So in Brussels, Belgium, IT service and IT support’s best and brightest gathered. Apple CEO Tim Cook was the main event speaker. But he wasn’t promoting the latest iPhone this time. Instead, he sounded an alarm about tech’s future. It was Tim Cook vs data industrial complex.
So I should say, there is no official ‘data industrial complex’ in Brussels, Europe, or anywhere else. However, Cook warned against how data and our own info can be used against us. Also, he said ‘they’ are turning our own data and information against us with ‘military efficiency’. Cook didn’t name names, but he didn’t mince words either.
One area that really worries cook is AI, or artificial intelligence. Cook worries that if this trend keeps up, tech companies will know us better than we know ourselves. Cook admitted that AI’s purpose is, and still can be, good. But that’s not what is happening. This AI is collecting huge personal profiles at a rapid pace. And it’s getting more out of control daily. The threat of privacy particularly concerns Cook. He told the Brussels crowd that if AI is going to be any good, then it has to respect human privacy and human rights. He called on all nations around the world to do this.
Cook also stated he supports federal privacy laws in the United States. Then he called on other nations to push for tech privacy laws. This is Tim Cook vs data industrial complex. He’s not the only one. Late in his life, Stephen Hawkins warned against AI. And Tesla CEO Elon Musk goes as far as to build colonies on Mars and the moon because he feels AI is that much of a threat. Now Tim Cook offers his concern about this not just trend, but new way of life. If our tech billionaires and leaders are this concerned, then shouldn’t we be as well?