China hit maximum tech dystopia a long time ago. Now they can enjoy tech because they know its already maximally invasive and there is nothing they can do.

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InsideOutSanta 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Last time I went to China, a friend left her phone in a taxi (I guess a "didi") near a train station. She ran to the train station's police station, pestered them into looking at the recordings, got them to tell her the license plate of the car, and figure out how to call the driver. Her phone was back 20 minutes later.

If you're going to be surveilled 24/7, at least you gotta make it work for you.

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traceroute66 5 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

> If you're going to be surveilled 24/7, at least you gotta make it work for you.

I don't get it.

There was CCTV at the station, your friend arrived in a taxi. And we're supposed to be amazed you can call up the taxi company and quote a numberplate off CCTV ?

Can be done anywhere in the world.

Would have been far more impressive story if she had arrived in a private car, dropped off by a work colleague or something.

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aitchnyu 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> figure out how to call the driver

Which country are you in where you cant take "call the driver" for granted?

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smw 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Going from license plate to phone number would be one hell of an endeavor in most US states.

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axus 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I expect the US police to have this capability; < 1% expectation that they would share it with a random citizen who walked in.

	▲	taneq 41 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		“Powerless to help you, not powerless to harm you.”

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InsideOutSanta 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I don't quite understand the question. If she had had her phone, she could have called the driver using the information from the didi app, but she had no phone, so she didn't know who to call.

	▲	taneq 41 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Herself, I’d have thought.

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yogthos 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

They can enjoy tech because people see tech improving every aspect of their lives. Nowhere in the the world have people ever seen the rate of technological progress that people in China have. Imagine going from having practically no electronics, to everyone having a cellphone, self driving cars, high speed rail across the whole country, drone delivery, and so on. Naturally, people who've seen technology dramatically improve every aspect of their lives would be optimistic that further technological progress will bring even better life.

Meanwhile, in the west, the standard of living has been eroding for the majority of the population. Technological progress is associated with layoffs, loss of agency at the workplace, and diminishing life prospects. So, it's no surprise that there is growing opposition to AI.

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derac 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

That makes a lot of sense.