When I first switched to Linux around 20 years ago, ext3 was the new default on the Ubuntu installer, while a few holdouts on the forums were still recommending ext2 to new users to see whether and how ext3 would hold up to real world usage.

Set default birthday at 1970-01-01.

Will they actually devote the resources to try to pierce the anonymity of those handful of people? Everything we’ve seen about how tech companies operate is that they reach a threshold of “good enough for most cases” and don’t bother trying to optimize the edge cases. Collecting the billions of data points to try to use dozens of analysis techniques, and then having some kind of meta analysis on how to resolve disagreements between models, would be resource intensive beyond their own profit motives.

Someone who wants to defeat gait analysis with a different pair of shoes (heel height and sole thickness and back support affect how people walk), and wears a mask might lose the arms race if the tech companies choose to continue to improve the tech even after it’s already good enough.

I think it’s possible but not inevitable. Especially if there’s a financial reckoning for AI companies soon.

Good article for pointing out that specific rocket math. The optimistic tone of that article, though, is very much a product of its publication date of February 2020. The space programs have suffered major technical, financial, and political setbacks since then, and the geopolitical moment doesn’t really lend itself to megaprojects like moon missions.