“Black Mirror is a show about weak people using powerful tools”
– Charlie Brooker, creator of Black Mirror
In the past few years, technology has transformed our lives completely. We didn’t have time to stop, think about it, and question what’s happening around us. In every home, on every desk, in every living room, in everybody’s hand: a screen or a smartphone. We all got our own black mirrors surrounding us (Allal-Chérif, 2019).
Black Mirror, who doesn’t know it? The show is set in a world which seems only minutes away from our own. It shows how modern technologies can create value in our lives, but also how these technologies can backfire at us (IMDb, 2019). Every episode is set in a different universe and covers different topics like our obsessions with social media, the end of our privacy, fake news, and transhumanism.
Where some episodes of Black Mirror seem far-fetched, multiple technologies covered in the show are slowly coming to life.
Nosedive (Season 3, Episode 1):
This episode covers social media ratings. What would happen if your social media ranking determines your living standard? This would mean that a high social media rating gives you the ability to purchase a beautiful home, receive a higher loan, and gives you access to exclusive events. On the other hand, this also means that if you have a low social media rating, you may be unable to get your dreamhouse, or get a loan so that you can go to University (Khara, 2019).
As disturbing and far-fetched this may seem, it unfortunately is becoming reality. The Chinese government is introducing a similar social credit scoring system by 2020. This system will rate the Chinese citizen’s trustworthiness based on all kinds of personal data (Marr, 2019). For example: your financial situation, social media activities, health records, legal matters, what you buy online, and even your friends. This rating can go up and down, based on your actions. If you purchase diapers your score might get higher because the system assumes you’re a caregiver. Do you buy a lot of alcohol? This might lower your score since the system assumes you’re irresponsible. Do you play video games? Don’t cheat, the system will know! Crossing a red light, even when the street is empty? Don’t do it, cameras will recognize your face and lower your score significantly. Helping an elderly across the street? Bonus points!
While I find this rating system very disturbing, and probably most people in the world would freak out if this system would be implemented. But there are a lot of others that actually see this technology as a utopia to promote good citizenship. I highly doubt this system would help, but stranger things have happened. Where do you stand?
References:
https://blog.usejournal.com/glimpses-of-futures-design-in-black-mirror-53d8746e04c9
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2085059/plotsummary
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/01/21/chinese-social-credit-score-utopian-big-data-bliss-or-black-mirror-on-steroids/#4172069a48b8
https://theconversation.com/black-mirror-the-dark-side-of-technology-118298
Hi Michelle,
Very interesting article! I was also surprised, when I watched this episode and started to think what would be if that was actually implemented. When you have a high status you can get all the benefits of life and all the things you dream about like a nice house, exclusive parties and the ability to buy anything you want. But that also means once you do something wrong, or what the system does not allow you, you immedietely lose high ranking and become abandoned. What is the cost of it? And how about the ones with lower status, do they have to suffer and be excluded from society? Can one mistake completely ruin their life?
Concerning the other point of being monitored, would that be even legal, especially in Europe with the GDPR regulation? It is interesting to see that it is being tried in China, where they have completely different laws and regulations. Besides, China is quite far in terms of technological advancement than the rest of the world.
While some episodes of “Black Mirror” as you said might indeed become our future, the implementation of this one with ranking system in Europe, I really doubt, it seems too bizarre.
Hi Yana, thanks for your response! It’s bizarre right, I know. But actually the camera’s China is using for this, are already being used in Europe and the US as well. The cameras are (in Europe at least) not linked to a database that can actually recognize who you are, but it is step 1 in the process. However, I do agree with you that being monitored 24/7 by the government (and other organisations) seems too bizarre for Europe and the US. Definitely after the episode of Black Mirror, people realised how terrifying such technologies are. So I agree with you, and I hope, that this ranking system will never reach Europe.
Hi Michelle,
Interesting topic! Personally, I can understand that a credit system can be useful for some sectors. It gives financial institutions and insurance companies the opportunity to check your (financial) reliability, and ratings even play a big part in the business model of Uber.
