
But the point: three very major internet players took action in a curiously short stretch of time.
You can add to that the tyranny of the massive tech conglomerates. Suddenly, all of our attempts to search the “web” using Google on one computer are redirected to the “Bing” search engine owned by rival Microsoft, which also intrudes into your machine when it feels like it with “updates” and its competing browser (“Edge”). A web indeed.
Now, it’s important to be positive. It’s crucial not to hatefully or vengefully or vitriolically criticize folks, let alone outright attack them. It’s important to be positive, period. When we are out of balance and too much on the negative side of the ledger, we can bring darkness (no matter how true what we say is). Focusing on the positive reminds us of Medjugorje, where for the most part the Virgin Mary does not publicly harp on specific sins (save for war). It was true of Maria Esperanza, who didn’t want to turn people off to her particular message. Their vocations, by and large, were love and hope. Nothing is more critical.
But one notes that Jesus, Who had His own role, did cite darkness at many stops, and these days, darkness reigns in a way that is becoming comparable.
Is it simply A.I.? Does A.I. see certain words — like “witchcraft” and “occult,” and names like “Taylor Swift” — and deem them “hateful” (even when the purpose, in warning youngsters, was an act of love)?
Oh, much is upside-down, for sure. But this all raises two very great concerns.
- Is this not censorship of free speech — what America is not supposed to be about?
- Can the demonic take control of A.I. and do the censoring
Might it one day even use (“possess”) A.I. to persecute and create a virtual “anti-christ”?
[resources: Michael Brown retreat, Saturday, 2/10/24: “You Were Meant For This Time: As Strange Times Get Stranger”]