Of course, that’s a play on the line from the movie, Forrest Gump. That life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.

We tend to shake our heads whenever a shiny new thing comes along, especially one which requires people to surrender even more of their personal information.

Sam Altman rolled out his new Worldcoin—a cryptocurrency traceable on the blockchain that requires users to first prove their identity, soon to be available in 35 cities across 20 countries – and talk about security first, as ArsTechnica reported, “Central to the effort is an eye-scanning physical “orb,” which Worldcoin’s founders say is necessary for a future in which distinguishing between humans and robots becomes increasingly challenging due to a surge in artificial intelligence technology. Once users have proven they are not robots, they can be issued one of the company’s tokens.”

@disclosetv tweeted, People voluntarily line up to have their eyeballs scanned with a Worldcoin orb to get a digital ID.

Huh???

As one wag observed in the comments, “IDK about the rest of you, but I for one am eager to trust my retinal information to the guy who scraped all the world’s text, without permission, to program his for-profit LLM. Surely nothing could go wrong?”

Speaking of without permission, re Altman’s OpenAI, Time noted, “ChatGPT and other generative models are not magic – they rely on massive supply chains of human labor and scraped data, much of which is unattributed and used without consent,” Andrew Strait, an AI ethicist, recently wrote on Twitter. “These are serious, foundational problems that I do not see OpenAI addressing.”

Meanwhile, Sarah Silverman (is suing)  OpenAI and Meta claiming AI training infringed copyright.

While OpenAI is being hailed as a game-changer, Cleaning Up ChatGPT’s Language Takes Heavy Toll on Human Workers.

That’s nothing new. Facebook moderator: ‘Every day was a nightmare’

The tech bros never shy away from seeking out the cheapest labor possible, and fair enough, but lest we forget, as CNBC reported, back in 2021, Altman wrote a lengthy blog post contending that “In as little as 10 years, AI could generate enough wealth to pay every adult in the U.S. $13,500 a year, Altman said in his 2,933 word piece called “Moore’s Law for Everything.” So, what would be his problem with providing a living wage to current outsourced workers, and exactly how high is OpenAI’s market cap now?

And precisely how reliable is his wunder product? Said Fortune, “Over just a few months, ChatGPT went from correctly answering a simple math problem 98% of the time to just 2%, study finds.”

We once again defer to the ArsTechnica wag, in light of the claims that ChatGPT will take over millions of jobs:  what could wrong?

Then we have Amazon’s palm-scanning payment platform, coming to all 500 Whole Foods stores near you, Popular Science reported. “Amazon One palm scanning payment tech will be available in every Whole Foods location across the country by the end of the year, according to an Amazon announcement. And while the payment system will remain optional, security experts are reiterating their worries about consumers handing such sensitive data over to a company with a less-than-stellar privacy track record.”

Why does Amazon need your biometric, just so you can purchase a few rolls of overpriced toilet paper? And how long will it remain ‘opt-in?’

So where is all of this going, besides right down the slippery slope of course. As @WallStreetSilver tweeted: China’s social credit score experiment gains momentum Now, if a person with a low rating calls you, your phone emits a siren instead of the usual ringtone. Then there is a voice reminder that a conversation with this subscriber will lead to a decrease in your score.

Considering that we’re being tracked more and more, lately down to our very biology, in addition to all the other information that’s available about us, and despite the fact that engagement is down some 70%, we will remind you about all of the information being surrendered to Meta for the ‘privilege’ of participating in Threads, trust us, the social credit system in these United States may not that far off.

We won’t even get into the Central Bank Digital Currency, which will allow the US government to track your every transaction.

For starters.

Technology may be like a box of chocolates, but we would warn you not to fall for those tempting but often unhealthy confections, no matter how alluring they may seem. Considering how quickly it’s all ramping up re the invasiveness factor, the next you’re tempted to jump feet first into yet the latest and greatest that the tech bros have to offer, to again quote the Gump movie: run, Forrest, run! Onward and forward.