Larry Ellison's AI-Powered Surveillance Dystopia Is Already Here
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Edit: Now that I think about it you can sub in entire demographics in place of "Larry Ellison" and the above statement still holds other than the usual error from using a broad brush.
Omnipresent AI cameras will ensure good behavior, says Larry Ellison
Similarly: armed guards in gentrified neighborhoods. Old ladies feel safe, I don't. You know. Game theory.
It's interesting, isn't it? When I see armed guards, regardless of the setting, the message I get is not "you're safe", it's "this area is so dangerous that they need armed guards".
I have the same reaction (albeit to a lesser degree) when I see surveillance cameras, especially ones installed by regular people.
My life experience has been such that... I'll worry about the things these guards are supposed to be here for if/when it happens. It won't, and if it does, I know how to handle myself. It probably won't be the first, second, or third time. I consider anyone with a weapon a liability. Including me... but especially 'not me'.
The cameras are so gross. Please don't subscribe to surveillance, talk to your neighbors! If only community were really so easy...
I've actually found that it is pretty easy. All it takes is to be willing to talk to your neighbors. Not necessarily in terms of engaging them with deep and long conversations, but just lots of the little "meaningless" ones. Saying hello in passing instead of pretending they don't exist. Learning, remembering, and addressing them by their names. Asking how they're doing. Asking how their kids, spouse, work, etc. is getting along. Offering a helping hand every so often goes a long way, too.
It seems to me that social isolation is self-reinforcing, and that once someone starts breaking the ice, the interactions that create community start to happen naturally.
It's these interactions that form the foundations of community. It's not a matter of making friends with your neighbors, but a matter of having your neighbors no longer actually be strangers.
This turned into a lecture I didn't intend. My intention was just to relay my observations and experiences with my neighbors.
Armed people that feel they are supposed to keep things under control have a tendency to do strange things.
The external threat need to be quite bad before they are worth the risk.