The most worrying trend I note is how closely China and the West are when it comes to the use of AI and data collection for the manipulation and control of the masses.
The financial system is different. In the West, there's no central authority requesting what needs to be done, but small and big companies are allowed to go crazy with user data, as long as they provide access to government agencies too. In China, the whole thing is managed by governmental entities, but it functions strikingly similar. The Chinese also lack a lot of the tact and PR management that western companies are so good at - but the differences aren't that big in the surveilance.
One other key difference is that the Chinese aren't afraid to prosecute people based on that data, while in the West we still have some due process, but the future plans aren't looking good.
The financial system is different. In the West, there's no central authority requesting what needs to be done, but small and big companies are allowed to go crazy with user data, as long as they provide access to government agencies too. In China, the whole thing is managed by governmental entities, but it functions strikingly similar. The Chinese also lack a lot of the tact and PR management that western companies are so good at - but the differences aren't that big in the surveilance. One other key difference is that the Chinese aren't afraid to prosecute people based on that data, while in the West we still have some due process, but the future plans aren't looking good.