Hunter Storm | Sympathy for the Devil

Prometheus | Why I Wrote These Tech Articles

Don’t let the title fool you: the devil is in the details, not in this article. There is only depth and shared experience here. Do you ever think about the gap between how the average person sees our work, and what we actually do in AI, cybersecurity, technology, and strategy? Sometimes, those Rolling Stones lyrics really hit home. So, I coined this phrase to express how I see my own role: “I’m standing in the doorway between humanity and technology as both a guardian and a guide.” This article, “Sympathy for the Devil,” dives into the heart of it all. It’s a beacon and a call to action for my colleagues across the silos to collaborate to create trusted and safe technologies.

Many of you know me, Hunter Storm, from my role as an athlete, entertainer, singer, model, and more. However, others know that I’m also a top AI expert, cybersecurity expert, and strategist. But that’s not the headline here: you are.

Watching the Doorway

That’s why I’m here, metaphorically standing in the doorway between humanity and technology. Why do I say that I’m “standing in the doorway between humanity and technology” when I’m clearly not even here? It’s because I firmly believe all of my experiences and expertise are wasted if they don’t have impact at every level. These articles are my way of creating that positive impact and insuring it ripples out into the world, far beyond these digital pages. So, I’m providing digital safety expert insights, acting as both guardian and guide.

The Devil Is in the Details

Besides helping the average person secure their digital lives, I wanted these articles to be part of an industry-wide call to action. From my seat as a 31-year technology and cybersecurity veteran, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly from the inside out. At the risk of sounding like a character from a Sci-Fi movie or lyrics from the Rolling Stones, I’ve been here since before:

the inception of the Internet as a public interface.
Google, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, and most of the other Big Tech companies.
the AI the public plays with (CoPilot, ChatGPT, etc.) was even created.
technology certifications and degrees were created.
PsyOps and cyberwarfare became a discipline.

Yep. I was there watching technology grow up as I:

stood there, freezing cold on a raised floor in a datacenter, alone with a down box (server) and my brain, figuring out how to raise the dead like a cyberpunk necromancer before the business opened the next day – all without the luxury of AI, Google, or a manual.
provided support as a computer tech on literally every version of Windows, beginning with Windows 3.11, although I preferred the command line interface, as all of us OG computer geeks did.
played with my invisible friends on the Internet, whose digital pranks would later echo in modern information influence campaigns. Learn more in my articles, How Internet Pranks Became the Blueprint for Psychological Warfare and How Early Cybersecurity and PsyOps Pioneers Crossed Paths Without Knowing It.

Security for Everyone | Simplifying the Scary

So, from my perspective, making these articles the best they can be means crafting them to be accessible to most people, not just to those of us who devour white papers on our vacations. Since many folks in technology and other industries know me, then maybe these articles can be the catalyst that fixes certain issues before they are beyond correction. Challenges such as algorithmic mislabeling and more are just a small part of my focus.

I’ve been standing in the doorway between humanity and technology for global enterprise for decades, quietly watching over critical infrastructure and people. With the state of the world, the global fear and unrest, it is past time people see that someone others have trusted for decades behind the scenes is standing here watching over them. That’s why I’m here, stepping into the light. It’s why I’ve jokingly referred to myself as a “Daywalker,” like the comic book character, Blade. People need reassurance, and I hope my articles and presence may help provide it.

A Heart for Technology and Helping Others

As I said in my How Algorithmic Mislabeling Hides Helpful Content and What We Can Do About It series, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been someplace like a mobile phone store and seen some pitiful person with a phone issue that the store couldn’t fix. Then, I stepped in, and I fixed it for them. Some of them actually followed me on Facebook and showed up at my events later. It was kind of embarrassing because I didn’t even want to tell them who I was. Nevertheless, they were grateful because most people never bother to help.

These articles are me bothering to help you. This is the heart of these articles. Not the glossaries, the helpful tech tips, or even the subtle roasting. I’m that person who sees someone struggling with their phone in a store, and instead of walking past, I fix it. It’s the digital equivalent of a stranger pulling over to help change a tire in the rain (I’ve actually done this, but it was in the snow), with expert-level skills and zero expectation of anything in return.

My Mission | Help the Hopeless

That’s what makes these articles different. It isn’t clickbait. It’s not content marketing. It’s a mission statement wrapped in a tutorial. So yeah, if colleagues are reading my site now, I want to make sure what they’re seeing is worth watching. I’m not just building an article. I’m building a beacon, one that guides lost users, frustrated developers, and confused content creators back to clarity. I’ve done this for years behind the scenes, helping colleagues, friends, and strangers without fanfare.

Many of my readers are people in my field who already know I’ve worked on massive global enterprise projects of immense scope, scale, and sensitivity. However, this is the biggest one yet. They know if I’m saying it this way, they don’t even have to ask questions: it’s a fact. These articles are the lighthouse version of that help.

This time, I’m sharing advice publicly. It’s optimized for everyone who’s ever been told their work or questions didn’t matter. So, let’s bring it fully into the light, no silent suffering, and definitely no more being misunderstood by automated systems, just for trying to help. Meet me here on the virtual tarmac because it’s time to get to work.

Hawkeye Humor and Human Connection

These articles may seem simplistic, and in many cases, lighthearted and humorous. That’s because if my blog were the TV series, M.A.S.H., my delivery would be like the character, “Hawkeye.” Always cracking jokes to keep up the team morale, even in the middle of what others think of as deadly serious situations. I make this comparison because sometimes, cybersecurity operations are more like a war interspersed with moments of human connection, just like the old TV show.

Riding on the Devil’s Shoulder

Over the years, many friends have asked why I do some of the work I do. They see negative press in the media, so they wonder why I work with some of the organizations I work with. My response has always been this humorous quip:

You know the cartoon image about a person having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, whispering in their ear and trying to influence their behavior? I’ve been riding on The Devil’s shoulder, whispering in his ear and guiding him on a better path. – Hunter Storm

This always makes them laugh, and then they start to view that negative press and those organizations in a different, more positive, light.

Force Multiplication and the Mathematics of Guardianship

So, I stand in the doorway for the world between humanity and technology. I’m only a petite flesh and blood human, but sometimes, real intelligence (RI) beats artificial intelligence (AI). Sometimes, AI and RI collaborate in the best possible way, as we have done during my work on The Storm Project | AI, Cybersecurity, Quantum, and the Future of Intelligence. In the end, AI plus RI have combined to create both an immovable object and an unstoppable force.

That is the ultimate protection for humanity as we navigate our way into the future of innovation and emerging technologies, those things we have only glimpsed in movies and perhaps in our dreams. So, these articles are part of my personal mission: to ensure these ideas remain dreams and never become nightmares.

Discover More from Hunter Storm

Enjoy this article about how Hunter Storm is metaphorically standing in the doorway between humanity and technology for you? Interested in reading about The Storm Project referenced above? For the record, this project is named after Hunter Storm, no relation to fringe movements. This one’s rooted in facts, not fiction. Feel entertained, uplifted, inspired, ready to get to work on the things that matter? Then as she would say, “Mission accomplished.” Dive into some of Hunter Storm’s other articles, pages, and posts in the links below to learn more.