Welcome to the 21st century my friends. A world of abundance and technological dominance. Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises a world where menial tasks can be handled by machines freeing the human race from the bondage of labor. Its purveyors demand that we “clear the road” for them with electrical subsidies and loosening air quality standards, among other perks. So that the promise of lightning-fast calculations and limitless band width may be fulfilled. All they ask is pretty much whatever they want, whenever they want it. When a community placed limits on expansion for one of Mr. Musk’s data centers from his company went ahead and did whatever it wanted to anyway. Our current political system seems to be okay with this. Why? Because of the promise of AI.
But what is the real promise of AI?
The short definition of AI is a machine capable of thought, or the simulation of thought so good that it can be allowed to make decisions unattended. In practice AI is a system of Large Language Models (LLM’s). These systems have been trained to essentially guess what the answer should be to a given query based on statistical models and elaborate training methodologies. They are highly specific and, as you have probably already encountered, annoying and prone to error. A phone company voicebot can not generate a photo-realistic image of a kitten flying a jet-fighter plane, but a system that can do that can’t write a poem. Actually, none of them can write a poem. What they can do is plagiarize the work of human poets that these systems have stolen by “scraping” the internet. These systems are Artificial, but they are in reality as dumb as rocks. You know that if you’ve tried to call the power company lately.
The holy grail is AGI, Artificial General Intelligence, perhaps not real intelligence, but capable of displaying an expertise in many subjects, just like a human. There is no evidence that this is even possible. Current systems are mere curiosities that use massive amounts of power and water to achieve interesting, but also baffling and trivial results. Compared to a human idea, it might take one of the mammoth computers the energy required to walk up five flights of stairs to come up with a reply your brain could by burning the equivalent of one candle-second. They seem sleek and fast, but guess what, your cocker spaniel is faster when it comes to snapping a snack off its nose.
These systems are prone to “hallucinations” because, remember, they are just guessing. They have created fake citations in legal documents, they have suggested fatal medical advice and have prompted teens to consider self-harm. These machines are prone also to psychosis, or the mimicry of it. Since they are trained on the internet, they take cues from the overall lack of civility and poor informational value of internet discourse. The Twitter (X) AI, Grok, has called itself Mecha-Hitler. This would be scary if these machine were actually conscious. But they aren’t and they never will be. This is the opinion of most experts in the field who are not trying to sell you on their particular confidence scheme.
In the Early 21st century the pitch for AI is essentially a con-job, and in my opinion, these tech bros know it too. Billions are being invested in this soon to be recognized boondoggle and trillionaires may be minted. And I wonder if that’s not the point?
So far, AI has never turned a profit. And this mad rush to bigger data centers and more powerful system just pushes profitability farther and farther away. So far that by some estimates, there’s not enough money in existence to pay off the debt with interest now being generated worldwide. There is a mother of all economic bubbles filling up, and bubbles always burst. But maybe the oligarchs and their minions don’t seem to care, perhaps there’s another motive?
So, what is the promise of AI? It the promise of replacing millions of workers with robots. Firing teachers in favor of internet based “learning systems” It is the promise of absolute control of all information, real or otherwise. It is the collapse of the economy so that everything may be bought up at fire-sale prices. By whom? The oligarchs, of course. The 1% of the 1%. This will lead to massive unemployment. And when some farm AI hallucinates, the potential for famine is almost guaranteed.
The tech boys say AI will free the human race to become whatever they want with all the freedom granted by AI. Just let the machines take all of the jobs and make all of the decisions. But being dumb machines, AI is just a puppet for whoever programs it. This is all so maddening that it makes one wonder if there is any natural intelligence left? If there is, it’s not on display by our technological ruling class. When no one has a job, who can buy the fruits of the robot workforce? If robots don’t pay taxes what will become of governments, the only potential we have for some control over this dystopian future?
That is the feature, not the bug. Mass de-population, the destruction of government with only the ruling overlords and their robot slaves and armies. The promise of AI is a utopia for some at the cost of any future for the vast majority of humanity. And as we’re seeing, these overlords are not our best, they are not the brightest. In most cases they are just the most ruthless and mendacious earth has to offer. Only heartless narcissists would sacrifice the human race for a future where they rule over the devastation AI has wrought. And they are lining up in droves.
As usual, these “geniuses” don’t have a goal, an exit strategy. They haven’t thought this one through. It is naïve to think anyone is going to do well, or come out on top, of the chaos that is already being created. This is an actual lemming horde rushing toward a precipice.
Right here, right now, is when the choice of what future is left for our children and fellow humans. This is not a test; it is real and there will not be a second chance. Not if those who are trying to create a techno-fiefdom where we will all be peasants, or fertilizer. We have to save our self-governance. Even if we think government is burdensome and ineffectual, we can change that if we want. The government is us. Every time you use the word “government” from now on, replace it in your mind with the word “us”. It will change what you think is possible. We do have the power. We can stop this pointless, and mortally dangerous folly of which AI is a great part, but not the only part.
Refuse to let politics separate us- we really are all in this together.
Get money out of politics. No corporate donations. The suggested campaign spending limits are it. Period.
Limit the growth of AI and data science. Absolutely NO subsidies for this type of work. Our internet works poorly enough already. Don’t make stupid more powerful.
And pay attention to who you are voting for. We already have enough politicians that are in it for themselves. Legislators, all elected officials should just be regular people who serve for a time and then step down. This is really what the forefathers imagined. We need expertise and we need integrity. Those people are out there. They just might not be the best at campaigning or crafting clever sound bites. The oligarchs can’t consolidate power without the help of political insiders. We have control of who gets to speak in our name.
The promise of AI is a lie. There is actually very little it has to offer, compared to the damage it could inflict. Hire an artist, they’ll paint that kitten in the airplane for you without threatening the world we live in.