TCAST: The Future of Data & AI

Automation, data collection, machine learning, and artificial intelligence was developed to make humanity more efficient. But in many ways, the complete opposite happens. 

When companies prioritize setting up multiple streams of data over investing in data management or data analytics, then the flood of data will eventually become overwhelming. It is crucial that businesses have a system and process for collecting, using, and managing data. 

IT and HR departments, in particular, face this issue the most. Plenty of teams do not have the expertise in data analytics to make the most out of the data being collected. There are so many tools for data collection, but the true utility of data is out of reach in many cases.

Join Alexander and Jason as they question modern data collection methods, and how it can be improved to create a win-win situation for both businesses and their target audience.

Imagine having data collection software that could track employee behavior, keystrokes, morale, and employee sentiments. Or having companies tap into Fitbits and Apple Watches so they can monitor your health and keep wellness costs done.

Aside from the fact that this sounds like something out of George Orwell’s 1984, your target audience would want to know, at the very least, that all the data that’s being collected is being treated with dignity and respect. 

Today, data is an extension of an individual’s identity. It has information on personal habits, whereabouts, and relationships. Individuals must hold businesses, applications, and institutions to a higher level of accountability when it comes to managing personal data. On the other side of the coin, businesses need to invest in tools and platforms that respect the digital identity of their target audience. 

Data analytics isn’t something that you should do on your own and it definitely isn’t something you should shoehorn into your HR or IT department. Instead of ingesting multiple streams at once and then cramming for solutions to overcome the flood, TARTLE gives businesses an avenue to go directly to the individuals who create these data streams and buy their information from them. 

TARTLE was built to give companies they need to source ethical data. There is no need to invest in third party programs and backdoor applications that disenfranchise either you or your audience. On TARTLE, everybody gets the compensation they deserve for working on their data.

What’s your data worth?

Sign up for TARTLE through this link here.

Follow Alexander McCaig on Twitter and Linkedin.

If you’ve ever been remotely interested in conspiracy theories, you may have heard of the one where technology will eventually innovate to a point where it becomes a vessel for the mark of the beast.

The mark of the beast is a biblical term for a symbol for the Antichrist, or opposition to God. In this episode, Alexander and Jason discuss modern theories that parallel this mark to biometric scanning, barcode, and the implantable RFID chip.

Companies and governments using COVID-19 to collect biometric data on us and enforcing more data collection under the guise of public safety or convenience.

This episode covers how often, companies assume that they can expand upon our initial consent for data collection. But consent needs to be renewed on a regular basis, especially as humanity explores new ways to collect and utilize data.

The oversight on our daily activities goes beyond cameras. All the apps we invest in and all the platforms we use are watching us. And once we agree to have them collect our data, where will our personal information go? 

Do you only ever get either a free society or the assurance of public safety? Humanity has managed to progress, building safe and healthy societies for hundreds of years without the heavy surveillance that we experience today. 

Today, the right to control our digital information is an extension of our civil liberties. Sharing your data is not inherently bad and it doesn’t mean that only malicious actors will want your information. 

When you invest in platforms that recognize the hard work you put into generating all this data, you can get paid for it. You can choose who to sell your data to. And you can make sure that your hard work directly benefits institutions, actors, and entities that align with your personal values.

What’s your data worth?

Sign up for TARTLE through this link here.

Follow Alexander McCaig on Twitter and Linkedin.

Gillick competence refers to a child’s capacity to consent to their own medical treatment without their parents or guardians having to know or give their consent. 

But in an era where we are always giving out our personal information through our digital footprint, does this measure for consent still hold water? And if it applies to healthcare, why doesn’t it apply to other industries, like gaming?

Join Alexander and Jason as they challenge today’s norms on parenting, data collection, and a child’s capacity to make informed decisions.

Human progress has reached a point where many of us are privileged to be living comfortable lives. However, this may have come at a cost: an increased aversion to taking risks, exploring freedom, and allowing independence. This extends to the way society believes parents should raise their children.

Helicopter parenting, for the most part, does result in some short-term benefits. The constant surveillance means that children learn how to succeed in a closed environment. However, the reality is that parents won’t always be there to enforce a strict routine and study schedule. At some point, children need to be given the opportunity to explore the world at their own pace. 

