Перевод
Язык оригинала
17.06.2025
New technology world
“The human mind is not a statistical machine like ChatGPT and its ilk, greedy for hundreds of terabytes of data in order to arrive at the most plausible answer to a conversation or the most likely answer to a scientific question.” On the contrary... it “is a sur- prisingly efficient and elegant system that works with a finite amount of information. It does not try to corrupt correlations fr om the data, but rather tries to create explanations”
Noam Chomsky The science fiction film The Matrix, written and directed by the Wachowski sisters (Lilly and Lana) (1999), reflects on humanity and the reasons that may lead to its demise. The film shows a hopeless future for humans who have depleted the plan- et’s resources, destroyed the sun, and are eventually enslaved by machines of their own creation.
The film also looks at attitudes towards technology and the increasing separa- tion of body and mind due to the development of robotics and virtual reality. It was believed that freedom was really nothing more than a predictable algorithm inside a computer programme, far fr om becoming a reality, at least in the near future. We are talking about the year 2199.
The film follows the adventures of Neo, a young hacker who was recruited by a resistance movement led by Morpheus, fighting against the domination of machines over humans. Morpheus offers him two pills of different colours: a blue one that will allow him to continue living in illusion, and a red one with which he will learn the truth.
Faced with this dilemma, the protagonist chooses the red pill and wakes up in a capsule. This is how he discovers that the human race is under the con- trol of an artificial intelligence and imprisoned in a computer programme that serves only as a power source. Neo realises that the Resistance sees him as the Chosen One: a kind of messiah who will free humanity fr om the slavery of the Matrix.
Although he doubts his destiny, throughout the film he learns to overcome the rules of simulation. He manages to rescue Morpheus, who has been kidnapped, and defeat Agent Smith aher a duel in which he proves his worth as a warrior and confirms that he is indeed the Chosen One.
Today, the world is witnessing events that make us question the established timeframes. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated automation in many indus- tries such as services, construction, medicine, food, defence and aerospace. Robo- tisation is developing rapidly. It affects not only work (remote working), but also decisively changes the way people live. It seems that machines have gained inde- pendence and now dominate people by invading their personal space. Indeed, there is no human space leh without gadgets, for example.
Hence the claim that in a few years we will have “robot friends” who will live in our homes, communicate with residents and become a kind of confidant who will listen to all our problems, sufferings, pains, anxieties and emotions.
Our observations below address the most striking features of a world wh ere technology has an almost existential impact on humans and wh ere machines are actively competing with them.
Loss of social ties
We can agree with Zygmunt Bauman that we live in a ‘liquid modernity’, which leads to a loss of social ties (people increasingly communicate more with a mobile phone or tablet than with relatives or friends), while “personal space, inti- macy, anonymity and the right to secrecy fall outside the principles of consumer society.”
Some argue that we are facing new forms of communication and social rela- tionships in a society of social networks, which raises the following questions: What happens to identity? Does it blur, disappear or hide behind emoticons/ emoji? Wh ere do words, language, ethics, lies/truths remain, and what types of social relations develop in this society?
According to American linguist and political analyst Noam Chomsky, the use of mobile phones and social media represents a step backwards as live communi- cation disappears, creating superficial relationships. He believes that new technol- ogies isolate people fr om each other.
Emoji language
People talk about different “deaths.” For example, the death of history according to Hegel’s philosophy or, in a more modern version, the end of history according to Francis Fukuyama. Also the death of God, according to Friedrich Nietzsche.
But now they’re talking about something more important: the death of the word with the advent of a worldwide language of emojis.
With their help, a world language was created, the so-called emoji or emoti- cons, which are small images without any borders, expressing and conveying anemotion or thought. These are sequences of keyboard characters used to convey emotions (smile, wink, surprise, sarcasm, sadness, or to send hugs and kisses).
These icons convey what words no longer express or cannot or will not say. So, any person (rich, poor, dark-skinned, blond, white, educated or not, male, female, homosexual, immigrant or native) becomes a decentred subject, that is, a subject in process, immersed in an unreal reality, influenced by the effects of reality.
These emoticons/emoji have become the perfect medium to communicate with people fr om any part of the world as they break language barriers, or even with our own friends/enemies when there is simply no need to write a lot of words to express what can be shown through pictures.
Social media
Today, it is not radio, television, print media or cinema, but the Internet and, in particular, social media that are the world’s main means of communication, changing the way information is disseminated, as they have cultural, economic, social and political implications for the global community, creating new forms of com- munication.
Today, for example, both the Internet and social media have become a major medium precisely because of the speed and ease of access and exchange of infor- mation, data of all kinds, and because of their ubiquitous and global nature. They erase boundaries. It is also a chaotic, multi-dimensional environmentwith a blurred hierarchy, wh ere - unlike television or newspapers - anyone can freely publish their thoughts. The user, more than in any other environment, acts as both consumer and content creator. The “I” that constantly manifests itself online is simultane- ously author, narrator and character.
Let’s look at what some thinkers are saying:
Polish philosopher Zygmunt Bauman says:
“Social media don’t teach us to dialogue because it is so easy to avoid controversy… But most people use social media not to unite, not to open their horizons wider, but on the contrary, to cut themselves a comfort zone wh ere the only sounds they hear are the echoes of their own voice, where the only things they see are. Social media are very useful, they provide pleasure, but they are a trap.” Portuguese writer Boaventura de Sousa states:
“This is one of the contradictions of our time. We welcome social media and the internet as platforms, as a form of democratisation of knowledge and informa- tion. But recently, in the post-truth era, social media and the internet have been used to manipulate public opinion based on what is difficult for the average person to understand.”
The era of social networks is developing within what the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze called the “Societies of Control” – that is, societies dominated by biopolitics (regulation of the species), flexible and changeable networks; where power relations are rooted in scientific and technological innovation and seek to encompass the entire social body, leaving virtually nothing outside of control.
South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han argues that in a performance society, social media is a space in which people need to constantly stand out by displaying an idealised image of themselves. The search for recognition and val- idation becomes an obsession, creating a constant pressure to get likes, followers and positive comments.
This dynamic of performance on social media leads to the alienation of peo- ple. In an attempt to conform to the standards of success and happiness imposed by society, people become disconnected fr om their true selves and become mere consumer goods. Authenticity is lost, replaced by a carefully constructed image that seeks external approval.
Social networks generate a typical confrontation between those who defend them at all costs (“pro-technology hysteria”, as German professor Peter Sloterdijk puts it) and those who consider them diabolical and the cause of all ills (“anti-tech- nology hysteria”).
Social media as an international player
However, today social media have become an extremely important interna- tional player, as many political changes and coups d’état have taken place through them. For example, the “colour revolutions” in some post-Soviet countries (the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004 and the Lemon or Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005), the Arab Spring in 2010 and the so-called “outraged.” Latin America and the Caribbean have also been hit by such coups. And Venezuela is experiencing this, being turned into and has becme a breed- ing ground for such technologies, which this is nothing new.
What is said on these platforms about Venezuela and spread around the world is that our country is a dictatorship state, that there is a civil war, that we are killing each other, and many erudites, progressives and even lehists, including those fr om Latin America and the Caribbean, believe these allegations.
But this is nothing new. For example, a document entitled “Plan to Over- throw the Venezuelan Dictatorship: Masterstroke, released in February 2018 and attributed to Admiral Kurt Walter Tidd, commander of US Naval Force Southern Command, explicitly points to the importance of social media in achieving the goals set. In this sense, the author suggests the following approach: “Increasing, inside the country and through the mass media established abroad, the dissem- ination of designed messages based on testimonies and publications originated in the country, making use of all the possible capacities, including the social net- works. Claiming, through that mass media, the need to put an end to this situation because of its unsustainable essence.”
In this situation, according to President Nicolas Maduro, “Venezuela contin- ues to be the jewel in the crown for the imperial elites of the United States and its allies. The country is also a target for cyberattacks.”