However, addressing the idea of the Chinese social credit scoring system that you mentioned, such a system seems a bit extravagant to me. I think that crediting almost every aspect of a citizen’s life kind of crosses the line. My main question is: does the system also takes the motivation of people to act in a certain way into account? For example, some people purchase drugs for a medicinal purpose, which doesn’t necessarily has to be labeled as ‘bad behavior’. Will the system know this? Or will it label this action as ‘bad behavior’ anyway? Next to that, I can imagine that such a system can be very stressful. You can’t run through a red light, because you will get a bad score, but if you don’t you will be late at work, which will probably also result in a bad score. It seems very tiring to have to think about everything you do 24/7. Third, privacy and transparency of such a system can also be a huge issue. Currently, there is no country wide scoring system but a lot of private systems that collect data with no (or little) protection and transparency. But can such a system even guarantee this protection and transparency.
To conclude, I think that if China really wants to implement this system, it still has a long way to go!
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-social-credit-system-explained
Hi Milou,
thanks for your response! I don’t know the details about the system in China, so I totally agree with you! If they would implement it in 2020 or even sooner, I guess a lot of problems are going to arise. We will see 😉
HI Michelle!
There are many aspects about the social credit system in China you described that are unsettling to say the least. But in reality, a system resembling the Black Mirror episode is nowhere near what is being tested right now and it may never be.
At this moment, the technology is not sophisticated enough and the data inaccuracy still too high. Even if these functional issues were resolved, resulting in one nationally coordinated system, you’ll still have to get caught red-handed first and be reported by someone else. Because a working facial recognition camera is not likely to be on every street corner in the entire country.
But what if it will all work one day, it might increase the social obedience of most citizens on one side, but it could also lead to a the (illegal) opportunities to benefit from this system seem endless. Will it lead to the desired effect? I totally agree with you, it will not probably not help, it might even have the opposite effects. You could pay someone to buy your alcohol, use their videogame account or do social work under your name. The people in this business might get the lowest social ratings but will probably get rich quick…
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-social-credit-system-explained
https://www.businessinsider.nl/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4?international=true&r=US
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/16/chinas-orwellian-social-credit-score-isnt-real/
HI Anouk, thanks for your response! ?
I totally agree with you, the system is definitely not perfect yet and will cause a lot of problems in the beginning. Adding to the ending of your response, think about the increase of identity theft. Maybe people are willing to give up their social status for a lot of money, but why not steal somebody’s identity so that your own social score stays high and you earn a lot of money too. Win-win, it would seem. I’m actually quite interested in this system and what problems arise after it’s being implemented. But hopefully we won’t see it in Europe.
Dear Michelle,
Interesting Article! With Black Mirror, Brooker (producer and co-writer) clearly attends to the societal values inherent to the consequences of technological advancement.The episodes force us to think about our position in society and the direction in which we are heading. Subsequently, this direction worries us. Is this wat we actually want to happen? For most episodes, the answer is fear-driven NO. Brooke holds a dystopian mirror in front of humans and its relationship with new technology.
Nosedive was actually the first episode I watched of the series and I can not deny that it got to me. In my opinion this episode was so touching because it taps into two major societal issue. First, our obsession with popularity and our social status. This is not a new thing, every since humanity, we like to split our societies in classes. Where Europe has come to the point where it hides beneath a deeper surface, in India different classes are still clearly visible in daily practices. Second, our obsession with technology. Technology has come into our lives under the guise of ‘making our lives easier’. And in a way, it really does. You only have to type in an address into Google Maps and you know how to get there. You no longer have to find a coin to go to the Telephone Booth to call your mom, because we have wifi and FaceTime everywhere. On the other hand, technology has fought its way so deeply into our lives that we don’t know how to live without it anymore.
The social credit rating system combines both into an impressive dystopia. We all get scared by these similar developments in China because we know that humans will be very sensitive to such a system. By the time such a system is perceived as a workable way to climb your way on the social ladder, get the job you like or the husband you desire, who is going to turn his back against it? I probably won’t.
P.S. I hope this form of credit will get you to the summa cum laude grade you desire 🙂
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Persaud, C. (2018, January 19). The 10 best Black Mirror episodes are thought-provoking, disturbing, mesmerizing. Retrieved from https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/best-black-mirror-episodes/