For the last decade or so, there’s been a lot of talk about how the Chinese government uses technology to issue social credit scores to its citizens. There was even that episode of Black Mirror that everyone still talks about.

 Every time a Western government tries to increase its control over the internet, we hear that this is the beginning of a slippery slope that leads to jaywalkers being prevented from using vending machines. But does this dystopian AI powered surveillance system actually even exist? 

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