Have you ever had the feeling that AI is getting just a little be too commonplace?
Could do with some more English AI apps, if you ask me.
Uh
And I think you quite miss the point of the effect of "bread and circuses" contributing to the fall of Rome. It was because millions in taxpayer money were being spent on bread and circuses (like a form of dole) for the non-working poor, and this had economic effects (obviously) when combined with other factors.
All these expenditures had to be recovered from the taxpayer. To compound the difficulties, there was an adverse balance of trade. Roman currency, for example, poured into India and the East to pay for luxuries. Even in the time of Nero, Seneca estimated that it cost Rome five million dollars a year to import its luxuries from the East. In a word, though seemingly prosperous, in the second century AD the Roman empire was overspending to such an extent that it was moving to an economic crisis. When in 167 AD Marcus Aurelius was faced by the attack of the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi, he was forced to sell, is it were, the crown jewels as well as the household furnishing of his palace to finance the war.
When the US government starts spending millions of taxpayer money on Donkey Kong contests, then we can worry about it the role old computer games have on the destruction of modern civilization.
The only thing you could say here, really, is that this may be a symptom of overall decay, not a reason.
I also wonder whether users would be obliged to indicate if they were a competitor of a company, before slagging it off online.
I may be mistaken, but I believe that that is illegal in the UK (or, rather, under European law it is illegal). Of course, proving it is another matter. On the other hand, there's also UK's libel laws, so if someone did post such a review, they could face libel prosecution. It's also illegal to post reviews of your own business/product.
Machines have less problems. I'd like to be a machine. -- Andy Warhol