Gillick competence can be established if the minor can demonstrate that they have “sufficient understanding and intelligence to fully understand what is proposed.”

With all the fearmongering and biased media we consume on a daily basis, it can be easy to think of the worst of humanity. Allowing children to live, for as long as they can, away from making big decisions for themselves may seem like the smarter and more loving choice. 

But the way children are treated in their youth will leave indelible marks on the people they grow into. If we want to help empower children and raise independent adults, we need to give them the space and grace to make big decisions for themselves.

As discussed in this episode, children are a lot more capable than we give them credit for. And the innate human desire to do the right thing, backed by statistics, indicates that the world is not as scary as we think it is. Helicopter parenting only serves to isolate children and hinder their personal development.

Is it really empowerment if they only know how to succeed in a vacuum?

Sign up for TARTLE through this link here. Follow Alexander McCaig on Twitter and Linkedin.

If you think you’re safe in your own head, think again. How far do you believe the government would go to find out what you’re thinking, every second of every day? 

Ethical data collection is a serious concern that we need to make a conscious decision on. We need to start using the right platforms so we can regain control of our digital identity and reclaim our sovereignty. Join Alexander McCaig and Jason Rigby as they discuss how the United States Corporation, under the guise of good governance, is using your data to control your future.

Privacy is out the window when the government drones are looking in. Any government knows that the more high-quality data they have on their citizens, the greater their ability to make educated and controlled decisions over the future of their citizens.

Even when we do not actively use the internet, we produce data every day. It is an extension of our freedom of speech. Data is the result of our hard work and the manifestation of our inner thoughts. 

So when the government is feeding itself with terabytes of data on a daily basis, it’s a strategic move to try and understand how you work as their constituent. After all, if they can understand how their people move, they can manipulate the flow of their movements in the name of safety and security.

Today, war isn’t so much physical as it is digital. All the battlefields are online. The government has so much data and they will probably continue to gather data from you at every chance they get. 

If the government wants to have terabytes of data bulk delivered to their system every day as part of their goals to expand the corporation? Make them buy it from people. Maintain your securities, civil liberties, privacy, and confidentiality.

Your data is worth the effort.

Sign up for TARTLE through this link here.

Follow Alexander McCaig on Twitter and Linkedin.

Previously, the internet was ruled by platform monopolies and highly regulated financial systems. Think of how society used to structure office buildings: giant, centralized areas with a centralized authority, where those in power could keep a strict eye over the rest of us. 

But now, we’ve opened our eyes to the power of working remotely. People are in the sovereignty and privacy of their own homes. That’s how the internet should be.

An asset is stored work. It’s anything that was created through a person’s energy and time. On the internet, you are constantly creating information. 

Every time you choose to scroll through your feed, react to a post, or make a status, your movements are being recorded. Believe it or not, these small things are valuable information. It all builds up to create your digital identity.

What can TARTLE offer people?

A private TARTLE wallet that only they can use and access. The capacity to initiate secure transactions on an open marketplace, where people come to buy these digital assets. The ability to sell data for a digital currency and withdraw US dollars. An internal polling system for research. Shared data with provenance, everything verifiable up to the source. Complete self-custody of your information.

Basically, you have complete control over whether you share your information–and when you do choose to share it, you get paid for your efforts.

Find out what your data is worth now. Sign up for TARTLE here.

Gold is not just a piece of metal. It’s a cultural statement. It’s a message of power. Throughout history, we associated a strong cultural significance to gold. 

So when the gold standard was replaced by the Bretton-Woods system, we allowed the central bank to effectively seize control over the value of human work. They took all our gold, manipulated supply, controlled pricing, and consequently controlled society. It’s impossible to hold them accountable for their actions.

Today, we adopt an economic system that plays right into their hands. We live and work for US Dollars. The gold standard is now in the hands of the elite few. You receive payment in systems of currency they determine the value of.

We cannot say for certain that the mainstream media outlets we are used to getting our information from, have not been backed by influential authorities who can influence monetary policy.

We’re supposed to have conscious control over most aspects of our lives. But in today’s society, our perspective is controlled by the outlets we choose to endorse. The nature of social media outlets is that they reinforce whatever biases we already have. This way, we are trapped in our own echo chambers and divided.

