Surveillance promotes conformity.
The capabilities that modern video surveillance provide are extremely powerful. Unlike the human memory, security feeds provide a means to recount infinite specific events in exact detail and a single camera is able to capture up to 700 feet in high resolution, offering much more precision than the naked human eye [1].
In addition to being a remarkably accurate and reliable technology, the cameras obscure the direction that they are facing, as they are encased in a semi-transparent globe. This in effect makes those being surveilled believe that they are under constant surveillance, when in actuality they truly have no way to determine when the cameras are focused on them as opposed to anyone else. This system of control is what is known as panopticon.
In the nineteenth-century, philosopher Jeremy Bentham argued that an ideal prison would be one where a guard in a central tower is able to see every inmate in every cell in the jail, however, nobody outside of the tower would be able to see into it. As a result of this building structure, prisoners can never say for certain whether they are being watched at any given moment, and therefore will assume that they are always being monitored which serves as a form of self-policing [2]. This highlights how surveillance is intended not only to punish noncompliant individuals but also to influence their behavior to the point where they naturally conform to ideal behaviors.
In a casino setting, surveillance cameras produce a similar effect on its clientele. Simply having knowledge that you are potentially being watched psychologically impacts your behavior, even unconsciously, and thus card counters and other cheats are strongly discouraged. This is true not just for casinos, but for all instances of surveillance. For example, outdoor cameras are found to deter 50% of home burglars [3], which demonstrates that the mere presence of video evidence is powerful enough to dissuade the majority of individuals, with only highly trained ones willing to attempt to overcome this obstacle.
In the film, viewers can see a game of cat and mouse being played between the blackjack team, that uses their card counting strategy to amass large profits, and the security team, that uses the casino's surveillance system to prevent house losses that result from card counting. The MIT blackjack team accounts for this constant surveillance by utilizing disguises and assuming alternate identities, which is a significant factor in their success. Additionally, the team consists of handpicked individuals which also helps reduce their chances of detection, since they come very well rehearsed.
As a whole, surveillance provides concrete and indisputable evidence and because of the panopticon effect that is created, it can be argued that surveillance simply provides a conscious reason for people to self-govern and conform to a set of behaviors that are socially acceptable.
Not everyone is replaceable.
As automation creeps into different industries, there will always be places where the human element is vital to accomplishing a task. Developments in robotics and artificial intelligence have increased the rate at which certain jobs are being automated and thus taken away from humans. The most notable of these invasions occurred in the automotive manufacturing industry where between 2000 and 2012 over 600,000 jobs were lost due to the productivity increases that automated robots brought to the process [4]. Future technologies that are growing at an increasing rate are also threatening jobs in other industries as well. Advances in self-driving cars have economists predicting that 4.4 million of the 6.4 million professional trucking jobs will become redundant by the end of the decade [5].
The looming implementation of automation into various industries was depicted in the film as Cole Williams, an old school security manager for the casino, is threatened by biometric facial recognition software which many of the other Las Vegas casinos have switched to. Cole Williams works to catch the MIT blackjack team counting cards throughout the film and he does so employing practices that would be difficult for software to imitate. For example, there is a scene where Cole Williams recognizes Ben from his previous visits to the casino, and watches closely and realizes that one of Ben's teammates signals him over to the table which was "hot" at the time. Being able to recognize the subtle signal given to Ben and draw the conclusion that he was working with a team is something that the facial recognition software would struggle with, exemplifying the important role that Cole plays as head of security at the casino.
There are many industries that, like Cole Williams', require a certain human element that would be nearly impossible for software to emulate, examples being lawyers and doctors. The critical thinking and adaptability that is required for these important professionals to do their jobs makes it nearly impossible for a robot or a piece of software to come in and automate their jobs away [6].
Computation is a powerful and widely applicable tool.
Computation, whether with regards to technology or not, plays a major role in 21. One part of the movie where computation has a critical role is with card counting. In order to card count, the team must pay attention to the cards played and adjust the count by a corresponding factor. The movie made it very clear that in order to carry out this strategy, one must excel at quickly manipulating numbers and keeping track of the cards in the deck.
Another area that computation was relevant to was surveillance. The security team is seen recording the movements of Ben and the MIT team, allowing Williams to rewind the tapes and build a case against them to conclude that they were card counting.
Throughout the movie, Ben's ingenuity is prominently displayed. As a math major at MIT, he is able to utilize his computational skills in several diverse areas, applying them not only to card counting, but also to constructing an autonomous robot and gaining admission into medical school. This concept that computational skills are applicable to several different industries is not just true in 21, but also throughout the real world.
A major factor that contributes to an industry's success is the ability to adapt to new technology [7]. Mathematics and computations are building blocks of technology, which itself is a gateway to excellence in engineering, the medical field, and other disciplines showing how computation is a critical driving force in many industries.
The odds are never in our (the consumer's) favor.
Designed to emanate vibes of luxury and excitement, casinos are cleverly structured to prey on the weaknesses of human psychology to ensure that you not only spend large amounts of time there, but also that you are encouraged to gamble large amounts of your savings away. The entire atmosphere of casinos is created in a way that encourages relentless optimism of clients, serving to contribute to the concept of hope and consumers' dreams of winning big in Vegas [9].
With very low odds of winning, consistently or significantly, and U.S. consumers losing over $100 billion a year as a result, it is hard to argue that gambling is humanly fulfilling in any regard, yet it is still an addiction that many struggle with [10]. This is because, not only do the physical structure and suave environment romanticize the idea of casinos, but the companies through their extensive data collection create specifically targeted marketing campaigns that further incentivize customers' return [11]. Casinos, along with many large corporations, are skilled in their advertising and know how to take advantage of the subconscious, making it very difficult for even a non-habitual gambler to resist temptation, demonstrating how before even stepping foot into the casino, customers are predisposed to spend money.
