Boris and Cambridge Analytica

By the way, I don't drink alcohol, so I'm unsure about the reference to gin.

I am always sceptical.
Which may prove that I'm human!

I agree with you, Callistemon, although I don't think Seamus Milne has the same understanding of AI that Dominic Cummings does.

It's up to you whether you believe I'm fictitious - in the same you could be entirely fictitious.

No, I don't really have any tips. I'm really not that clever enough, although I know how to find the sources of pictures used on the internet.

There are very few people in the world who understand how it all works and are truly ahead of the game. Dominic Cummings is almost certainly one of them, which is Johnson has hired him, along with Matthew Elliott. If he hadn't hired them, it's probable the Brexit Party would have done.

All you can do is read things with a little scepticism. If something doesn't seem to add up, Google it and see which news sources are using the news. Check for any sources embedded within the articles and how things are worded. If no named person is credited, warning bells should be ringing. The trouble is that we all process thousands of pieces of data every day and we can't check them all out.

However, refusing to admit that it's happening is amazingly short-sighted.

What a choice!

Dominic Cummings or Seamus Milne
It is scary indeed.

I am human and if you're off to pour gin, I believe you are too SirChenjin, it wouldn't be wise for a robot to drink it.
And I am off to see if the rosé wine is chilled.

Are you fictitious, growstuff?
How can we tell?
Any tips on how to sort out AI from human beings?
Is Elon Musk real or AI?

Whether you believe any of it is up to you. Whatever it is, it is 'contempt of Court' and totally undemocratic.

Interesting article from the New Statesman

'oday it was confirmed that Dominic Cummings has been officially hired by our new Prime Minister as an advisor in Number 10. The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg tweeted that the appointment was “controversial”.

But it’s not just controversial. It’s dangerous. Even more so than Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister. This shift in tone leaves Liberals like me in no doubt that we are now in a battle for the very future of our democracy.

Let us remind ourselves of what Dominic Cummings stands for. Made famous for masterminding the Leave Campaign, immortalised by Benedict Cumberbatch in a C4 drama, this is a man who commentators describe as either an “eccentric” or an “evil genius”. He is responsible for the iconic £350m a week bus slogan, the lie that the Turkish migrants were ready to join the EU and flood our borders with kebabs and cheap labour and fined by the Electoral Commission for illegal spending in the 2016 referendum. Lies are his currency. At his own admission, “accuracy is for snake-oil pussies”.

He has shown nothing but contempt for our judicial system, and parliament, indeed any vehicle that asks questions of him and his methods and sees the eyes of scrutiny set upon him. Not even the disintegrated and discredited Cambridge Analytica refused to be questioned by the DCMS select committee; not even Rupert Murdoch. '

SirChenjin your name makes me smile although it did take me a while before I twigged on!
I hadn't thought of the 'gin' one though!

Perhaps Boris was in their offices but he didn't inhale.

I refuse to answer that grow on the grounds that you are probably not real. In fact - are any of us on here real?

And on that note, I'm going to put down my Boris bashing stick and head to the fridge for that pink gin that's got my name on it. Chin chin!

In addition to harvesting data, so that ads can be targeted, there is also the question of Artificial Intelligence. How many people are aware that some of the "news" stories they read are in fact created by Artificial Intelligence? There are some very clever apps which produce stories which seem totally authentic. However, if you search for a validated source, there is none. These stories can be debunked, but social media means they are around the world in seconds and it's hard to "undo" them. One of the most powerful of these apps is called Friendly AI - it is known that Boris Johnson's advisor, Dominic Cummings, is involved in a company called Friendly AI, founded by Elon Musk. I also wonder how many people are aware that many of the user IDs on social media are totally fictitious and not even human. Their comments are produced by AI to support a particular political stance. They are becoming increasingly difficult to identify. Newspapers don't have the army of the journalists they once had, so often use syndicated news, which is sometimes "sold" news from agencies. Don't believe anything, unless you check the source.

Not CA, that's for sure.

What I want to know who brainwashed all the Remainers to vote remain works both ways lol. You'd have to be brainwashed or brain dead to vote for Jo Swindon.

Tongue in cheek post by the way ?

And yet the Leave campaign and Trump have been most heavily implicated in the CA (which was run by an American hedge-fund manager who supports many right wing causes) scandal.

But hey, BJ says he doesn't know why he was at their offices, so y'know <shrug>

www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40006721

"Labour activist is using dating app Tinder to encourage people to register to vote in the general election ahead of the midnight deadline."

It's all around you folks.

I'm sure ALL parties are collecting your information.

Do any of you have ads popping up on Gransnet? Have a look at them. I've had 2 in the last hour - one for a hand held steamer and another for per insurance.

Why do you think it might be? Could it be anything to do with the threads I'm on perhaps? I wonder...

Do a bit of research and if you still think that CA didn't sway the vote one way then fine, but I have to say that's not the view shared by many experts.

The Great Hack documentary is a really good start

www.facebook.com/TheGreatHackFilm/videos/347734312835472/

Your right and prerogative- perhaps give it a bit more thought and time, do a bit of independent research.

I’m not his supporter jura or Trumps, but I thought it was rubbish, am sure most people would.

I can categorically state that nobody influenced my vote.
I didn't want to join the EEC in the first place but like millions of others I thought: oh well, we're in in now.
But then Maarstrict came along and that was it for me.
And then to make my hatred for the institution that is the eu they brought in the Lisbon treaty.

Finding information which you yourself choose to search for, is one thing. Being directly targetted because f your profile, is a VERY different kettle of stinking fish- certainly in politics.

The evidence was given during evidence to MPs by a former senior exec at Cambridge Analytica Britanny Kaiser who was at the official launch of the LeaveEU campaign sat next to Arron Banks on the top table.

Of course, many people who voted Leave did so totally freely, but it is clear and undeniable that many people, from very specific background- were strongly 'targetted' in many ways. Or course his supporters, just like Trump's- will shout loudly 'rubbish' - and it is all part of this truly worrying new reality.

Previous Post

"There is a fight going on for your personal data, which is now being weaponised in order to manipulate you into voting the way those people who have bought your data want you to."
----

Whether it be Cambridge Analytica, wasn't there something to do with others like Barack Obama, or other data collecting outfits the point is it is widely used.

An example:-

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/labour-launches-clever-tool-to-find-out-your-nhs-baby-number-and-harvests-thousands-of-emails-in-the-9587636.html

The reason you find so much information for free is because YOU are the commodity.

lemongrove Maw and GG13
?????? ???

If you do some reading on CA it's fascinating - well, horrifying and fascinating in equal measures.