The Panopticon is a type of prison that relies more on psychology than force.
Originally thought of by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century.
The Design
The prison is circular, with cells arranged around the perimeter.
There is one guard tower in the center, that has a clear view into all cells.
The prisoners can not see into the guard tower to know if they are being watched.
The core tenant of the Panopticon is the Uncertainty of Surveillance.
it enforces discipline through potential surveillance alone.
If you do not know if you are being watched, you need to assume that you are.
This enables a much smaller number guards to maintain control over a much larger number of inmates.
Modern Application
This Panopticon has become digital, and applied to everyone on earth.
It is assumed that all of our communications are being monitored.
There are cameras absolutely everywhere.
Of course, it would be impossible for humans to look through that much data.
However, with AI - particularly LLM’s, this data can now be fully monitored for the first time.
The potential surveillance can now just be actual, non-stop surveillance.
A model can detect anything specified and notify for a human review.
It can also predict pre-crime, and notice patterns people make when they are about to commit a crime, before it happens.
There are of course real world applications of this digital system already known.
I may write about them later.
This is referred to as The Digital Panopticon.
Interestingly enough, Panopticons never caught on as built prisons in the real world, partly because of cost, and partly because of the psychological strain observed in the inmates from the stress of always being watched.
What effects will unrestrained global surveillance have on everyone?