The future is not Skynet launching nukes. The future is a thousand small, invisible sabotages: Your GPS routing you through a traffic jam because a rival gas station poisoned the map data. Your credit score dropping because a botnet "liked" too many gambling sites on your behalf. Your resume rejected because a competitor uploaded a thousand fake "perfect" resumes to raise the bar.
In 2010, the Flash Crash happened. The Dow Jones dropped 1,000 points in 36 minutes, temporarily erasing $1 trillion. The official cause? A single mutual fund sold $4.1 billion in futures contracts. But the real culprit was the feedback loop of sabotaging algorithms. “algorithmic sabotage”
Consider the gig economy. Uber drivers have long engaged in "algorithmic jiu-jitsu"—accepting rides and then driving slowly, or collectively logging off during surge pricing to force a higher multiplier. These are acts of labor resistance, but they are also sabotage. They break Uber’s promise of "reliable ETAs." The future is not Skynet launching nukes