2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

12 AI, can be considered an evolved, supreme body of thought. When the knowledge society possessed throughout history, is compared to that we possess today, it is clear that our limits of knowing are far beyond those of our historical ancestors, and therefore our thought can be considered an evolved, supreme version of that of the past. However, there are some examples of evolution in human knowledge that are somewhat imprisoning and potentially dangerous for society. One such example is the local case study of the Chinese social credit system (refer to Appendix 7). This system is designed to incentivise abiding the law, and reduces crime or inconvenient acts for the government – such as petitioning (Hao, 2019). Citizens can earn ‘points’ through lawful and generous acts that benefit the China as a whole, including community service, and donating blood. Equally, citizens can gain demerits for unlawful acts, ranging from as minor as jaywalking, to as serious as tax evasion (Xiuzhong Xu and Xiao, 2018). Not only does this show the development of human intellect in the development of such a comprehensive surveillance and identification system, but it also gives insight into the evolution of human knowledge. Firstly, the system used by the Chinese government is extremely detailed, and hence proves the level to which humans have developed their individual intellect. This is as a result of the compiled evolution of knowledge throughout periods of history (as mentioned in Section 2.1 of this exploration). However, the use of such a system, and for the purposes that it is being utilised for – controlling the Chinese public and disciplining society – can be dangerous. Not only is it an extreme invasion of privacy, and exploitation of personal information, but it is a gross disregard for human freedoms, such as freedom of travel, the ability to work in any job one is qualified for, and send one’s child to any school one can afford and chooses (refer to Appendix 8).