Person of Interest is Over . . .

I caught the first episode of Person of Interest on CBS, and tonight I saw the last one.

The show was apparently not popular enough to stay on the air, so CBS crammed the last 13 episodes into this last month and a half. Or perhaps stars Michael Emerson, Jim Caviezel, Sarah Shahi and Amy Acker were tired of doing it. For whatever reason, the show came to an end, Tuesday 6/22/16.

Another good show down the tubes. The premise of the show , if you didn't watch, was an artificial superintelligence that could predict human events  -- terrorist attacks or even ordinary crimes, and the implications of what might happen if a ruthless government got their hands on it, while at the same time the machine's creator was using his creation to prevent crimes or at least save a few lives. Then things get more complex, as a second ASI comes into play, but one with a sinister ulterior motive, created by the brilliant but insane "Mr Greer". Greer's objective is none other than the Procrustean bed solution to human problems -- those who don't conform die. The show's final phase is the shadow war between The Machine and Samaritan -- the two Artificial Super Intelligences. Tonight the war came to an end. John Reese died, sacrificing himself for Harold Finch, with The Machine's collusion. Other primary characters, "Root" (ably played by Amy Acker ), Greer (John Nolan) and Jos Carter (Taraji P. Henson) have already died. In the last, The Machine, using attack and defense capabilities secretly added to her by Root,  is uploaded into the same satellite as the last remaining copy of Samaritan, and battle is joined. We aren't told how it ends, except that later, as Shaw is walking with "Bear" the dog and a payphone rings. Shaw picks it up, listens for a moment and then walks on, a cryptic smile on her face. And little square designators with numbers in them start popping up over people's heads. The Machine (now voiced by Acker) won. A decent ending, if not quite satisfying.

IMDB entry for Person of Interest

A few technical notes: 

As it stands now, an ASI like The Machine or Samaritan is not really possible. IBM's "Watson" comes close, but isn't actually self-aware, as the two antagonist computers are. At present, it is not really possible to process enough information to make reliable predictions of activity, at least not for entire populations. Predicting terrorist attacks from individuals or small groups of people is doable -- it's the ordinary work of intelligence operators and analysts.

 Political Ramifications:

Now, the bad news : The surveillance state shown in the TV show is a lot closer to reality than anyone is letting on. New York city, for one, (and London England) has a network of surveillance cameras that would make the East German Stasi blush.The New York Civil Liberties Union
Have published a set of maps showing camera locations here.
You can look for yourself.
Here's the problem : They can know where you are by tracing your cell phone, following you on TV, or simply having people follow you. But those first two solutions are just too easy to apply without probable cause. If it takes no effort to follow John Smith from his office to his Mistress' apartment, why shouldn't they follow him ? The effort is minimal, the results trivial to NYPD, but vital to John Smith, whose wife does not know where he goes on his lunch hour. Is this the society we want to live in ? I think it's worth debating, at least. Such intrusive security systems may indeed violate the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. Is a theoretical increase in security worth the invasion of privacy ? Do you want to be followed around everywhere you go, by a human being or ASI, whichever ?
I don't think I do.