“The damaging people, they know they’re being watched.”
Mor-Don’t
Life imitates art work. And oftentimes, so do tech bro capitalists — although in a fashion that normally makes us marvel in the event that they actually understood the topic materials.
Working instance, there’s a Silicon Valley start-up offering high-tech security and surveillance choices for wealthy people’s non-public abodes-turned-fortresses — frequent theme recently — that’s simply recently secured hundreds and hundreds of {{dollars}} in funding, the Washington Submit research. And what it’s known as? We aren’t kidding: Sauron.
Fittingly, one amongst Sauron’s chief merchandise is its “deterrence pod,” a detection system that pairs with an autonomous drone that wards off trespassers by blasting them with a sturdy, ominous logo-emblazoned search delicate, sweeping over their actions. This hooks as a lot as a central system that offers a real-time, 3D rendering of your non-public residence, whereas human personal security brokers monitor the detectors put in in your premises.
Don’t mistake all this for sounding merely dystopian. As chances are you’ll’ve guessed, the company is known as after the literal embodiment of evil in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” saga. And with its deterrence pod, it even has its private omnipotent Eye.
“It’s considerably overt, considerably tongue-in-cheek,” nevertheless it sends the very best message, co-founder Kevin Hartz instructed WaPo. “The damaging people, they know they’re being watched.”
Stage Mistaken
It is necessary to marvel if that’s the message they should be sending, assuming they see themselves as a result of the heroes on this story. Does Hartz assume Sauron was the good man? And that Frodo and agency have been evil and deserved being mind-surveilled by the omnipotent Darkish Lord?
Probably we’re pondering too arduous about your entire factor. Probably it’s a harmful joke — nevertheless clearly the concern that calling your autonomous surveillance tech Sauron instills is the aim! So chances are you’ll add it to a protracted guidelines of tech CEOs each taking the wrong elements away from their favorite books and movies, or just thoughtlessly lifting names and concepts from them.
To wit: OpenAI’s Sam Altman and the movie “Her,” Elon Musk with seemingly every sci-fi blockbuster ever made, and Mark Zuckerberg naming his attempt at a Metaverse after what Neal Stephenson described in his novel “Snow Crash” — the guidelines goes on.
Because the favored meme goes, a speculative fiction novel may warn to not assemble the Torment Nexus — nevertheless have you ever ever considered that “Torment Nexus” sounds kinda cool?
Darkish Fantasy
We regret to inform you, though, that the Tolkien connections don’t end there.
Sauron simply recently secured $18 million in funding, and in response to WaPoa number of of that money received right here from executives from the notorious data surveillance company and safety contractor Palantir — which itself is known as after the seeing stones from Lord of the Rings used to talk all through enormous distances, nevertheless which can be insidiously abused to spy on others in possession of 1.
What’s further, Palantir merely launched a partnership with the safety agency Anduril to develop AI strategies for navy capabilities. And likewise you guessed it: Anduril is the determine of the legendary sword bestowed to Aragorn inside the fantasy sequence.
All of it makes us marvel: does our actuality need a Fellowship of its private to stop tech assholes from ruining beloved tales?
Further on surveillance: Colleges Are Using AI Surveillance to Catch Faculty college students Vaping Inside Bogs
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