Billionaire Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer gushed about the new stadium's creepy facial recognition software during a press conference Tuesday.
NBA announces plans to hold 2026 All-Star Game Ballmer proudly smiled about the high-tech advances that will be featured in his passion project at the new $2 billion Inglewood Intuit Dome.
One of the promised features was noticeably more dystopian than the others. It's a fan rewards system that uses facial recognition to offer discounts to fans if they're particularly avid supporters of the Clippers.
“You stand, we will know that you stood, you must give us permission as long as you want us to,” he told reporters on Tuesday. . “We know you stood up, we know you cheered, we know how loud you cheered. If you're good at those things, do this To reinforce the good behavior we want and need from our fans to rock, we can give you a little discount in store.”
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said fans who stand and cheer at games will receive discounts at the team's new arena.pic.twitter.com/yjn5lTuL3i
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 17, 2024
A little discount! Lovely! A perfectly fair exchange for an indefinite suspension of my personal privacy and dignity. What a treat!
Full disclosure, I am a Clippers fan and actually have the most respect for Ballmer. Additionally, I very much appreciate the fact that he is personally funding the new stadium rather than asking taxpayers for help. (Related: Los Angeles Clipper Kawhi Leonard signs big contract extension: Report)
But I am deeply disturbed that tech billionaires are no longer even trying to hide their intentions to change social behavior with cheap thrills and cheap dopamine. Mr. Ballmer's attitude is indicative of the larger ethos in Silicon Valley and other big tech cities like Seattle, where Mr. Ballmer served as Microsoft's CEO for his 14 years.
Ballmer and his allies like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg see the rest of us as cogs in a giant machine, machines controlled by giant technology conglomerates. .
The Pavlovian concept of offering small rewards in return for good deeds is more akin to China's social credit system than it is to corporate America.
Sure you have to opt in, but I doubt users fully understand what they're signing up for. If someone steals your password or credit card number, you can change it. But what if someone hacks into your stadium's servers and steals all your facial recognition data? Get a new face?
It’s not just the patronizing nature of micro-reward systems that is at risk for the future of live entertainment. New York Knicks owner James Dolan has already proven how effective facial recognition tools can be for petty revenge.
Dolan allegedly used facial recognition at Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks and New York Rangers played, to bar at least three separate attorneys involved in lawsuits against him from entering the venue. It has been reported. according to to the New York Post.
One of the lawyers, Kelly Conlon, 44, was even reportedly fired from Radio City Music Hall, which Dolan owns, simply because she worked for the company that was suing him. according to New York Post. Conlon was barred from entering when she tried to take her Girl Scout troop to see the Rockets, and the newspaper said she was not involved in the incident.
According to the paper, Mr. Dolan essentially implemented a policy that prohibited: Any A lawyer working for a company involved in a lawsuit that bars him from attending events at many of his establishments, including both the Garden and Radio City, as well as numerous restaurants and properties in the city.
“MSG has instituted a simple and clear policy that attorneys for companies pursuing active litigation against us are prohibited from attending events at our venues until the litigation is resolved. “While we understand that the policy is a disappointment to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently hostile environment,” a spokesperson for Dolan's company told the Post. told.
While some, like Ballmer, may be excited about the impending technological revolution, it is clear that in the wrong hands this powerful machine could be used for horrific purposes.
Ballmer Stadium will likely open sometime in June and be ready to host the Clippers by next season. The $2 billion price tag far exceeds the similarly high-tech Chase Center in San Francisco, making it the most expensive stadium in NBA history. 500 million dollar. If this trend continues, there's a good chance this won't be the last of the NBA's latest technological wonders.