Ilon Musk, owner of Platform X, and Mark Zuckerberg, co-creator and founder of Facebook (fr om 2021 Meta Platforms), both of whom profited fr om the COVID- 19 pandemic and wield enormous power – not only in the economic but also in the media sphere – are aiming to undermine the Bolivarian revolution and the Presi- dent in an attempt to reverse history.
It is important to mention that against the backdrop of the information war that is being waged in Venezuela, disinformation is becoming a powerful weapon. It is therefore essential to strengthen the country’s digital defence capabilities to counter manipulative campaigns and protect the credibility of information.
Are we living through a time of “brain strike”?
Fr om a lexicographical point of view, a strike means a collective cessation of labour activity by workers in order to demand certain conditions or to express pro- test. Let us add that in the world of capital strikes can also be staged by peasants, teachers, professors and even entrepreneurs.
However, in this Liquid Modernity, as Zygmunt Bauman calls it, wh ere the only certainty is the constant presence of uncertainties and voids to be filled, we are liv- ing through what is called a “brain strike,” which means nothing less than a refusal to use the brain and its neurons. And this happens at times when we are faced with an overabundance of information (infodemia) in our global world, which, paradox- ically, brings about misinformation. This is not a fiction, not a fairy tale, not a fable, but a reality.
The schemes are almost identical. Gene Sharp, a theorist of nonviolent action, lays them out in his works Fr om Dictatorship to Democracy and The Methods of Non- violent Action.
Hence, social media is one of the major international players with tremendous effectiveness, shaping subjective opinions and penetrating daily life, family, inter- net, wi-fi, mobile phone, violating privacy, invading personal space, becoming part of everyday life every second of the day.
We live, without fear of making a mistake, in the era of cut and paste, which means that it is possible to find on the Internet any monograph or other work writ- ten by another author and pass it off as one’s own. This is happening not only at the undergraduate level, but also at the master’s level, and even at the highest level, in doctoral studies. Sad but true, in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), one of the professions that could be replaced is said to be teaching.
Today, new technologies and neoliberalism do not call for reflection, rather quite the opposite. The reality is that people no longer read books, novels or even essays. Everything is now simplified by social media, which is also dominated by the “I like” philosophy according to Byung-Chul Han, meaning that we post or for- ward what we like, without bothering to verify its content. This trend has acceler- ated with the emergence of post-truth and fake news.
We believe that the best way to resist the “brain strike” is to return to reading, using the word and reflection, constantly and continuously, so as “not to die in the attempt,” because, in the end, “The dangerous thing about living without reading is that it makes you believe everything you are told” (Mafalda).
The Age of Infocracy
In 2022, South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han wrote the work entitled Infocracy. There he argues that Infocracy can be compared to an information regime and says: “With the term ‘information regime’ I refer to a form of domination in which information and its processing by algorithms and artificial intelligence have a decisive influence on social, economic and political processes.”
In the current era, the supremacy of information and digital algorithms is taking root in the political sphere, which has its consequences, especially in the selection of new rulers, i.e. information is destructive to the democratic process. Therefore, for Han, “Democracy is degenerating into Infocracy.”
For Byung-Chul Han, “In Infocracy, election campaigns degenerate into infor- mation warfare,” with political parties taking more interest in controlling this infor- mation than in developing their proposals and development plans. “Voters are not told about a party’s political programme but are manipulated by election adver- tising tailored to their psychoprogramme. And ohen with the help of fake news” (Han). Therefore, the speeches, actions and plans of political parties no longer matter. Information warfare is conducted with algorithmic weapons.
In Infocracy, information warfare is expressed as political warfare, and social media users resemble an overly docile and compliant herd.
“In electoral campaigns understood as information warfare, it is no lon- ger the best arguments that win, but the smartest algorithms,” Han says. Hence, democracy becomes subject to digital algorithms that can guide human behaviour. Commanding this information and these algorithms is the most effective form of sovereignty nowadays. “Sovereign is he who has control over the information on the web” (Han), that is, sovereign is the one who determines what is true based on information. What is valuable and necessary for the people.
We would say: we live in an era wh ere the technological divide is undermining the democratic process.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and employment
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a combination of algorithms designed to create machines with the same abilities as humans. It is a technology that still seems distant and mysterious to us, but which has been present in our daily lives for several years now, constantly, and continues to gain ground in many areas of the modern world.
With artificial intelligence comes a scenario wh ere, over time, some jobs can be done without any human involvement at all.
AI is replacing professional workers. For this reason, about 85 million jobs in medium and large companies are expected to be cut this year. 80 million of them will be replaced by artificial intelligence.
There is increasing talk that 5 professions are under threat and could disap- pear, giving way to artificial intelligence. Here they are:
1. Education. Business experts say that artificial intelligence can provide effec- tive learning materials to students without contact with a teacher, and many AI companies are interested in investing in educational tools. ChatGPT, devel- oped by OpenAI in 2022, is said to be able to deliver lessons.
They also say that machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, will help revolutionise the education system, and it will no longer exist as we know it. Since AI can recommend content to students.
The advantage for teachers or education professionals, experts warn, is that with the use of artificial intelligence, a teacher may not have to worry about administrative tasks and can focus on the quality of learning.
Infocracy is becoming a phenomenon of digital media, wh ere the abun- dance of information makes it possible to create algorithms that work with users’ data to manage their behaviour and preferences. Digital algorithms are develop- ing the psychometrics of social media users. According to Han, “psychometrics, also known as psychography, is a data-driven procedure for obtaining a person- ality profile.” This profile is developed based on the pattern of information con- sumption in digital networks. Algorithms, together with psychometrics, form a user who is subject to a regime of information. This regime, in turn, is an expres- sion of psychopolitics, that is, it has the power to control and manipulate the human psyche. Consequently, the abilities inherent in the democratic process, such as autonomy or free will, are destroyed in the name of Infocratic domina- tion. Democracy as the power of the people yields to Infocracy as the power of information. The digital algorithm acts arbitrarily and favours certain politicians or parties.
For Byung-Chul Han, “In Infocracy, election campaigns degenerate into infor- mation warfare,” with political parties taking more interest in controlling this infor- mation than in developing their proposals and development plans. “Voters are not told about a party’s political programme but are manipulated by election adver- tising tailored to their psychoprogramme. And ohen with the help of fake news” (Han). Therefore, the speeches, actions and plans of political parties no longer matter. Information warfare is conducted with algorithmic weapons.
In Infocracy, information warfare is expressed as political warfare, and social media users resemble an overly docile and compliant herd.
“In electoral campaigns understood as information warfare, it is no lon- ger the best arguments that win, but the smartest algorithms,” Han says. Hence, democracy becomes subject to digital algorithms that can guide human behaviour. Commanding this information and these algorithms is the most effective form of sovereignty nowadays. “Sovereign is he who has control over the information on the web” (Han), that is, sovereign is the one who determines what is true based on information. What is valuable and necessary for the people.
We would say: we live in an era wh ere the technological divide is undermining the democratic process.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and employment
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a combination of algorithms designed to create machines with the same abilities as humans. It is a technology that still seems distant and mysterious to us, but which has been present in our daily lives for several years now, constantly, and continues to gain ground in many areas of the modern world.
With artificial intelligence comes a scenario wh ere, over time, some jobs can be done without any human involvement at all.
AI is replacing professional workers. For this reason, about 85 million jobs in medium and large companies are expected to be cut this year. 80 million of them will be replaced by artificial intelligence.
There is increasing talk that 5 professions are under threat and could disap- pear, giving way to artificial intelligence. Here they are:
1. Education. Business experts say that artificial intelligence can provide effec- tive learning materials to students without contact with a teacher, and many AI companies are interested in investing in educational tools. ChatGPT, devel- oped by OpenAI in 2022, is said to be able to deliver lessons.
They also say that machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, will help revolutionise the education system, and it will no longer exist as we know it. Since AI can recommend content to students.