The most valuable asset we can give, as human beings, is time. And if we are put to work for the rest of our lives, the institutions have already taken everything from us. We clock in and die out.

If we want things to change, then we need to start supporting platforms and systems that do not have a vested interest over our lives. It is imperative that we take control of our data and share our information on networks that treat us with respect. 

We should get to decide how our efforts are valued.

What’s your data worth? Sign up for TARTLE through this link here.

Let’s talk about how we need to stop our legacy of violence now.

Every time we develop new technologies, it’s used without thinking of the spillover effects on other people and on nature. Fire, the plow, planes, the nuclear bomb–our biggest priority is making sure that it makes our life convenient, even if it has to come at the expense of others

Today, we have built an incredibly polarized world. Some of us live in unrivaled comfort and luxury, while an astounding number of people struggle to put food on the table. We have all this technology to order new items and objects for our consumption. How long will we continue to take and take from the vulnerable and the defenseless?

We, as humans, continue to self-reinforce global issues caused by our presence. Natural disasters and the lack of resources will continue to shorten our life spans unless we start recognizing what is happening.

The increase of environmental refugees is a testament to how poorly we are treating our world and other people through our inaction. Sweltering summers. Deadly diseases. No clean water. An alarming lack of livable space in a planet where human population and consumption continues to rise.

There is no time for politics in ensuring the quality of life for all humans. Are we innovating fast enough to turn things around?

The data is showing us that we are approaching the end of days. It’s time to change the way we live and work. And the first step is to stop giving our sovereignty to the politicians, and our economic sovereignty to the banks.

Corporations won’t be capable of solving this. We need to be the ones to tell them what to do.

This is a call for us to come together and use our individual experiences to make the data meaningful. Everything we need to know is condensed into data now.

It’s time for us to find out: what’s our data worth?

1. Log into your 23andMe account. 2. Go to the top right and click Settings. 3. Scroll to the bottom, to the 23andMe data section. Click View. 4. TARTLE has six data packets that align with the labels on 23andMe. Select the ones you want to download. 5. The download may happen instantaneously or be delivered to your email at a later time. Once received, download it to your computer. 6. Go to tartle.co and log in. 7. Head to the Discover tab and select Direct Data Upload. 8. Click Add File and add the file from your computer. 9. Choose your packet configuration. 10. Click Publish!

Tech development is starting to take a closer look at the human aspect of the internet. Web 3.0 is all about stepping away from centralization and caring for the end user and their experience. 

This means that in the future, power is placed back in the hands of individuals. We have to relearn how we use and interact with the internet. So, what’s your role in the evolution of technology?

Alexander and Jason have a deep discussion on the trade-offs people have to face in tech development, following research posted by Jamie Burke entitled “Building in the Metaverse.” Moving forward, each element within the metaverse’s system will require developers to make a decision between open/shared or closed/gated and proprietary. 

Aspects like the user persona, in-world assets, economics, content, software backend and more can all be tweaked to either be open or closed to some degree. 

However, there will always be imperfections, regardless of your system’s design. For example, a DAO would have to have leaders who are meant to represent everyone—but these leaders may eventually try swaying the votes to their favor.

On a C-Suite level, these leaders could also hold private meetings with one another and try gaming the entire system. Essentially, the voting process ends up becoming centralized.

These are issues we have to deal with while we are at the start of innovating new technologies. Giving outside forces an avenue to monopolize these developments lessens the capacity for these technologies to represent the will of the people.

One aspect we are proud of telling our employees at TARTLE is that they are working, not to become the main character of the story, but to be the Sherpas of the people on the ground. 

Everybody, regardless of socioeconomic status or location, is fighting their own battles and climbing their own mountains. Our role here isn’t to become the hero of the journey. It’s to help you realize that you are capable of empowering yourself and owning that role. 

Some people only ever become NPCs in the game of life. They sign up for TARTLE, open up the opportunity to start their heroic journey, and then never take the next step. 

Others choose to walk that journey, take charge of their data, own their power, and get paid for it.

This is your sign to make that choice. What trade-off are you willing to accept?

Sign up for TARTLE through this link here.