Washington’s Farewell Address first appeared publicly on September 19, 1796. Washington characterized his address as “the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel.” He warned his countrymen to expect “the batteries of internal and external enemies” to be directed against the country. He exhorted his fellow citizens to preserve their union to gain “greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations,” and to avoid civil wars. Anticipating Eisenhower’s warning issued more than a century and a half later, Washington noted the danger of “those overgrown military establishments, which under any form of government are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.” Washington also warned that “love of power and proneness to abuse it . . . predominates in the human heart.” His view of human nature informed his counsel on foreign policy.
You can read the entire speech here:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/mgw2.024/?sp=229&st=text
We have a new A.I. danger. We are not used to meeting believable impostors online. A.I. can now mimic specific human voices, and compose text which mimics specific human thinking and writing styles. This threatens individual economic security; also national security.
An individual posing as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly used an AI-generated voice to call high-level officials in what appears to be an attempt to manipulate government officials to obtain access to information or accounts.
The unknown Rubio impostor has so far reportedly contacted at least five government officials: three foreign ministers, one U.S. governor, and one member of Congress, according to a State Department cable obtained by the Washington Post.
Authorities believe the imposter is likely trying to manipulate the high-end officials “with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts,” the July 3 cable sent by Rubio’s office to State Department employees said.
...each one perfectly tailored to fit someone’s worldview.
"Propaganda has always existed. In ancient times, a town crier would climb on a stump and deliver whatever the ruler decreed. But at least everyone heard the same lies. Now we each get custom-fitted delusions, perfectly calibrated to our psychological profile.
"The algorithm has become our leash, and we mistake the length of chain for freedom.
"[Every customized opinion] belongs to someone who considers himself well-informed, rational, and awake to what’s really happening. Each one thinks the others are deluded, manipulated, or evil. Each one has evidence that supports his worldview. Each one feels like the protagonist in his own story.
"They can’t all be right. But they can all be wrong."
-- Brownstone Institute