The advantage for teachers or education professionals, experts warn, is that with the use of artificial intelligence, a teacher may not have to worry about administrative tasks and can focus on the quality of learning.
2.Journalism. Artificial intelligence has proven to be highly effective in collect- ing data, analysing it and finding patterns. For this reason, some companies are abandoning journalists and replacing them with artificial intelligence. Report- edly, about 50 journalists have been fired from Microsoh in 2020. However, not all is lost for journalists, as even tools such as ChatGPT require verification of their information.
3.Graphic design. The ChatGPT artificial intelligence has also shown that graphic design as a profession may disappear in the future. Currently, ChatGPT can create personalised images based on user needs.
4.Finance. The financial sector and jobs in it will be displaced by artificial intel- ligence, which already spots fraud. It can also provide financial counselling services 24 hours a day and search for potential clients without the need for human intervention.
AI can write code, design websites, and create high-performance user inter- faces, jeopardising professions in the field.
Machines dominate humans
It is worth noting that technology itself is neither good nor bad - it all depends on the ethics of those who use it. We are not against technology, but we wonder: who controls whom? Are the machines controlling us or are we controlling them? What will happen when machines become smarter than us? Will we be able to live without them?
The example of the World Cup in Qatar, which has caused much controversy and criticism of FIFA for choosing a country with human rights issues, especially against women, shows the role machines play today.
Robotisation is developing rapidly. It affects not only work (remote working), but also decisively changes the way of life. It seems that machines have gained independence and now dominate people, invading their personal space.
Therefore, some argue that in a few years we will have robotic friends who will live in our homes, communicate with the occupants and become a kind of confi- dant, listening to our problems, opinions, pains, anxieties and emotions.
In football, which is called the king of sports, we see the dominance of machines. VAR (Video Assistant Referee) is a system introduced by the Federa- tion Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to eliminate refereeing errors. Today, hardly any football match can do without this technology. VAR consists of a set of cameras whose images are analysed by FIFA referees in a special room with monitors. They make decisions, which are then relayed to the head referee and line judges.
Here we can say that technology has been put at the service of the king of sports, and all the controversies are ultimately decided by the machine.
VAR is still used in the following cases:
•When a goal is scored. Potential rule infringements such as offsides, fouls, hand play or other offences are checked.
•In the case of a penalty kick. It is checked whether the decision to award or cancel a penalty has been correctly made. Situations both inside and near the penalty area are analysed.
•Penalties. VAR checks whether the removal of a player was justified.
•Player identification. Sometimes the referee may mistakenly show a card to the wrong player. In such cases, VAR intervenes and informs the referee of the error.
As we can see, we didn’t have to wait until 2199, as in the The Matrix, for the machine to finally subjugate man; at least in football this is already a reality.
Conclusion
In light of the above, the following questions arise:
Who will ultimately dominate our complex world: machines or we humans?
Is it possible that machines will become smarter than humans? And if that happens, what will happen to us? Will we be able to live without them?
If there are huge risks with today’s technology and talk of something frighten- ing, what will happen to the technology of the future?
Should we allow machines to flood our information channels with propaganda and lies?
Should we create non-human species of intelligence that may eventually sur- pass us in numbers, intelligence and replace us?
What will happen to love, feelings, experiences, joys and sorrows - all the things that make us human? Will these qualities be transferred to machines? Some argue that he who works like a machine thinks and feels like a machine. Will he then be able to operate like a human being?
We conclude with three thoughts.
“The human brain is unique in that it is the only container of which it can be said that the more you put into it, the more it will hold” (Glenn Doman).
Noam Chomsky The science fiction film The Matrix, written and directed by the Wachowski sisters (Lilly and Lana) (1999), reflects on humanity and the reasons that may lead to its demise. The film shows a hopeless future for humans who have depleted the plan- et’s resources, destroyed the sun, and are eventually enslaved by machines of their own creation.
The film also looks at attitudes towards technology and the increasing separa- tion of body and mind due to the development of robotics and virtual reality. It was believed that freedom was really nothing more than a predictable algorithm inside a computer programme, far fr om becoming a reality, at least in the near future. We are talking about the year 2199.
The film follows the adventures of Neo, a young hacker who was recruited by a resistance movement led by Morpheus, fighting against the domination of machines over humans. Morpheus offers him two pills of different colours: a blue one that will allow him to continue living in illusion, and a red one with which he will learn the truth.
Faced with this dilemma, the protagonist chooses the red pill and wakes up in a capsule. This is how he discovers that the human race is under the con- trol of an artificial intelligence and imprisoned in a computer programme that serves only as a power source. Neo realises that the Resistance sees him as the Chosen One: a kind of messiah who will free humanity fr om the slavery of the Matrix.
Although he doubts his destiny, throughout the film he learns to overcome the rules of simulation. He manages to rescue Morpheus, who has been kidnapped, and defeat Agent Smith aher a duel in which he proves his worth as a warrior and confirms that he is indeed the Chosen One.
Today, the world is witnessing events that make us question the established timeframes. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated automation in many indus- tries such as services, construction, medicine, food, defence and aerospace. Robo- tisation is developing rapidly. It affects not only work (remote working), but also decisively changes the way people live. It seems that machines have gained inde- pendence and now dominate people by invading their personal space. Indeed, there is no human space leh without gadgets, for example.
Hence the claim that in a few years we will have “robot friends” who will live in our homes, communicate with residents and become a kind of confidant who will listen to all our problems, sufferings, pains, anxieties and emotions.
Our observations below address the most striking features of a world wh ere technology has an almost existential impact on humans and wh ere machines are actively competing with them.
Loss of social ties
We can agree with Zygmunt Bauman that we live in a ‘liquid modernity’, which leads to a loss of social ties (people increasingly communicate more with a mobile phone or tablet than with relatives or friends), while “personal space, inti- macy, anonymity and the right to secrecy fall outside the principles of consumer society.”
Some argue that we are facing new forms of communication and social rela- tionships in a society of social networks, which raises the following questions: What happens to identity? Does it blur, disappear or hide behind emoticons/ emoji? Wh ere do words, language, ethics, lies/truths remain, and what types of social relations develop in this society?
According to American linguist and political analyst Noam Chomsky, the use of mobile phones and social media represents a step backwards as live communi- cation disappears, creating superficial relationships. He believes that new technol- ogies isolate people fr om each other.
Emoji language
People talk about different “deaths.” For example, the death of history according to Hegel’s philosophy or, in a more modern version, the end of history according to Francis Fukuyama. Also the death of God, according to Friedrich Nietzsche.
But now they’re talking about something more important: the death of the word with the advent of a worldwide language of emojis.
With their help, a world language was created, the so-called emoji or emoti- cons, which are small images without any borders, expressing and conveying anemotion or thought. These are sequences of keyboard characters used to convey emotions (smile, wink, surprise, sarcasm, sadness, or to send hugs and kisses).
These icons convey what words no longer express or cannot or will not say. So, any person (rich, poor, dark-skinned, blond, white, educated or not, male, female, homosexual, immigrant or native) becomes a decentred subject, that is, a subject in process, immersed in an unreal reality, influenced by the effects of reality.
These emoticons/emoji have become the perfect medium to communicate with people fr om any part of the world as they break language barriers, or even with our own friends/enemies when there is simply no need to write a lot of words to express what can be shown through pictures.
Social media
Today, it is not radio, television, print media or cinema, but the Internet and, in particular, social media that are the world’s main means of communication, changing the way information is disseminated, as they have cultural, economic, social and political implications for the global community, creating new forms of com- munication.
Today, for example, both the Internet and social media have become a major medium precisely because of the speed and ease of access and exchange of infor- mation, data of all kinds, and because of their ubiquitous and global nature. They erase boundaries. It is also a chaotic, multi-dimensional environmentwith a blurred hierarchy, wh ere - unlike television or newspapers - anyone can freely publish their thoughts. The user, more than in any other environment, acts as both consumer and content creator. The “I” that constantly manifests itself online is simultane- ously author, narrator and character.
