Previous discussion of the quoted post:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44052246

> [...] LLMs are going to open a whole new world of intimate surveillance

I think that's right. I'm wondering what the main driving factors are.

Users tend to be much more personal with LLM assistants.

And LLMs which are not trained to be assistants also also good at cross-linking and understanding human writing outside the prompt.

So, while the post is not about this, I think that LLMs probably increase the power of AI algorithms that process human writing outside of assistant conversations.

Maybe even the ones used for de-anonymization and building interest/personality cohorts?

IMO, all this surveillance is about control, in the psychological sense.

WebMD says: [0]

> The most common are anxiety disorders and personality disorders. People with anxiety disorders feel a need to control everything around them in order to feel at peace. They may not trust anyone else to handle things the way they will.

This is an unhealthy business relationship, and I'll suggest that it reflects the sociopathy of certain narcissistic individuals at the helm of businesses.

My suggestion is simple: "Just ask". Don't spy.

[0] https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/signs-sociopath