I don’t pretend to understand it, which is probably why it terrifies me.

And doubly frightening is knowing that our enemies do understand it — altogether too well, apparently.

I’m talking about China this time. Not that I’m surprised at the extent of their scientific knowledge and abilities. Quite the contrary. What worries the hell out of me is what they might do with all of that knowledge. And this is not a “some day” problem, because “some day” is now.

A headline from CNN’s Sean Lyngaas caught my eye the other day. It read: “Suspected Chinese operatives using AI generated images to spread disinformation among US voters, Microsoft says.”

As my sainted grandmother would have said: “Oy, vey!”

My reaction — much less restrained — was a very vocal: “Holy crap!”

To quote just the first paragraph of Mr. Lyngaas’ report: “Suspected Chinese operatives have used images made by artificial intelligence to mimic American voters online in an attempt to spread disinformation and provoke discussion on divisive political issues as the 2024 US election approaches, Microsoft analysts warned Thursday.”

He goes on to explain what is known about their methods, which, as I’ve said, may as well be written in the language of another planet as far as I’m concerned. To me, the most worrisome (to put it mildly) part of the article is this: “The concern is that foreign operatives will amplify an already-ripe domestic information environment. 69% of Republicans and Republican-leaners still say Biden’s 2020 win was not legitimate, according to a CNN poll in July.”

And I say: Don’t we have enough freakin’ problems already??!!!

You know we do. It’s nearly impossible to bring up any political issue these days without fear of starting a riot. People become angry . . . violently so. We haven’t yet gotten past the January 6th D.C. riots of almost three years ago, and there’s another election on the near horizon. Our American citizenry has become positively uncivilized — driven by anger and hatred so all-consuming we’ve forgotten how to be decent to one another. And we need this meddling from another country like we need . . .

Hey! Wait just a damned minute! (Slapping hand against forehead.) This is nothing new — it’s just an updated version of an old story. Four years ago, it was the Russians who stuck their noses into our election; now it’s the trolls from China. There’s no real difference . . . it’s just geography.

Surely, if China has the technology to create the problem, then we have the technology needed to combat it. We just need to be on the ball, and thanks to Microsoft and others of their ilk, it appears that we are. At least, I hope so.

*. *. *

But thinking a little outside the issue of the coming election, it’s not only politics that brings out the anger in people these days — it’s practically everything. A little fender-bender, someone cutting in line at the checkout counter, or your child calling my child a hurtful name. Things that, in a more civilized time, would have been shrugged off, or settled calmly and reasonably. But now, someone pulls out a gun and 14 people become collateral damage. What is causing this mob-like mentality?

Could it possibly be that our already stressful lives are exacerbated via the seeds of discord being spread on social media . . . by who-knows-whom? China? Russia? North Korea? It’s not new. In the mid-1900s, it was person-to-person propaganda. The “Red Scare,” while greatly exaggerated by the McCarthy witch hunt, was not the product of someone’s imagination. It was real. Now, it’s just faster and easier to disseminate the disinformation through electronic means.

But it’s our reactions that are the bigger problem here. We have become animalistic, gnashing out at anyone or anything we perceive as being — not just threatening — but simply different from our way of thinking and doing and living. What has happened to “live and let live,” “to each his own,” or the right to free speech for every individual . . . not just you?

*. *. *

Once more, I’m guilty of presenting a lot of questions for which I have no solutions. If I did, I’d be a hero. But I can do my part by practicing what I preach: perhaps being the first candle to be lighted in the dark night.

P.S. It is no coincidence that I am writing this on the 22nd anniversary of one of the darkest of our country’s days: September 11, 2001. Let us never forget what our enemies have tried to do to us before, and how we have always pulled together to show them what we’re really made of. Let us once again be proud to be Americans.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/11/23