Let’s look at what some thinkers are saying:
Polish philosopher Zygmunt Bauman says:
“Social media don’t teach us to dialogue because it is so easy to avoid controversy… But most people use social media not to unite, not to open their horizons wider, but on the contrary, to cut themselves a comfort zone wh ere the only sounds they hear are the echoes of their own voice, where the only things they see are. Social media are very useful, they provide pleasure, but they are a trap.” Portuguese writer Boaventura de Sousa states:
“This is one of the contradictions of our time. We welcome social media and the internet as platforms, as a form of democratisation of knowledge and informa- tion. But recently, in the post-truth era, social media and the internet have been used to manipulate public opinion based on what is difficult for the average person to understand.”
The era of social networks is developing within what the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze called the “Societies of Control” – that is, societies dominated by biopolitics (regulation of the species), flexible and changeable networks; where power relations are rooted in scientific and technological innovation and seek to encompass the entire social body, leaving virtually nothing outside of control.
South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han argues that in a performance society, social media is a space in which people need to constantly stand out by displaying an idealised image of themselves. The search for recognition and val- idation becomes an obsession, creating a constant pressure to get likes, followers and positive comments.
This dynamic of performance on social media leads to the alienation of peo- ple. In an attempt to conform to the standards of success and happiness imposed by society, people become disconnected fr om their true selves and become mere consumer goods. Authenticity is lost, replaced by a carefully constructed image that seeks external approval.
Social networks generate a typical confrontation between those who defend them at all costs (“pro-technology hysteria”, as German professor Peter Sloterdijk puts it) and those who consider them diabolical and the cause of all ills (“anti-tech- nology hysteria”).
Social media as an international player
However, today social media have become an extremely important interna- tional player, as many political changes and coups d’état have taken place through them. For example, the “colour revolutions” in some post-Soviet countries (the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004 and the Lemon or Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005), the Arab Spring in 2010 and the so-called “outraged.” Latin America and the Caribbean have also been hit by such coups. And Venezuela is experiencing this, being turned into and has becme a breed- ing ground for such technologies, which this is nothing new.
What is said on these platforms about Venezuela and spread around the world is that our country is a dictatorship state, that there is a civil war, that we are killing each other, and many erudites, progressives and even lehists, including those fr om Latin America and the Caribbean, believe these allegations.
But this is nothing new. For example, a document entitled “Plan to Over- throw the Venezuelan Dictatorship: Masterstroke, released in February 2018 and attributed to Admiral Kurt Walter Tidd, commander of US Naval Force Southern Command, explicitly points to the importance of social media in achieving the goals set. In this sense, the author suggests the following approach: “Increasing, inside the country and through the mass media established abroad, the dissem- ination of designed messages based on testimonies and publications originated in the country, making use of all the possible capacities, including the social net- works. Claiming, through that mass media, the need to put an end to this situation because of its unsustainable essence.”
In this situation, according to President Nicolas Maduro, “Venezuela contin- ues to be the jewel in the crown for the imperial elites of the United States and its allies. The country is also a target for cyberattacks.”
Ilon Musk, owner of Platform X, and Mark Zuckerberg, co-creator and founder of Facebook (fr om 2021 Meta Platforms), both of whom profited fr om the COVID- 19 pandemic and wield enormous power – not only in the economic but also in the media sphere – are aiming to undermine the Bolivarian revolution and the Presi- dent in an attempt to reverse history.
It is important to mention that against the backdrop of the information war that is being waged in Venezuela, disinformation is becoming a powerful weapon. It is therefore essential to strengthen the country’s digital defence capabilities to counter manipulative campaigns and protect the credibility of information.
Are we living through a time of “brain strike”?
Fr om a lexicographical point of view, a strike means a collective cessation of labour activity by workers in order to demand certain conditions or to express pro- test. Let us add that in the world of capital strikes can also be staged by peasants, teachers, professors and even entrepreneurs.
However, in this Liquid Modernity, as Zygmunt Bauman calls it, wh ere the only certainty is the constant presence of uncertainties and voids to be filled, we are liv- ing through what is called a “brain strike,” which means nothing less than a refusal to use the brain and its neurons. And this happens at times when we are faced with an overabundance of information (infodemia) in our global world, which, paradox- ically, brings about misinformation. This is not a fiction, not a fairy tale, not a fable, but a reality.
The schemes are almost identical. Gene Sharp, a theorist of nonviolent action, lays them out in his works Fr om Dictatorship to Democracy and The Methods of Non- violent Action.
Hence, social media is one of the major international players with tremendous effectiveness, shaping subjective opinions and penetrating daily life, family, inter- net, wi-fi, mobile phone, violating privacy, invading personal space, becoming part of everyday life every second of the day.
We live, without fear of making a mistake, in the era of cut and paste, which means that it is possible to find on the Internet any monograph or other work writ- ten by another author and pass it off as one’s own. This is happening not only at the undergraduate level, but also at the master’s level, and even at the highest level, in doctoral studies. Sad but true, in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), one of the professions that could be replaced is said to be teaching.
Today, new technologies and neoliberalism do not call for reflection, rather quite the opposite. The reality is that people no longer read books, novels or even essays. Everything is now simplified by social media, which is also dominated by the “I like” philosophy according to Byung-Chul Han, meaning that we post or for- ward what we like, without bothering to verify its content. This trend has acceler- ated with the emergence of post-truth and fake news.
We believe that the best way to resist the “brain strike” is to return to reading, using the word and reflection, constantly and continuously, so as “not to die in the attempt,” because, in the end, “The dangerous thing about living without reading is that it makes you believe everything you are told” (Mafalda).
The Age of Infocracy
In 2022, South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han wrote the work entitled Infocracy. There he argues that Infocracy can be compared to an information regime and says: “With the term ‘information regime’ I refer to a form of domination in which information and its processing by algorithms and artificial intelligence have a decisive influence on social, economic and political processes.”
In the current era, the supremacy of information and digital algorithms is taking root in the political sphere, which has its consequences, especially in the selection of new rulers, i.e. information is destructive to the democratic process. Therefore, for Han, “Democracy is degenerating into Infocracy.”
For Byung-Chul Han, “In Infocracy, election campaigns degenerate into infor- mation warfare,” with political parties taking more interest in controlling this infor- mation than in developing their proposals and development plans. “Voters are not told about a party’s political programme but are manipulated by election adver- tising tailored to their psychoprogramme. And ohen with the help of fake news” (Han). Therefore, the speeches, actions and plans of political parties no longer matter. Information warfare is conducted with algorithmic weapons.
In Infocracy, information warfare is expressed as political warfare, and social media users resemble an overly docile and compliant herd.
“In electoral campaigns understood as information warfare, it is no lon- ger the best arguments that win, but the smartest algorithms,” Han says. Hence, democracy becomes subject to digital algorithms that can guide human behaviour. Commanding this information and these algorithms is the most effective form of sovereignty nowadays. “Sovereign is he who has control over the information on the web” (Han), that is, sovereign is the one who determines what is true based on information. What is valuable and necessary for the people.
We would say: we live in an era wh ere the technological divide is undermining the democratic process.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and employment
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a combination of algorithms designed to create machines with the same abilities as humans. It is a technology that still seems distant and mysterious to us, but which has been present in our daily lives for several years now, constantly, and continues to gain ground in many areas of the modern world.
With artificial intelligence comes a scenario wh ere, over time, some jobs can be done without any human involvement at all.
AI is replacing professional workers. For this reason, about 85 million jobs in medium and large companies are expected to be cut this year. 80 million of them will be replaced by artificial intelligence.
There is increasing talk that 5 professions are under threat and could disap- pear, giving way to artificial intelligence. Here they are:
1. Education. Business experts say that artificial intelligence can provide effec- tive learning materials to students without contact with a teacher, and many AI companies are interested in investing in educational tools. ChatGPT, devel- oped by OpenAI in 2022, is said to be able to deliver lessons.
