One Washington woman is going viral after she studied a concerning case of AI being used as a way of surveillance. Because of this, she’s sharing her opinions on the matter and why everybody should be careful. She adds in the most telling way, “Big brother is watching you.”
Bella (@thealchemists_garden) shared that AI recently notified the FBI after the system flagged a message from a teacher. Because of this, Bella says that we need to be more “careful of what you’re sending on these apps,” as it can happen to anyone. The Washington influencer shares that a teacher was fired from her job after she made a comment about a student on social media.
The case that Bella is referring to involves a teacher from out of state. The teacher was allegedly angry at a student after she closed her laptop during class. She sent a message to her friends on social media, asking if she should “shoot” the student. Now, this is obviously a major no-no for a teacher, in this day and age. But what concerns Bella about the situation is the fact that AI ratted her out to the FBI.
According to Bella, AI picked up what the teacher sent to a friend and was forwarded to Snapchat. Snapchat then notified the FBI about the message. Within an hour of sending the message, police raided the school. They asked the teacher about the message she sent. Bella says they proceeded to “put her in handcuffs and arrest her” right there at the school.
Bella continues with her warning by stating, “AI has the ability to notify the FBI and have your [expletive] in handcuffs in an hour for a private message that you sent. She was clearly joking. I know there are going to be people that say ‘all of it has to be taken seriously’ but guys… This is a little scary.”
As for that teacher who sent the message, she was booked in jail that day for disorderly conduct. The superintendent of her school explained the situation to parents and assured them that she would not be returning to school. It’s an unhappy ending for this teacher but a lesson for anybody out there that nothing is private anymore.
This PSA sparked a lot of reactions from online commenters. One commenter stated, “The point is that our privacy doesn’t exist anymore.” Other commenters pointed out that what the teacher said was inappropriate and should have been taken seriously, AI involvement or not. One commenter shared, “I fear the message that she sent wasn’t funny at all even in a dark humor context. Like I do believe in privacy but as a teacher that message is never appropriate.” To this, one commenter added, “That’s why I’ve been telling my kid for YEARS, never say OR WRITE anything you don’t want to have to explain to a judge.”
This video continues to gain attention, especially from those who have opinions about AI either taking things too far or doing exactly what it’s supposed to do, in Washington or elsewhere. Commenters speak on whether or not what the teacher said was inappropriate and how it should have been handled.
