Mastodawn

Pandurso 🐻5d ago

🅰🅻🅸🅲🅴 (🌈🦄)

‘Pokémon Go’ players unknowingly trained delivery robots with 30 billion images.

The article closes with:
"""
So, next time you see someone in a park trying to “catch ‘em all,” it’s quite possible the data gleaned from that scavenger hunt could play a key role in determining whether the pizzas of the future make it to their destinations on time.
"""

Haha, cute. Training pizza delivery robots with crowdsourced data (that players didn't know they were providing)—isn't that quirky.

Until it isn't...

What happens when they start selling that data to governments to help target drone strikes?

"""
That mapping effort got a significant boost in 2020, when the app added what it called “Field Research,” a feature prompting players to scan real-world statues and landmarks with their cameras in exchange for in-game rewards.
"""

Corporations, dubious ethics, and money always end up in bed together, hate-fucking the 99%.

@cyberlyra https://hachyderm.io/@cyberlyra/116239245187011717

Cyberlyra (@[email protected])

Ten years ago, Cambridge Analytica used data from Facebook games to tweak UK and US voters and torque world geopolitics. Today we find out that the company behind Pokémon Go used all your data finding Pikachus to teach autonomous robots how to navigate and take away your jobs. https://www.popsci.com/technology/pokemon-go-delivery-robots-crowdsourcing/

Hachyderm.io

The Orange Theme 5d ago

@alice @cyberlyra I hate it here. I hate it here. I hate it here. I hate it here.

vaughnhannon 5d ago

@theorangetheme @alice @cyberlyra Let's remember that Niantic sold off Pokemon Go to Scopely who is owned by Savvy Games Group. So your current Pokemon data isn't training delivery robots but it's going somewhere...a little surprised the original article failed to mention this.

Rora Borealis 5d ago

@alice @cyberlyra It's shit like this, not Roko's Basilisk, that keep me up at night. I don't feel like I would be important enough for an AI to care about, even if I could believe it was possible. This shit is exactly what so many sci-fi writers warned us about, and it's happening now.

Irene Zhang 5d ago

@alice @cyberlyra noooooo why do they have to ruin everything??

@alice @cyberlyra Listen, I have another funny one, a guy makes a site naming it weird as faceb-- oh, you know it?

rainynight65 5d ago

Wouldn't be the first time Niantic have pulled something along those lines.

A large amount of the data in Pokemon Go, locations, photos etc came from Niantic's previous game, Ingress. See second para under 'Development and Release' in the wiki article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingress_(video_game)#Development_and_release

Of course training delivery bots with crowdsourced data is a few steps up in corporate evildoing.

Ingress (video game) - Wikipedia

Lillian Violet 3d ago

@rainynight65 @alice @cyberlyra It's fine though Niantic is just owned by... *looks it up* the Saudi Sovereign investment fund... Right...

rainynight65 3d ago

@GLaDTheresCake

Totally not problematic. A metric crapton of location and activity data that are most definitely not in the wrong hands...

@alice @cyberlyra

Rachel Rawlings 3d ago

@GLaDTheresCake @rainynight65 @alice @cyberlyra I played Ingress knowing Niantic was a division of Google, and that they were using our photos and location data to map park trails, landmarks, etc. for Maps and Lens.

But if I'd had a crystal ball telling me that Google would sell the company and all its data to the Saudis, I would not have played.

xyla!! 🐀3d ago

@GLaDTheresCake @rainynight65 @alice @cyberlyra for the record, niantic and niantic spatial are two different companies - niantic (games) is owned by that investment fund, niantic spatial is not

niantic games was spun off and sold to that exact investment fund, niantic spatial only provides the geolocation tech and maintains a game called "ingress" which uses the same ar principle

Shaun Murrant (☕🧉🍻🏳️‍🌈)3d ago

@GLaDTheresCake @rainynight65 @alice @cyberlyra
According to this Niantic is owned indirectly by them. However Niantic Spatial, which runs Ingress, is a seperate entity and is not.

https://trendsmask.com/who-owns-niantic-496126.html

who owns niantic

who owns niantic

Review

Julia Robinson 3d ago

@GLaDTheresCake @rainynight65 @alice @cyberlyra they own the Sims (or at least will do if EA get their way)

🅰🅻🅸🅲🅴 (🌈🦄)3d ago

@transfemmegabriellamontez I wonder if they'll pressure EA to remove the queer content from the Sims?

@GLaDTheresCake @rainynight65 @cyberlyra

Julia Robinson 3d ago

@alice @GLaDTheresCake @rainynight65 @cyberlyra
Hope not

@rainynight65 @alice @cyberlyra

Vive le Ressistance!

@alice @cyberlyra Or you know, making it so zhat any urban photo can be geolocated in an API call. I'm sure zhat's not going to prove problematic.

peterfisherbooks.com=freescify 5d ago

@alice @cyberlyra not just mapping but provides insight to the human hide&seek mindset as before rubbilizing everything making the dataset moot, the ground attack robots will gladly incorporate all the 'where to best hide' info possible

so it goes humans viscerally need to build lethal robots; needless to say with millions of potential targets freely supplying go! data they'll be ultra-efficient at playing hide&seek. team rocket, charizard & good ole ash : coming soon to a neighborhood near you

Darth Osler 5d ago

@alice @cyberlyra grr argh

Kaiju heroes
Yeet them home
To the place
They belong
Cthonic orbits
Meteor craters
Yeet them time
Kaiju heroes

JacobRPG❌👑5d ago

@alice @cyberlyra
Not that this makes it ok, but I kinda figured everyone knew that Pokémon Go and its predecessor Ingress were designed for data collection/mapping.

Simon Zerafa (Status:

@alice @cyberlyra

I bet every single image from a smart phone had GNSS coordinates included.

A small army of people using a game to conduct geospatial mapping of their area, being sent where needed for more data by the game.

Cross check multiple views of the same area to correct for any systemic errors in individual devices.

Real local knowledge to be used for whatever purpose can be found for it.

🅰🅻🅸🅲🅴 (🌈🦄)5d ago

@simonzerafa I wish we could use info like this for good instead of profit.

It's amazing (and amazingly dangerous) data.

Simon Zerafa (Status:

@alice @cyberlyra

Yep, I have a background mental process running to find nefarious usages of that data.

Forwarded is forearmed ...

Simon Zerafa (Status:

@alice @cyberlyra

Hyper local mapping for critical infrastructure? Not just where where something important is but it's physical layout, construction and local variations from standard.

Ooze 𓁟 5d ago

@alice @cyberlyra I knew this was what Ingress was for as soon as it came out.