They also say that machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, will help revolutionise the education system, and it will no longer exist as we know it. Since AI can recommend content to students.
The advantage for teachers or education professionals, experts warn, is that with the use of artificial intelligence, a teacher may not have to worry about administrative tasks and can focus on the quality of learning.
Infocracy is becoming a phenomenon of digital media, wh ere the abun- dance of information makes it possible to create algorithms that work with users’ data to manage their behaviour and preferences. Digital algorithms are develop- ing the psychometrics of social media users. According to Han, “psychometrics, also known as psychography, is a data-driven procedure for obtaining a person- ality profile.” This profile is developed based on the pattern of information con- sumption in digital networks. Algorithms, together with psychometrics, form a user who is subject to a regime of information. This regime, in turn, is an expres- sion of psychopolitics, that is, it has the power to control and manipulate the human psyche. Consequently, the abilities inherent in the democratic process, such as autonomy or free will, are destroyed in the name of Infocratic domina- tion. Democracy as the power of the people yields to Infocracy as the power of information. The digital algorithm acts arbitrarily and favours certain politicians or parties.
For Byung-Chul Han, “In Infocracy, election campaigns degenerate into infor- mation warfare,” with political parties taking more interest in controlling this infor- mation than in developing their proposals and development plans. “Voters are not told about a party’s political programme but are manipulated by election adver- tising tailored to their psychoprogramme. And ohen with the help of fake news” (Han). Therefore, the speeches, actions and plans of political parties no longer matter. Information warfare is conducted with algorithmic weapons.
In Infocracy, information warfare is expressed as political warfare, and social media users resemble an overly docile and compliant herd.
“In electoral campaigns understood as information warfare, it is no lon- ger the best arguments that win, but the smartest algorithms,” Han says. Hence, democracy becomes subject to digital algorithms that can guide human behaviour. Commanding this information and these algorithms is the most effective form of sovereignty nowadays. “Sovereign is he who has control over the information on the web” (Han), that is, sovereign is the one who determines what is true based on information. What is valuable and necessary for the people.
We would say: we live in an era wh ere the technological divide is undermining the democratic process.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and employment
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a combination of algorithms designed to create machines with the same abilities as humans. It is a technology that still seems distant and mysterious to us, but which has been present in our daily lives for several years now, constantly, and continues to gain ground in many areas of the modern world.
With artificial intelligence comes a scenario wh ere, over time, some jobs can be done without any human involvement at all.
AI is replacing professional workers. For this reason, about 85 million jobs in medium and large companies are expected to be cut this year. 80 million of them will be replaced by artificial intelligence.
There is increasing talk that 5 professions are under threat and could disap- pear, giving way to artificial intelligence. Here they are:
1. Education. Business experts say that artificial intelligence can provide effec- tive learning materials to students without contact with a teacher, and many AI companies are interested in investing in educational tools. ChatGPT, devel- oped by OpenAI in 2022, is said to be able to deliver lessons.
They also say that machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, will help revolutionise the education system, and it will no longer exist as we know it. Since AI can recommend content to students.
The advantage for teachers or education professionals, experts warn, is that with the use of artificial intelligence, a teacher may not have to worry about administrative tasks and can focus on the quality of learning.
2.Journalism. Artificial intelligence has proven to be highly effective in collect- ing data, analysing it and finding patterns. For this reason, some companies are abandoning journalists and replacing them with artificial intelligence. Report- edly, about 50 journalists have been fired from Microsoh in 2020. However, not all is lost for journalists, as even tools such as ChatGPT require verification of their information.
3.Graphic design. The ChatGPT artificial intelligence has also shown that graphic design as a profession may disappear in the future. Currently, ChatGPT can create personalised images based on user needs.
4.Finance. The financial sector and jobs in it will be displaced by artificial intel- ligence, which already spots fraud. It can also provide financial counselling services 24 hours a day and search for potential clients without the need for human intervention.
AI can write code, design websites, and create high-performance user inter- faces, jeopardising professions in the field.
Machines dominate humans
It is worth noting that technology itself is neither good nor bad - it all depends on the ethics of those who use it. We are not against technology, but we wonder: who controls whom? Are the machines controlling us or are we controlling them? What will happen when machines become smarter than us? Will we be able to live without them?
The example of the World Cup in Qatar, which has caused much controversy and criticism of FIFA for choosing a country with human rights issues, especially against women, shows the role machines play today.
Robotisation is developing rapidly. It affects not only work (remote working), but also decisively changes the way of life. It seems that machines have gained independence and now dominate people, invading their personal space.
Therefore, some argue that in a few years we will have robotic friends who will live in our homes, communicate with the occupants and become a kind of confi- dant, listening to our problems, opinions, pains, anxieties and emotions.
In football, which is called the king of sports, we see the dominance of machines. VAR (Video Assistant Referee) is a system introduced by the Federa- tion Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to eliminate refereeing errors. Today, hardly any football match can do without this technology. VAR consists of a set of cameras whose images are analysed by FIFA referees in a special room with monitors. They make decisions, which are then relayed to the head referee and line judges.
Here we can say that technology has been put at the service of the king of sports, and all the controversies are ultimately decided by the machine.
VAR is still used in the following cases:
•When a goal is scored. Potential rule infringements such as offsides, fouls, hand play or other offences are checked.
•In the case of a penalty kick. It is checked whether the decision to award or cancel a penalty has been correctly made. Situations both inside and near the penalty area are analysed.
•Penalties. VAR checks whether the removal of a player was justified.
•Player identification. Sometimes the referee may mistakenly show a card to the wrong player. In such cases, VAR intervenes and informs the referee of the error.
As we can see, we didn’t have to wait until 2199, as in the The Matrix, for the machine to finally subjugate man; at least in football this is already a reality.
Conclusion
In light of the above, the following questions arise:
Who will ultimately dominate our complex world: machines or we humans?
Is it possible that machines will become smarter than humans? And if that happens, what will happen to us? Will we be able to live without them?
If there are huge risks with today’s technology and talk of something frighten- ing, what will happen to the technology of the future?
Should we allow machines to flood our information channels with propaganda and lies?
Should we create non-human species of intelligence that may eventually sur- pass us in numbers, intelligence and replace us?
What will happen to love, feelings, experiences, joys and sorrows - all the things that make us human? Will these qualities be transferred to machines? Some argue that he who works like a machine thinks and feels like a machine. Will he then be able to operate like a human being?
We conclude with three thoughts.
“The human brain is unique in that it is the only container of which it can be said that the more you put into it, the more it will hold” (Glenn Doman).
"La mente humana no es, como ChatGPT y sus semejantes, una máquina estadística y glotona de cientos de terabytes de datos en pos de obtener la respuesta más plausible a una conversación o la más probable a una pregunta científica". Por el contrario... "es un sistema sorprendentemente eficiente y elegante que opera con una cantidad limitada de información. No trata de lesionar correlaciones a partir de datos, sino que intenta crear explicaciones” (Noam Chomsky).
En la película de ciencia ficción, Matrix, escrita y dirigida por las hermanas Wachowski (Lily y Lana) (1999), se reflexiona sobre la humanidad y las razones que pueden llevarla a la ruina. Se muestra un futuro sin esperanza para los humanos, que agotaron los recursos del planeta y destruyeron el sol y donde terminan esclavizados por las máquinas que ellos mismos crearon.
También se da cuenta de la relación con la tecnología y la separación del cuerpo y la mente, cada vez mayor por el avance de la robótica y la realidad virtual. Se consideraba que la libertad realmente no era más que un algoritmo predecible dentro de un programa informático, bien alejado de convertirse en una realidad, al menos en el corto plazo. Se hablaba del año 2199.
