Unsupervised Computing, Introduction: What is unsupervised computing?
To answer that, let’s first look at what we might call “supervised” computing.
In supervised computing you trade autonomy and ownership for safety and convenience. That might sound bad at first, depending where you’re coming from. It is actually a pretty good deal for most people — at least in the short term.
Some examples:
- I have no idea what an url is or what exactly “a browser” is
- I’m not aware that my ISP and mobile provider know what URLs I surf to or who each of my devices talk to and when
- I’m not aware that email is much more like a postcard and not a letter at all
- I consume and communicate mostly via big tech apps like Whatsapp, Instagram, Amazon, Netflix, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Google, Apple and so forth
- I’m given access to content based on licenses and subscriptions rather than actually owning anything
- I’m unaware of how deep DRM is abused by corporations to force me into buying more disposable shit. I have not idea that circumventing superficial DRM to repair broken things is a crime that land me in jail.
- I don’t even know that there is a plethora of apps outside the walled gardens of Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.
- I have zero idea of what is behind all those shiny buttons. I have never heard of a “terminal”.
- I cannot open, understand or even repair my devices. Opening them usually breaks them.
- 12 years after the invention of Bitcoin and valued close to 20k a piece, all I know about it is still “people use Bitcoin to buy drugs and guns”
In supervised computing you trade autonomy and ownership for safety and convenience.
Earlier I said that is actually a pretty good short-term deal for many people.
And it is a terrific deal for big tech. If you’re not aware of how “big data” works, if you do not know how Facebook ads work, if you’ve not heard of “surveillance capitalism” — I’d advice for some reading. Please don’t “google” it though. Use another search engine.
Now we can finally answer what unsupervised computing is:
In unsupervised computing you trade in some of the safety and convenience big tech tech provides — and in exchange you get back some autonomy and ownership.
It’s really that simple.
It’s like biking without training wheels. It’s like letting go off the rail on a large staircase. It’s like swimming in water that is deeper than your height.
For some, the smell of autonomy and a tiny bit of risk is what makes life fun. They start mountain biking or bouldering or boxing.
Others prefer watching mountain biking on TV. And that is fine too.
Unsupervised computing is not a virtue. You’re not better if you do unsupervised computing. Especially since the first steps are incredible easy and simple to do.
In the next chapter, we will look into a couple of those easy and simple quickwins in order to gain back some ownership, autonomy and privacy.
Until then, stay safe, stay armed ✌️
#unsupervisedcomputing