Hm. Is this good or bad? Google announced it will be dragging AI into its Chrome browser, the one pretty much the whole world uses. Don't be fooled by the friendly tone of that article singing Gemini's praises; this article tells the other side. The carrot Google uses: It's for your security, to make your browser spot scams easier. It does so by sending the names of sites you surf - and much more - and that more is the devil in the details - to AI servers that will analyze everything. And I mean everything. If you're not comfortable telling a stranger your bra size, Ma'am, you're now going to get stripped naked, proverbially speaking. Maybe even literally for shoplifting by security guards, after someone picked up a grudge and used AI to take revenge against you, as you'll see in this article.
A browser is arguably the most important software on your computer and phone. You can't do anything without it. Who doesn't love the idea of AI protecting them against the dangerous online world? Google got its victims used to the term 'Safe Browsing' in Chrome's settings, and it sounds so safe and makes us feel all marshmellowy.
Now Google announced it will make AI an integral part of the browser, “for your safety.” To do so, and now we're getting to the devil lurking below, Google will collect vastly more personal data about you. Even capturing text before it gets encrypted by HTTPS, like anything you fill in on a form on a website. Your internet banking does ask you to fill in some private details; that should only be between you and your financial services provider, right? Google wants to know! And it is all downhill from here, and here's why.
A browser is arguably the most important software on your computer and phone. You can't do anything without it. Who doesn't love the idea of AI protecting them against the dangerous online world? Google got its victims used to the term 'Safe Browsing' in Chrome's settings, and it sounds so safe and makes us feel all marshmellowy.
Now Google announced it will make AI an integral part of the browser, “for your safety.” To do so, and now we're getting to the devil lurking below, Google will collect vastly more personal data about you. Even capturing text before it gets encrypted by HTTPS, like anything you fill in on a form on a website. Your internet banking does ask you to fill in some private details; that should only be between you and your financial services provider, right? Google wants to know! And it is all downhill from here, and here's why.
By getting users comfortable with AI peeking constantly into their private affairs, Big Tech will thereafter gradually and silently through 'updates' roll out more measures to infringe on your privacy even more. The tech rot is not just creeping up anymore; it had become a flood.
What does this mean for you in practice? Well, as someone insisting on knowing what's going on in the world, you may once in a while surf the more adult side of the web. Like, OnlyFans or PornHub. Just to check that your prim and proper neighbor isn't there, see. Perfectly innocent. But as we know, on such sites scammers hang out too. Thus, Google will record what you're doing and warn you. And… keep your data, like your login details, photos you sent, photos you watched, etc. That includes your messenger apps, like Telegram, Facebook's Messenger, Line, Viper, and others.
Not to sound like a priest here, but it will be a real pity if your career takes off, and you become a main peanut in society, only to then get a call from someone saying “We have some red-cheeks information about you, and we think you will grant us a special favor...”
One can learn a lot about a person by analyzing what photos they look at and for how long. Google's AI will capture that all. As Google oh so friendly mentioned, files you upload and download will be analyzed too. That private work document, that genius business idea of yours, those raunchy photos, Google will scan and record it all, before your device and apps get to encrypt it. For your safety, peasant Chuckie. Don't be alarmed. Just roll over so we can probe you.
Edward Snowden warned us a decade ago, but did we really pay attention? Since then, not just governments, but private sector Big Tech had become one gigantic mass surveillance machine too, with a 'case file' about each internet user on the planet. It's like a credit bureau, but far more dangerous, slurping up much more details about you than Experian. China even has a law compelling all their companies to hand over user data without a warrant. If you use TikTok or DeepSeek, your private details are there too.
Crypto money - cryptocurrency, or crypto for short - is going mainstream. More and more people — already 500 million — get crypto wallets. And those wallets live in your browser as add-ons. Thus, Google's AI will capture your seed phrases, login details for MetaMask and others, to whom you had sent money, from whom you received money. Google will know your exact 'bank balance', how powerful you are, because money is power. They will have your public and private crypto keys, and if a hacker should breach Google - it happened before - all your money can disappear in one second flat. Or if a Google employee goes rogue and pulls a 'bank job'. (Hey, what a great idea for a movie script!!!)
But what if America becomes a full-out dictatorship under the royal family Trump? A democracy just in name, like as is the case in Russia? Then the Trumps will know every move you make, both online and offline, in all aspects. The same goes for Vladimir Putin's Russia and Xi Jinping's China. We already know that Elon Musk's real aim with DOGE is to harvest every bit of data about every American, and he already made big strides in that criminal venture. That immense goldmine of data can be used for so many things, like training his AI, stifling his competition, selling it to Russia, identifying dissidents and activists, and 'minimizing' them.
What am I saying? That Big Tech is currently swinging the carrots of how beneficial artificial intelligence is to us peasants, while they 'silently' collect troves of data at a rapidly increased speed about all of us. If you're not a hacker, you just won't grasp the importance of this. Sooner or later, that data will be used against individuals, that I can absolutely guarantee.
AI can identify your weak points and strengths, and when someone - at Meta, for example - decided he has enough of your bitchy comments about King Trump, you may find your life getting very difficult in all aspects. Your devices suddenly not working, your internet connection speed back to what it was in 1984, your bank account being emptied, your crypto disappearing. And it can get even far worse: illegal stuff getting posted on your social media that gets the police on your case, your garage door trying to slam shut on you, your EV in self-drive mode going down a cliff, and so on. (Is it Mat Damon playing in a movie about getting on the wrong side of the authorities in an Orwellian society? Will have to check.)
What should you do to protect yourself? Drop Chrome and get Firefox from the Mozilla Foundation. Team up with organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Read the news. Resist. Name and shame legalized criminals online. Use free AI-generated photos in creative ways to stand out on social media (and at the same time earn $50 000 a month with it) to get your point across. Launch class-action lawsuits. Organize tax boycotts. Educate others. Get involved in politics. Because none of us has the liberty anymore to just stand idly anymore and let our 'good' politicians fight for us. They're bribed, agh I mean lobbied/lobotomized, by Big Tech. We are on our own, Team Peasants.
AI can identify your weak points and strengths, and when someone - at Meta, for example - decided he has enough of your bitchy comments about King Trump, you may find your life getting very difficult in all aspects. Your devices suddenly not working, your internet connection speed back to what it was in 1984, your bank account being emptied, your crypto disappearing. And it can get even far worse: illegal stuff getting posted on your social media that gets the police on your case, your garage door trying to slam shut on you, your EV in self-drive mode going down a cliff, and so on. (Is it Mat Damon playing in a movie about getting on the wrong side of the authorities in an Orwellian society? Will have to check.)
What should you do to protect yourself? Drop Chrome and get Firefox from the Mozilla Foundation. Team up with organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Read the news. Resist. Name and shame legalized criminals online. Use free AI-generated photos in creative ways to stand out on social media (and at the same time earn $50 000 a month with it) to get your point across. Launch class-action lawsuits. Organize tax boycotts. Educate others. Get involved in politics. Because none of us has the liberty anymore to just stand idly anymore and let our 'good' politicians fight for us. They're bribed, agh I mean lobbied/lobotomized, by Big Tech. We are on our own, Team Peasants.