En la película, se hace referencia a la aventura de Neo, un joven hacker, que es convocado por el movimiento de resistencia liderado por Morfeo quien lucha contra la dominación de los seres humanos por las máquinas. Morfeo le ofrece dos pastillas de diferentes colores: la azul, que significará continuar en la ilusión o la roja, con la que descubrirá la verdad.
Ante esta disyuntiva, el protagonista escoge la píldora roja y despierta en una cápsula. Es así como descubre que la raza humana está dominada por la inteligencia artificial y vive atrapada en un programa de ordenador que sirve solo como una fuente de energía. Neo se da cuenta de que la resistencia cree que él es el Elegido: una especie de mesías que liberará a la humanidad de la esclavitud de la Matrix.
Aunque dude de su destino, a lo largo de todo el camino, aprende a superar las reglas de simulación. Consigue salvar a Morfeo, que había sido secuestrado, y derrota al agente Smith tras un duelo en el que demuestra su valía como guerrero y confirma que es el Elegido.
Hoy, en el mundo, están ocurriendo hechos, acontecimientos, que hacen dudar del tiempo establecido. La pandemia provocada por el Covid19 aceleró el proceso de automatización en muchos sectores, como el de servicios, la construcción, la medicina, la alimentación, la defensa o la industria aeroespacial. La robotización avanza aceleradamente. Esto no afecta sólo al trabajo (teletrabajo) sino que también incide determinantemente en las formas de vida. Las máquinas, parece que se han independizado, y son ellas las que se imponen por encima de los seres humanos e invaden su intimidad. No hay espacio humano sin la presencia, por ejemplo, de los gadgets.
De allí que se sostenga que, dentro de pocos años, existirán unos amigos "robots" que estén en las casas, interactuarán con sus habitantes y serán una especie de "paño de lágrimas" para sus problemas, padeceres, dolores, angustias y emociones.
Las notas que haremos a continuación forman parte de las características más resaltantes que cruzan un mundo donde la tecnología está marcando, de manera casi existencial, al ser humano y las máquinas están compitiendo, con él, fuertemente.
Pérdidas de las relaciones sociales
Se podría afirmar, con Zigmund Bauman, que se vive en una “sociedad líquida” lo que genera pérdida en las relaciones sociales (cada vez se interactúa más con un celular o una Tablet que con un familiar o un amigo) o la “privacidad, la intimidad, el anonimato y el derecho al secreto quedan fuera de las premisas de la sociedad de consumidores”.
Hay quienes afirman que nos encontramos con nuevos modos de encuentros y de relaciones sociales de la sociedad de las redes sociales, ante lo cual valen las siguientes interrogantes: ¿Qué pasa con el sujeto?: ¿se desdibuja, se ausenta o se esconde detrás de los emoticones/emojis? ¿Dónde queda la palabra, el lenguaje, la ética, la mentira/verdad y qué tipo de relaciones sociales se desarrolla en esta sociedad?
Para el lingüista y analista político estadounidense, Noam Chosmky, el uso del teléfono celular y las redes sociales representan un paso hacia atrás porque desaparece la interacción cara a cara, lo que construye relaciones superficiales. “Pienso que la nueva tecnología está aislando a la población”.
El lenguaje de los emoticones.
Se habla de muchas muertes. Por ejemplo, de la muerte de la historia en la versión de Hegel o, en su versión más reciente, del fin de la historia, de Francis Fukuyama. También de la muerte de Dios, según Friedrich Nietzsche.
Pero, ahora, se habla del algo más trascendente: la muerte de la palabra con la presencia del lenguaje mundial de los emoticones.
A través de ellos se ha establecido un idioma mundial, son los llamados emojis o emoticones, que no son más que figuritas sin ningún tipo de fronteras, expresando y representando cualquier tipo de emociones o pensamientos a través de pequeñas imágenes. Son una secuencia de caracteres del teclado que se utiliza para transmitir una emoción (la sonrisa, el guiño, el que expresa asombro o el sarcasmo y la tristeza o para enviar abrazos y besos).
Estas figuritas representan lo que la palabra ya no dice o no se puede o quiere decir. De allí que, todo sujeto (rico, pobre, negro, rubio, blanco, con acceso a la educación o no, hombre, mujer, homosexual, inmigrante o nativo), se convierte en un sujeto descentrado, esto es, sujeto en proceso, inmerso en una realidad no real sobre quien se imprimen efectos de realidad.
Estos emoticones/emojis se han convertido en el medio perfecto para la comunicación con personas de cualquier parte del mundo en la medida que traspasan fronteras idiomáticas, o, inclusive, con nuestros propios amigos/enemigo, cuando simplemente no existe la necesidad de escribir un montón de palabras para expresar algo que se indican con figuritas.
Las redes sociales
Hoy en día no es la radio, no es la televisión, tampoco los medios impresos, ni el cine, sino el Internet y, particularmente, las redes sociales, el principal medio de comunicación del mundo, que transforma los modos de circulación de la información en la medida en tiene repercusiones culturales, económicas, sociales y políticas en la comunidad global generando nuevas formas de sociabilidad.
Hoy, por ejemplo, ambas, internet y las redes sociales, son el medio principal, precisamente, por la velocidad y la facilidad de acceso e intercambio de información, datos de todo tipo, y por su carácter omnipresente y global. Rompe fronteras. Es, además, un medio caótico, multidimensionado, con autoridad desdibujada y donde –a diferencia de la televisión o los diarios– cualquier sujeto puede, en principio, publicar libremente. El usuario es, más que en ningún otro medio, concebido como consumidor-productor. El yo que habla y se muestra incansablemente en la web, es, al mismo tiempo, autor, narrador y personaje.
Veamos lo que nos dicen algunos pensadores:
El filósofo polaco Zygmunt Bauman dirá:
“Las redes sociales no enseñan a dialogar porque es tan fácil evitar la controversia. Mucha gente usa las redes sociales no para unir, no para ampliar sus horizontes, sino al contrario, para encerrarse en lo que llamo zonas de confort, donde el único sonido que oyen es el eco de su voz, donde lo único que ven son los reflejos de su propia cara. Las redes son muy útiles, dan servicios muy placenteros, pero son una trampa”.
El escritor portugués Boaventura de Sousa, afirma:
“Esta es una de las contradicciones de nuestro tiempo. Nosotros saludamos a las redes sociales y a internet como plataformas, como una forma de democratización del conocimiento y de la información. Pero en tiempos recientes, en el régimen de la posverdad, las redes sociales y el internet son utilizados para manipular la opinión pública con base en una cosa que es difícil de entender para una persona no técnica”.
La era de las redes sociales se desarrolla dentro de lo que el filósofo francés, Gilles Deleuze, llamó las sociedades de control, esto es, sociedades en las cuales predomina la biopolítica (regulación de la especie), las redes flexibles y fluctuantes; donde las relaciones de poder están arraigadas por las innovaciones tecnocientíficas y tienden a envolver todo el cuerpo social sin dejar prácticamente nada fuera de control.
El filósofo surcoreano, Byung-Chul, sostiene que, en la sociedad del rendimiento, las redes sociales se presentan como un espacio en el cual los individuos deben destacar constantemente, mostrando una imagen idealizada de sí mismos. La búsqueda de reconocimiento y validación se convierte en una obsesión, generando una presión constante por obtener likes, seguidores y comentarios positivos.
Esta dinámica de rendimiento en las redes sociales conlleva a la alienación de los individuos. Al intentar encajar en los estándares de éxito y felicidad impuestos por la sociedad, las personas se desconectan de su verdadera identidad y se convierten en meros productos de consumo. La autenticidad se pierde, siendo reemplazada por una imagen cuidadosamente construida que busca la aprobación externa.
Las redes sociales generan los típicos maniqueísmos entre quienes la defienden a ultranza ("histeria protecnológica", en términos del profesor alemán Peter Sloterdijk) y los que la consideran como algo diabólico y causante de todos los males ("histeria antitecnológica").
