Private Key versus Hidden Layer
The epic battle before us
Note: This is the personal opinion of the author. As like a weather forecast, it is subject to change.
Every once in a while (more rarely than frequently) an apt metaphor jumps into my mind. This time it was in an epic battle format, popularized by movies such as ‘King Kong vs. Godzilla’ to the ridiculousness of ‘Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus’
Using that metaphor frame, the epic battle movie title jumped out in my mind: ‘Hidden Layer versus Private Key’, likely caused by something upon which I was subconsciously deliberating.
If you are in the digitally-intensive industry (all industries), like me, you know immediately what epic battle movie title represents, but let me explain.
‘Hidden Layer’ refers to an Artificial Intelligence (AI) opponent, that through its models of many hidden layers, seeks to dominate, or influence the digital and real world. Providing advice/narratives (whether fictional or accurate) or creating works from the extraction of others’ inspirations is the fodder it produces that we are forced to sort through.
The other opponent - ‘Private Key’ refers a holder (a device, or a person) possessing a secret that wields the power of authenticity and through signing and encryption can be used to prevail against the sea of fakes and hallucinations generated by its opponent ‘Hidden Layer.’
How the epic battle turns out, I don’t know. I doubt that AI will be compelled to reveal its hidden layers. Similarly, the device/person will likely not be compelled to give up their private key.
I know this is an over-simplistic take, but over the past few months, I have distilled the existential anxiety I am observing in the industry down to this simple metaphor. Now it’s time to use the metaphor as a tool to help better understand what we are now facing and how we might guard ourselves more effectively.
That’s it.
Until then,
Tim
P.S. No AI was used to generate or edit this text.