Explosive: Why algorithms, anti-human AI and ATM cheating make bank deposits and stock market investing a no-no for every Homo who is still sapient

Thanks to eagle-eyed Slog veteran Christo and financial commentator Michael Lebowitz, today I can pass on some wise advice to ensure that, if nothing else, you can avoid getting wiped out by what the greedyguts have in store for us. [Not much of a claim I know, but as the run-in to dystopia gathers speed, believe me it's the best you can hope for]

The following extracts from yesterday's Lebowitz piece speak volumes about the headline dash of market masseurs into algorithmic AI:

'Before the 2010 Flash Crash, algorithmic trading was limited. Since then, it has become the dominant form of trading. More recently, the rise of AI has become a key element in powering trading market algorithms. As a result, AI is powering markets....AI is rapidly increasing the speed and accuracy needed for financial market research and trade execution.  It is quickly leaving humans and even non-AI-backed algorithms in the dust....Importantly, AI is entirely data-driven. Therefore, it removes our emotions and bias, providing cold, hard, calculated decisions.'

Now, what on Earth could go wrong with that?

'...we also worry that it might create a higher baseline level of volatility. The speed of trading and the accuracy with which real-time sentiment is captured can cause rapid price swings.

For example, on July 16, 2025, little-known Congressional House member Anna Paulina Luna of Florida tweeted on X that she heard from President Trump that Fed Chair Powell was going to be fired immediately. In the past, such a post would have taken hours to circulate and have an impact on markets. The effect last week was lightning fast. AI engines were searching all social media posts and looking for tradable news. It found it, and a sharp reaction ensued in the bond and stock markets.

Market manipulation is another challenge posed by AI. As an example, malicious actors can exploit AI’s perception of sentiment through a series of fake social media posts. Additionally, they can use bots to amplify the spread of these false posts to a broader audience of investors. As the phony news circulates, the perpetrator can use AI algorithms to execute trades, lending further credibility to those posts. The aim is to deceive other AI algorithms, which are driven by price and sentiment, into following along.

Ethical challenges are another tricky topic. If AI has access to personal information, including your investment holdings and trades, will it share that with other AI engines? Proprietary knowledge, in addition to personal information, is also a risk.'

In short, the markets would become even more unnatural and divorced from genuine economic health than they are already....tinbots with no Right brain morphing into a Left brain panic among out-of-control Hal9000 psychos

Dismiss this at your peril: I revisit this image of how a smartphone bot reacted online when I questioned its supreme all-powerful certainty earlier this week:

Compounding this stubborn denialism is the probability that even an AI screw-up can be turned to a financial institution's advantage. Last Tuesday I went to an Access Bank ATM machine close to my apartment to withdraw funds. The AI took me right through the tedious process of screen-by-screen Q&A and only then announced 'Sorry we are temporarily unable to dispense cash'.

Having retrieved my card, I was then sent a "confirmation" by smartphone announcing that I had withdrawn the funds and "therefore" my account had been debited.

So I presented this "error" evidence to the ATM remote operator staff, who intervened on my behalf. But how many people beyond suspicious freaks like me check their notifications? And further: note the ubiquitous 'no reply' cutting off the chance of auto-online correction.

In a world where hopelessly diluted ethics, internet mendacity and bonused State theft are the norm, nothing short of dogged persistence can ensure the innocent citizen doesn't get shafted at every turn.

But Smile Power is still a hugely effective weapon for those who call out injustice

A few days ago, this determined young lady wasn't very happy. Now she has a smile on her face...

....because she's going to start up a business, using her head for figures and honest charm to at last break away from wage slavery, by bringing a unique concept to the personal care sector.

I'm now able to back and enourage this woman and her colleagues in their aim for self-sufficiency. And that ability is down to the dedicated persistence of a London-based journalist who fought hard for me to get justice from the UK Department of Work and Pensions....and have my State pension restored:

More news on this development in the near future. The fight still continues to stop the iniquitous DWP attempt to pretend that the State Pension is a benefit (in law based on National Insurance, it is a Civil Right) - but it's a start. As well as backing three Gambian sisters in their bid for independence, the arrears paid by the DWP alone will also allow between seven and ten villages here to sell their produce and avoid Malaria by installing sweetwater boreholes.

Big smiles persuade others who are exploited to believe that they too can achieve something to smile about.....

....and it encourages me to try and make people smile at design elements in my home...

One smile takes the wind out of every Armada that ever sailed

.....but the people vying for totalitarian global control - and keen to weaponise everything from medication via weather to poverty - rarely use the strongest weapon in the world....

.......unless of course they are seriously taking the piss: