Thursday, August 19, 2010

in 2046 journalism died. The machines took over

My city friend runs his investment portfolio according to Fibonacci's numbers. Yes, your invested cash is being moved around by his machine programmed to look for patterns theorised by a 12th century mathematician.

A machine now can, using the the proportions of the golden ratio, tell a master piece from a flawed painting and the weather tomorrow is determined by modelling.

News of course is indeterminate, but generally speaking its classification follows tested rules. The rest is human emotion.

In Spielberg's A1 David is everything but bereft of emotion. In British Politics, as each party equivocates about what they would do next, we might say the machines, Data, have arrived in all but physical form.

They're programmed to say the same thing:
So how will you bring down the budget deficit
A: We've built five new schools
Do you think the pubic trust you
A: go to answer 1.

And according to Nick Davies, FLat Earth, the machinary of PR masquerading as news has already taken over.

So in 2046 when the bulk of data we consume is offered by machines, don't be alarmed, and don't say it can't happen. 10 quid, lets talk again in 2020 to see where we are. I buy the drinks if there's no hint of it.

How do we stop it, by giving a ******

As close back as the 90s and Thatchers poll tax we did.

Now it's ideological movements about the "big brother". You think journalism's dying? Yes it is, because at the point when we fail to take risks to do best what nosey parkers do, then the machines will have taken over, and they may not have to be clad in shiny terminator suits.