Classic Form: A general marched his troops along the shore each day, making the movement seem routine and unremarkable to the enemy. When the enemy stopped paying attention, he boarded ships and launched a surprise attack, winning because he had rendered his preparations invisible within the mundane.
Modern Version: Use everyday technology and services—social media apps, health trackers, smart city initiatives, and the promise of "convenience"—to smuggle in pervasive surveillance and control systems. The battlefield is your daily life, and the weapons are hidden within the tools you use every day.
AI-Powered Execution: AI systems are trained on massive datasets of normal population behavior to establish a precise baseline of "routine." The AI can then identify anomalies that signal dissent or opportunity. By perfectly understanding what "normal" looks like, it can expertly mask the deployment of surveillance infrastructure—such as a new sensor network or a data-gathering protocol—within the noise of everyday digital life. This ensures the infrastructure goes unnoticed by a public desensitized to constant data collection. Complex AI pipelines are wrapped behind simple user interfaces, abstracting sophisticated machine learning models into straightforward workflows that conceal their true purpose.
CCP Application: The CCP promotes AI-powered "smart city" and "City Brain" initiatives as benign urban development projects for managing traffic and improving public services. In reality, the underlying systems are designed for pervasive surveillance, tracking citizens' faces, gaits, and digital activities to feed the Social Credit System. Similarly, ubiquitous apps like WeChat and Alipay, used for everything from messaging to payments, serve as constant data-gathering conduits for the state. The convenience they offer is the facade; the total information awareness they provide to the CCP is the true objective.
Collaborators: Western tech companies that integrate "smart" features with backdoors or store data on servers accessible to the CCP. Public health officials who, in the name of efficiency, adopt invasive tracking technologies without regard for privacy. School districts that install Chinese-made educational apps without auditing where student data is sent.
Counter: Refuse convenience that comes at the cost of control. Demand open-source code, local data storage, and sunset clauses for any emergency surveillance technology. Scrutinize and regulate "smart city" proposals to ensure they serve citizens, not a surveillance state. The CCP's strategy relies on the public's apathy and desire for ease; the counter is vigilance and a demand for digital sovereignty.