FTC Makes a Magic Disappearing Act with AI Blog Posts Published in Lina Khan’s Reign
“The FTC Is Disappearing Blog Posts About AI Published During Lina Khan’s Tenure”
“In an action that could be perceived as the erase button meeting the concept of artificial intelligence, the Federal Trade Commission has removed from its website two blog posts about AI written by Lina Khan before she became the agency’s chair,” states a recent article by Wired. It appears that in this modern era, where tech reigns supreme, the idea of the ‘undo’ button has just taken on a whole new meaning.
With a generous dose of irony, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the very governmental body that vows to protect consumers and maintain competition, has decided to hit the ‘delete’ on its own resources. And not just any ordinary resources, mind you, but blogs on AI authored by none other than their own chair, Lina Khan.
Apparently, apologists for the FTC believe it’s all a load of procedural hocus pocus. Stating that upon Khan’s nomination as chairman, any writings related to her role supposedly detached from reality, banished to the phantom zone. Now, whoever knew that a simple promotion could deem one’s insightful musings irrelevant overnight?
Exploiting this Kafkaesque twist, here’s the fun part. The announcement of this ‘cleansing’, theoretically aimed at distancing the FTC from perceived particular ‘notions’ of its chair, themselves sparked a wave of criticism. Questioning Khan’s opinions on tech giants, it’s like a brush fire around the current tensions between the FTC and Big Tech.
So, one could call this a classic display of bureaucratic backfire or an ill-judged attempt at political impartiality. Regardless, the irony is undeniable in the deletion of posts about AI and algorithms, technologies designed to avoid human error, in an action that can only be described as a human faux pas of the highest order.
Meanwhile, in the doorways of cyberspace, tech enthusiasts worldwide don their Sherlock Holmes caps and trawl online archives to glimpse the vanished writings. Ensuing discussions could create echoes far louder than the original posts ever could. All this digital hubbub begs the question, has the FTC served itself with a generous helping of Streisand effect?
In a world where AI developments pose far-reaching implications for society, treating valuable references on the topic as disposable chaff repudiates the spirit of transparency. When pivotal insights get swallowed up in a cloud of click-and-delete, it starts to look less like an organization confident in its stance and more like a bad magician hoping the audience didn’t notice their slip-up.
Now, isn’t that a chuckle-worthy picture to contemplate? The FTC engaged in digital sleight of hand with two blog posts about AI, while the rest of the tech world hangs on every word. A for effort but, unfortunately for the FTC, the internet never really forgets, does it?