Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Brother watching you at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games
Artificial Intelligence, among the general public, continues to be associated with human-like robots or autonomous machines such as the sentinels that create havoc in movies such as the Matrix. However, such AI are examples of (still) futuristic ‘strong’ AI where sentient machines can perform at near, or even beyond human creative and complex performance. The most common current day AI can be described as ‘weak’ AI and really is all around us. Google Maps guiding your car onto the fastest route towards your destination, or your Apple watch reminding you that it is time to get up and move. AI in that regard is ‘intelligence’ that mirrors human decision-making, using algorithms that turn various data inputs into information that allows machines/technology to sense, act, and even learn. The wide application of machine learning algorithms and rapidly increasing computing processing power have also made sport organisations acutely aware of the opportunities that AI offers to improve efficiencies and performance – on and off the playing field.
It is argued in that regard, that the benefits of leveraging the power of AI can take different forms. This ranges from optimising business or technical decision making to enhancing athlete/team performance to increasing demand for attendance at sporting events. Applications of AI can be seen in game activity and analytics, talent identification, training and coaching for high performance, but also in fan and business focused applications.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, various AI driven technologies were deployed to run the Games. Robots prepared and served food in a COVID-19 safe way, they delivered packages and cleaned venues. The ‘My 2022’ app was used by all 35,000 athletes, journalists and support staff, with a focus on health monitoring, but with transport, navigation and language translation applications as well. Smart beds monitored the body signature of athletes in regard to their heart rate and breathing patterns.
However, one of the more controversial uses of AI at the Beijing Olympics was the widely reported monitoring by the Chinese government of those who criticize the regime. This is not limited to Chinese athletes. The My 2022 app itself monitored a list of politically sensitive words. This information gathering only seems to be the tip of the iceberg.
As reported by The Diplomat, China’s efforts to control the narrative and protect China’s image in the rest of the world takes the government to great lengths to achieve this. First of all, Chinese citizens only have limited access to the internet, and to a selected range of social media apps. They are kept in the dark about many things that are happening (and how they happen) in the rest of the world. Information provided by athletes on their visa applications has been collected and used to create athlete profiles that in turn inform search algorithms that seek to identify if athletes are either ‘friends’ or ‘foes’ of China. Data derived from cell-phone conversations and messaging is fed into the algorithms to pick up issues related to freedom of speech, democracy, Hong Kong, or gender issues and this information is used to deepen the developed personal profiles. This is why it has been reported that athletes brought burner phones to the Olympics, to avoid being tracked and traced.
It can be argued that the Chinese government for long has carefully managed to control information flows in and out of the country, and what it allows it citizens to say or not say about the regime and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, not until the rapid acceleration of AI driven technology, has it had the ability to closely monitor – at the N=1 level – the movements and communication of both Chinese and foreign nationals. It has allowed China to become, what The Diplomat describes as the world’s first digital authoritarian nation. Ironically, because the Winter Olympics remain one of the highest profile events organised on the planet, China has put itself in full view of the global public in their efforts to communicate an image of excellence, openness and high performance.
The influence and impact of AI on our lives will continue to accelerate and grow. Many benefits, efficiencies and value will be delivered. We just have to hope that in regard to the ability of people and communities’ access to information and freedom of expression, machines will ultimately be smarter than humans, and offer genuine equality and inclusion in the digital space.