Computers to replace journalists (and bloggers)

A computer with decent artificial intelligence should be able replace some of the most boring aspects of journalism (and blogging). There are already programs that put together sports stories based on the box scores. Computer programs have figured out how to search newspapers and aggregate the links that people will find most interesting.

Computers can't yet write a tough analysis lamenting the fact that the US isn't paying enough attention to Latin America and giving the most recent examples, but they might get there soon enough. Just program the computer to write and publish that story every six months with updated anecdotes.

One long-term question for the region should be whether computers may be able to replace the most dangerous aspects of journalism. With dozens of journalists killed over the past decade, the region could use some fearless AI reporters. Computers obviously would be harder to threaten or kill for reporting on the issue. They could be manipulated, but it would be different than bribing or threatening a human. I see some obvious limitations in how computers might be able to report on those issues, but it's worth asking what would it take for a computer to report on police corruption or drug violence? 

I don't think we'll get there soon and there will always be a role for human reporters on the ground. However, if there was a way for computers to track and report corruption of local officials based on data mining and other methods, it could change the nature of investigative reporting in the region.

Water vs Internet

It's easier to bring internet connections to slums than water, sewage or garbage removal services. That will be even more true ten years from now, when it's likely that well over 50% of populations in slums will have access to internet, television and phone communications. That is a big quality of life improvement and opens up new opportunities for businesses and education. It will happen whether or not cities and countries invest because that is the way technology is moving.

The ability to move high speed data connections wirelessly means there is less need to solve the problem of the last mile or last 100 feet. Cities can't move water, sewage or garbage wirelessly. The basic questions about infrastructure aren't going away.

Whether those slums can access clean water or decent sewage removal depends almost entirely on government investments. That's not to say that the 19th and 20th century models of delivering those services is the only way. There may be some innovative solutions. However, the free market and advancing technology are much less likely solve those problems without some government investment.

Parallel networks to stop censorship

In several countries in the hemisphere, the basic internet architecture is mostly owned by a single state telecom or distributed across a small number of private companies. In many cases, there country's connection to the internet moves through one or two chokepoints, making the potential for censorship or a kill switch by the government quite possible.

Internet censorship has been limited so far in Latin America (at least compared to the Middle East or China), but these potential technical restrictions should be a concern to activists who worry that governments or corporations will censor their speech and activity.

It's quite possible that parallel networks will spring up in the coming five to ten years. Civil society groups and technology companies may look to satellite providers or, more controversially, try to bring internet across other borders outside the chokepoints to which governments have access. Being that telecom regulations are often behind the curve in many countries, governments may be caught off guard by the new internet access routes that citizens find and create.

The censorship battle used to be between big media outlets and governments. With citizens now key producers of their own content, the censorship battle is going to look quite different than it did ten years ago. It's nowhere near as simple for a government to block citizen media as it was to seize a television station or block a newspaper from printing.

UPDATE: To follow up on this, read Alison Powell's blog post on darknets and super-encryption.  The downside to activists creating the tools to escape government action is that it breaks apart some of the open communications of the internet. It also creates and enhances tools for criminals to operate online.