This notion that casinos prey on greedy subconsciouses is captured in the film, as the point is repeatedly made to the card counting blackjack team that with their actions, they should emphasize staying unattached and calculated. By stressing how having and acknowledging hope makes it difficult to make rational decisions, the team is able to avoid gambling and playing hands based on emotions as opposed to computations [12].
Outside of the addiction promoting business strategies used to maintain a strong economic advantage, the nature of gambling (particularly from the casino's perspective) inherently creates a desire to profit at the expense of others [13]. This goes against Kantian principles, as large corporations view customers as a means to an end, where an individual's value is solely measured on the profit that they bring the company, as opposed to their enjoyment, although customer satisfaction does play a role in returning more profits.
Overall, the average consumer is rarely a corporation's top priority and while exclusive offers and packages appear to show companies' concern with an individual experience, every campaign is a calculated business move that seeks the highest return on investment - therefore allowing companies to always maintain the upper-hand over unassuming clients.
Privacy? Where?
When it comes to privacy, in a casino you have essentially none. Casinos are one of the most surveilled environments that the general public actively participates in. Once you walk into a casino you effectively relinquish your rights to anonymity: your face is captured by multiple cameras from different angles and any sort of gambling requires some form of identification. In more modern settings, loyalty cards that earn guests rewards require you to provide a state issued ID to sign up, which is then used to maintain non-gambling related information about you. Factors such as a player's address, insurance, and expiration date listed on his or her license, which have little to no effect on a player's gambling, are recorded by these rewards cards [11]. The question becomes, how much data is too much data for these casinos to rightfully collect (where rightful suggests it is an ethical issue as opposed to legal one)?
In the context of the film, the newer biometric tracking software that is taking over more old school security specialists like Cole Williams uses the surveillance infrastructure in the casino to track guests and compare them to a list of known card counters. Recent legislation passed in the EU, known as the GDPR, prohibits the processing of biometric information and thus draws casinos' use of this software into a moral debate [14]. While the United States has not commented on the use of biometric data, the majority of European nations see the use of biometric data as a breach of privacy.
Alongside the use of biometric data collection and processing for personal business profit, casinos also take the results of this processing and share it with other casinos [15]. This takes the abuse of information privacy to another level. Sharing the biometric data of an individual with a business they have no relationship with takes control out of the individual's hands as to who has access to their data. If an individual understands the data collection policies of an organization and makes the decision to continue to patronize that organization, then the individual has made the conscious decision to allow they to have their data. However, if the casino sends that information to another casino that the individual has never attended, there was no willful decision made by the consumer about their access to his or her data.
Given these arguments, the data collection practices that casinos use raise serious ethical and privacy questions that need to be addressed in the coming future.
[2] Dino Felluga, Modules on Foucalt: On Panoptic and Carceral Society, (Purdue) https://cla.purdue.edu/academic/english/theory/newhistoricism/modules/foucaultcarceral.html (April 25, 2021)
[3] Aliza Vigderman, Gabe Turner, Do Security Cameras Deter Crime?, (Security.org, March 15, 2021), https://www.security.org/security-cameras/deter-crime/ (April 25, 2021)
[4] Ball State University, The myth and reality of manufacturing in America, April 2017, https://conexus.cberdata.org/files/MfgReality.pdf Accessed 25 April 2021.
[5] Managing the Transition to Driverless Road Freight Transport, International Transport Forum, May 2017, https://www.itf-oecd.org/managing-transition-driverless-road-freight-transport. Accessed 25 April 2021.
[6] Daniel Kurt, 7 Jobs That (Probably) Won’t Be Automated, Investopedia, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/022017/7-jobs-cant-be-automated.asp. Accessed 25 April 2021.
[7] National Research Council, Mathematical Sciences, Technology, and Economic Completeness, (Sciences Engineering Medicine, 1991), 55. Accessed 26 April 2021.
[8] Jared Hecht, How Technology Is Driving Change In Almost Every Major Industry, (Forbes, November, 30th, 2018), https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaredhecht/2018/11/30/how-technology-is-driving-change-in-almost-every-major-industry/?sh=38352ee52f6f (April 26, 2021)
[9] “The Ethical Case for Gambling.” The Age, 22 May 2004, www.theage.com.au/national/the-ethical-case-for-gambling-20040322-gdxj7i.html. Accessed 4 May 2021.
[10] Finney, David. “Public and Private Hunger for Gambling Profits Points to 'Corrosive' Effects of Gambling.” Des Moines Register, 28 June 2019, www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/columnists/daniel-finney/2018/06/28/polk-county-supervisors-prairie-meadows-gambling-addiction-ethics-des-moines-catholic-diocese/729555002/. Accessed 4 May 2021.
[11] Gill, Chandeni. 2012, Patron Data Privacy and Security in the Casino Industry: A Case for a U.S. Data Privacy Statute. https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=glj Accessed 4 May 2021.
[12] Lerner, Jennifer. 2014, Emotion and Decision Making. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jenniferlerner/files/annual_review_manuscript_june_16_final.final_.pdf Accessed 4 May 2021.
[13] Rosengren, John. “How Casinos Enable Gambling Addicts.” The Atlantic, Dec. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/12/losing-it-all/505814/. Accessed 4 May 2021.
[14] “Biometric Data and Privacy Laws (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA).” Thales Group, April 2021. https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/markets/digital-identity-and-security/government/biometrics/biometric-data.
[15] Corasaniti, Nick. “They Pretty Much Know Everything About You Before You Bet the Jets.” The New York Times. The New York Times, November 28, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/nyregion/sports-betting-nj-security.html?action=click&%3Bmodule=News&%3Bpgtype=Homepag.