Las redes sociales como actor internacional
Pero, hoy por hoy, las redes sociales se han convertido en un actor internacional sumamente importante, porque a través de las ellas se han producido muchos cambios políticos y golpes de estados. Verbi gracias, las "revoluciones de colores" en ciertos países exsoviéticos (revolución de las rosas en Georgia en 2003, la revolución naranja en Ucrania en 2004 y la revolución de los limones o tulipanes en Kirguistán en 2005) y la "primavera árabe" en 2010 y los llamados indignados. América Latina y El Caribe también ha sido víctima de esos golpes.
Los formatos son casi idénticos. El "teórico" de los "golpes de acción no violenta", Gene Sharp, los plantea en sus textos: De la Dictadura a la Democracia y Métodos de Acción No Violenta.
Por tanto, las redes sociales son uno de los principales actores internacionales, con una eficiencia de importancia mayor, al crear subjetividades y estar enraizadas en lo cotidiano, en la familia, el internet, el wifi, el celular, por tanto, perturba lo privado, invade lo individual, forma parte de la vida cotidiana, segundo a segundo.
Y Venezuela lo está viviendo en “carne propia” y se ha convertido en un "caldo de cultivo" para estas tecnologías y eso no es nuevo.
Lo que se dice por esas plataformas sobre Venezuela y se difunde por todo el mundo, es que en nuestro país existe una dictadura, que está en desarrollo una guerra civil, que nos estamos matando unos contra otros y eso lo “compra” más de un “erudito”, un “progresista” y hasta un “izquierdista”, incluso de América Latina y El Caribe.
Pero, eso no es nuevo. Por ejemplo, en el documento titulado: Plan para acabar con la dictadura de Venezuela: el "Golpe Maestro" (Masterstroke), emitido en febrero del año 2018 y cuya autoría se atribuye al jefe del Comando Sur, el almirante Kurt Walter Tidd, se hace explícita referencia a la importancia de las redes sociales para alcanzar los propósitos buscados. En este sentido se plantea: "aumentar dentro del país, a través de los medios de comunicación locales y extranjeros, la diseminación de mensajes diseñados y basados en testimonios y publicaciones originados en el país mismo, haciendo uso de todas las capacidades posibles, incluidas las redes sociales". Asimismo, se sostiene que debe llamarse "a través de los medios de comunicación a la necesidad de poner fin a esa situación porque es en esencia insostenible".
En las actuales circunstancias, como dice el presidente Nicolás Maduro: “Venezuela continúa siendo la joya de la corona para las élites imperiales de Estados Unidos y sus aliados. El país también está en medio de ataques cibernéticos”.
El señor Elon Musk, madamas de la plataforma X y el señor Mark Zuckerberg, uno de los creadores y fundadores de Facebook (desde 2021, Meta Platforms), ambos grandes ganadores del Covid-19, y con mucho poder, no sólo económico sino también mediático, la han enfilado contra la revolución bolivariana y contra su presidente con el objetivo de retrotraer la historia.
Importante a resaltar es que, en un contexto de guerra mediática, como el que se vive en Venezuela, la desinformación se convierte en un arma de alto impacto. Por ello es esencial fortalecer las capacidades en defensa digital del país para contrarrestar las campañas de manipulación y proteger la integridad de la información.
¿Estamos en tiempo de la “huelga cerebral”?
Lexicográficamente hablando, huelga significa Interrupción colectiva de la actividad laboral por parte de los trabajadores con el fin de reivindicar ciertas condiciones o manifestar una protesta. Agregaríamos que, en el mundo del capital, también existe la huelga de campesinos, de maestros, profesores y hasta de empresarios.
Pero en estos Tiempos líquidos, según Zygmunt Bauman, donde la única certeza es la presencia constante de incertidumbres y vacíos por llenar, estamos transitando eso que se llama la “huelga cerebral”, que significa, ni más ni menos, la renuncia a poner a funcionar el cerebro y sus neuronas, y eso está ocurriendo en momentos en los cuales, en este mundo global, nos encontramos con un exceso de información (infodemia) que, paradójicamente, provoca desinformación. No es un invento, no es un cuento, tampoco una fábula, es una realidad.
Estamos viviendo, sin miedo a equívocos, la era del cortar y pegar (cut and paste, en inglés), que, en términos muy concretos, significa el plagio de cualquier monografía o trabajo que fácilmente se encuentra por internet y que se presenta como propia. Eso está ocurriendo no sólo a nivel de pregrado, sino también de postgrado e incluso en su nivel más elevado: el doctorado. Triste, pero cierto, y eso ocurre cuando ahora se habla de la Inteligencia Artificial (IA), donde una de las profesiones que puede ser sustituida, según se afirma, es precisamente la docente.
En este tiempo, en el que vivimos, el pensar no es algo que las nuevas tecnologías y el neoliberalismo inviten a hacer, más bien todo lo opuesto. Es una realidad que ya no se leen libros, tampoco novelas e incluso ensayos. Ahora, todo lo facilitan las redes sociales, donde, además, impera la “filosofía” del “Me gusta” de Byung Chul Han, que significa postear o reenviar lo que me gusta, independientemente de constatar su contenido. Eso se ha potenciado con las posverdades y las fake news.
Consideramos que no existe mejor resistencia a la “huelga cerebral” que volver a la lectura, hacer uso de la palabra y de la reflexión, de forma permanente y constante, para “no morir en el intento”, porque, en definitiva: “Lo peligroso de vivir sin leer es que te obliga a creer en lo que te digan” (Mafalda).
La época de la Infocracia.
El filósofo surcoreano, Byung Chul, escribió en el año 2022, el texto titulado: Infocracia. Allí, sostiene que la Infocracia puede ser asemejado al régimen de la información y dice: “Llamamos régimen de la información a la forma de dominio en la que la información y su procesamiento mediante algoritmos e inteligencia artificial determinan de modo decisivo los procesos sociales, económicos y políticos”.
En la época actual, la primacía de la información y los algoritmos digitales se enquistan en el campo político, esto tiene consecuencias, sobre todo, a la hora de decidir por los nuevos gobernantes, es decir, la información es lacerante para el proceso democrático. Por eso, para Han “La democracia está degenerando en Infocracia “.
La Infocracia vendría a ser un acontecimiento de los medios digitales, donde la abundancia de información hace posible la creación de algoritmos que operan con datos de los usuarios para disponer sobre sus comportamientos y preferencias. Los algoritmos digitales elaboran una psicometría de los usuarios de las redes sociales. Según Han: “La psicometría, también conocida como psicografia es un procedimiento basado en datos para obtener un perfil de personalidad”. Ese “perfil” es elaborado a partir del consumo de información en la red digital. Los algoritmos, junto a la Psicometría, construyen al usuario que es sometido por el régimen de la información. Este, a su vez, es una expresión psicopolítica, es decir, tiene el poder de controlar y disponer sobre la psique humana. En consecuencia, facultades inherentes al ejercicio democrático como la autonomía o el libre albedrío se atrofian en nombre del dominio infocrático. La democracia como poder del pueblo cede a la Infocracia como poder de la información. El algoritmo digital opera de forma arbitraria y favorece a determinados actores o partidos políticos.
Para Byung Chul Han “En la Infocracia las campañas electorales degeneran en una guerra de información” y los partidos políticos dan más interés al control de esta información que a la elaboración de sus propuestas y planes de desarrollo. “Los votantes no están informados del programa político de un partido, sino que se les manipula con publicidad electoral, adaptada a su psicoprograma. Y no pocas veces con fake news “(Han). Por tanto, deja de importar el discurso, el accionar, y el plan de los partidos políticos. La guerra de la información tiene armas algorítmicas.
En la Infocracia la guerra de información se expresa como una guerra política y los usuarios de las redes sociales se asemejan a un rebaño demasiado dócil y maleable.
Dirá Han: “En las campañas electorales entendidas como guerra de información, no son ya los mejores argumentos los que prevalecen, sino los algoritmos más inteligentes “. De allí, que la democracia se subyuga a los algoritmos digitales, que están en condición de orientar el comportamiento humano. Disponer de esta información y estos algoritmos es la actual forma de soberanía más eficaz. “Soberano es quien manda sobre la información en la red “(Han), esto es, soberano es, quien, a partir de información, determina lo que es verdad. Lo que vale y es necesario para el pueblo.
Diríamos: nos encontramos en momentos en los cuales la disrupción tecnológica menoscaba el proceso democrático.
La inteligencia artificial (IA) y el empleo
La Inteligencia Artificial (IA) es la combinación de algoritmos planteados con el propósito de crear máquinas que presenten las mismas capacidades que el ser humano. Es una tecnología que todavía nos resulta lejana y misteriosa, pero que desde hace unos años está presente en nuestro día a día, a todas horas, y sigue ganando terreno en muchos ámbitos del mundo contemporáneo.
Con la Inteligencia Artificial se plantea un escenario en el que, con el paso del tiempo, algunos trabajos podrían hacerse obsoletos para que sean ejecutadas por el ser humano.
La IA está remplazando a trabajadores profesionales. Motivo por lo cual, para este año se tiene previsto que cerca de 85 millones de puestos de trabajo, en medianas y grandes empresas serán desplazados. 80 millones de ellos, los remplazarán por inteligencia artificial.
Se está hablando, con mucha insistencia de que 5 trabajos están en peligro y podría desaparecer para dar paso a la inteligencia artificial. Esto son:
1. Educación. Especialistas en negocios aseguran que la inteligencia artificial es capaz de darle materiales eficientes de aprendizaje al alumno sin tener contacto con el docente y existen muchas compañías de IA interesados en invertir en herramientas educativas. Se dice que ChatGPT, desarrollado por la empresa OpenAI en 2022, puede dar clases.
También se sostiene que el machine learning, rama de la inteligencia artificial, también ayudaría a revolucionar el sistema educativo tal y como lo conocemos. Ya que puede recomendar contenidos a los alumnos.
La ventaja para los profesores o profesionales de la educación, advierten los especialistas, es que con el uso de la inteligencia artificial el docente puede dejar tareas administrativas de lado. Además de centrarse en la calidad del aprendizaje.
2.Periodismo. La inteligencia artificial ha demostrado ser muy eficiente a la hora de recolección de datos, análisis y búsqueda de patrones. Por tal motivo, algunas empresas están prescindiendo de periodistas para sustituirlos por inteligencia artificial. Se informa que, en 2020, cerca 50 periodistas fueron despedidos de Microsoft. Sin embargo, no todo está perdido para los periodistas, ya que aún herramientas como ChatGPT tienen que precisar la verificación de su información.
3. Diseño Gráfico. La inteligencia artificial ChatGPT también ha puesto en evidencia que en un futuro el Diseño gráfico como profesión puede desaparecer. Actualmente, ChatGPT puede crear imágenes personalizadas a partir de las necesidades de los usuarios.
4. Finanzas. El sector financiero y los trabajo que hay en él se verán desplazados por la inteligencia artificial que ya detecta y gestiona fraudes. Además de que puede brindar servicios de asesoramiento financiero las 24 horas del día y busca clientes potenciales sin necesidad de intervención humana.
Software podría verse afectado por la inteligencia artificial. Esto porque la inteligencia artificial tiene la posibilidad de escribir códigos, desarrollar páginas web y crear experiencias de usuario altamente eficaces.
La máquina domina al ser humano
Digamos de entrada que la tecnología no es buena o mala en sí misma, está sujeta a la ética de los que la utilizan. Por tanto, dejamos claramente establecido que no estamos en su contra. Sin embargo, nos preguntamos: ¿Quién domina a quién? ¿Las máquinas? ¿O nosotros, los seres humanos? ¿Qué ocurrirá cuando en definitiva las máquinas sean más inteligentes que nosotros? ¿Podremos vivir sin ellas?
A propósito del mundial de futbol que tuvo lugar el Qatar que suscitó cualquier cantidad de comentarios e incluso se cuestionó a la Federación Internacional de Futbol (FIFA) por haber aceptada realizar ese mundial en un país con muchas críticas del mundo occidental, en particular, en el tema de los derechos humanos y, sobre todo, el derecho de la mujer a ser libre e independiente.
Ahora bien, más allá de esas críticas y cuestionamientos, lo importante es el papel que están jugando las maquinas.
La robotización avanza aceleradamente. Esto no afecta sólo al trabajo (teletrabajo) sino que incide determinantemente en las formas de vida. Las máquinas, parecen que se han independizado, y son ellas las que se imponen por encima de los seres humanos e invaden su intimidad.
Por eso, hay quienes sostienen que dentro de pocos años existirán unos amigos «robots» que estén en las casas, interactuarán con sus habitantes y serán una especie de «paño de lágrimas» para sus problemas, pareceres, dolores, angustias y emociones.
En el futbol, llamado deporte Rey, estamos en presencia del dominio de las máquinas. El VAR, esto es, Asistencia al Árbitro por Video (en inglés, Video Assistant Refeee), es un sistema que ha sido implementado por la Federación Internacional de Futbol (FIFA), con el fin de eliminar los diferentes errores arbitrales y que hoy no hay partido de futbol que se realice sin esta nueva modalidad. El VAR consiste en una serie de cámaras cuyas imágenes son evaluadas en una habitación con monitores por parte de árbitros FIFA que determinan la decisión a tomar por parte de los árbitros y jueces de línea de un encuentro.
Aquí se dice que es la tecnología puesta al servicio del deporte Rey y todas las jugadas “polémicas” terminan decidiéndolas una máquina.
El VAR se viene utilizando, hasta ahora, en los siguientes casos:
-Cuando hay un gol. Se revisas potenciales situaciones de infracción a las leyes del juego como fueras de lugar, faltas, manos u otras contravenciones.
-En el caso de Penalti. Se revisa si la decisión de sancionar o no el cobro de una pena máxima se han tomado correctamente. Se examinan tanto jugadas en el área como cerca de ella.
-Se vigila si la expulsión de un jugador ha sido correcta o no.
-Identidad de jugadores: En ocasiones, por confundir la identidad de un futbolista, un árbitro puede mostrar una tarjeta a un jugador que no había cometido ninguna infracción.
En ese caso, el árbitro entra en juego y le avisa al colegiado que cometió un error.
Diríamos: no hubo que esperar hasta 2199, como se dice en la película Matrix, para que la maquina terminara dominando al hombre; al menos en el futbol eso es hoy una realidad.
En conclusión
En virtud de lo expuesto, son pertinentes las siguientes preguntas:
¿Quién terminará dominando nuestro complejo mundo: las máquinas o nosotros los seres humanos?
¿Es posible que las máquinas terminen siendo más inteligentes que los seres humanos? Y si eso acontece, ¿qué ocurrirá con nosotros? ¿Podremos vivir sin ellas?
Si con las tecnologías actuales se están planteando enormes riesgos y se habla de algo aterrador, ¿qué pasará con la tecnología del futuro?
¿Deberíamos dejar que las máquinas inunden nuestros canales de información con propaganda y falsedad?
¿Deberíamos desarrollar mentes no humanas que eventualmente podrían superarnos en número, ser más inteligentes, obsoletas y reemplazarnos?
¿Qué pasará con el amor, los sentimientos, los pareceres, los dolores, los sabores y sinsabores, aspectos propios de los seres humanos? ¿Se trasladarán a las máquinas?
Hay quienes sostienen que el que trabaja como una máquina, piensa como una máquina, siente como una máquina; entonces ¿se le puede exigir gobernar como un humano?
En todo caso, terminamos con tres pensamientos.
“El cerebro humano es el único recipiente que tiene la característica de que cuanto más se le mete, más capacidad tiene.” (Glenn Doman).
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