Really great essay, maybe my favorite of yours I’ve read so far. Regarding Orwell, there is one theory that the Late Bronze Age collapse was at least partially brought on by the “democratization” of warfare based on the relative ease of mass production of iron relative to bronze. Interesting patterns emerge all throughout history. But what is the counter to digital hegemony of so called techno feudalism? I’m not sure we’ve even the faintest idea of what that could look like yet
Thanks! This is actually the one I felt the least sure of, so I'm glad it resonated. I wish I had more of an answer to the solution (pretty much why I was less secure about this one). Funny enough, I actually wrote about techno feudalism in the original draft but ended up cutting it for length and content.
Cool titbit about the bronze age collapse, I had read that as well. I actually have a few pieces in the works that are based on history as a frame of reference for modern issues. Hoping to get them out in the next few months.
Way to tie it all together. Kind of like Dude’s rug that got pee’d on in Big Lebowski.
I’d add that I think the AI programs that we are getting access to is the crumbs. The real shit most likely been in use for a decade or more, by the military.
People don’t understand that the AI we have is just information, organized in a way we ask it to be organized. We think it’s only limited by variables of input. But the compilation of output is gated and guided, as in the case(s) you mention.
I want to connect this idea to something I read yesterday on Public. There does seem to a convergence of technologies to outsource all of our thinking and memory to technology where it can be conveniently manipulated. I don't want to think it's deliberate, just a bunch of technologies developing, but I am finding it more and more difficult to not be paranoid. https://open.substack.com/pub/public/p/big-tech-hubris-and-greed-behind?r=1nvizm&utm_medium=ios
So slight correction: it was not found that Twitter was overly censorious towards right wing voices, or that it was shadow banning them, what was found was that right wingers were more likely to abuse the code of conduct. That’s a ring winger problem, not a Twitter one
I’m reminded of that Dave guy from BarStool Sports who does those Pizza Slut rating videos now. Portnoy! That’s his name… what was I saying?… oh yeah, he sold BarStool for some ridiculous amount and then bought it back for a dollar once its then owners couldn’t monetize it in that blog conglomerate way online media dooms all popular sites to. Elon will sell Twitter back for pennie’s on the dollar because it both serves an informational niche in the media landscape that too many are already entrenched in as a path of least resistance and because we’re watching him realize there’s no grift whereby he can bilk the government into subsidizing this failure as it does all his other business endeavors
Woke AI is a parlor trick because all Machine Learning can lead to is task-ification. A picture of a black CEO doesn’t change the actual propensity for the overabundance of existing white ones to model themselves like autistic Jack Welch-es
Very good clarion call, for one of the issues that will play a big part in crumbling societies. If it is allowed to evolve - the myopic and apathetic consumption will only increase exponentially, as will it's control of virtually all facets of societies. you only need look at the cult like popularity and demand in the last year or so, to see things don't bode well for the frogs.
I liked that you you're still wrestling with a "solution'.
IMHO, you must start with the premise that we (as in all of us) are to blame for letting these destroying genies out of their bottles. First rule in dealing with a problem is to recognize it and accept your part in creating it.
I don't think more legislation is the answer. There are many pitfalls in that. Ones we can easily look back and see ending badly, where other issues were concerned. An example is the knee jerk wailing for security after 9/11 and the galactic rise of the surveillance state. That genie will have to be draw, quartered and cremated in order to get it back in it's bottle - so don't hold your breath. Legislation, means overlords making said legislation, rules and definitions. You only trade AI/Tech tyranny for more of the human version, we already have.
The answer must lie in the education and choices of the people - you hit on it - the free market. However, while a better option, it is also fraught with deep and ignorant pitfalls - namely the people.
They truly are the cause of the woes we are living through and discussing here. Had no one flocked to this AI or chatbot tech, it would have failed and subsided. As it was, contrary to many who warned that out smarting the "stupid chatbot" was really teaching it about humans, people flocked to it. So long as "it's" made fun, shiny, escapist, and envy-centric (all your friends are using it-loser) people - on the whole - will trip over one another to have it. Even after they are shown the perils of the "thing", they will continue to use and consume it - hello social media.
The core problem is not just getting people to understand their addiction will kill them, but caring it will- especially if it doesn't for a long time. Until you can get them to do both of these (especially the last generation) you'll be bailing water on the titanic, with a coffee cup.
My prediction, which many don't like, because they think short term and want it fixed "now" (in their lifetime, but an election cycle would be better) - there will be a fall, a crash, call it what you will, in the next 15-30 years. This country is no different than any other that has fallen in the past - because people and societies destroy themselves in cyclic manners and incrementally. A drastic reset is necessary, when trying to undo generational damage, corruption and decay in a society/country. If it were possible to do in a few election cycles, it would have happened already.
The trick is to be prepared and guard against the tendencies/trends that happen after a reset. The same tendencies that brought us to today's chaos, over the past 2.5 centuries.
One of those destructive tendencies was/is gravitating toward tech solutions, for all the problems and hardships of life - and that's where the education of the masses and getting them to care, comes into play. People will always choose the fun, easy path, but as we've clearly seen, that path leads to a world on the brink of the next fall.
Really great essay, maybe my favorite of yours I’ve read so far. Regarding Orwell, there is one theory that the Late Bronze Age collapse was at least partially brought on by the “democratization” of warfare based on the relative ease of mass production of iron relative to bronze. Interesting patterns emerge all throughout history. But what is the counter to digital hegemony of so called techno feudalism? I’m not sure we’ve even the faintest idea of what that could look like yet
Thanks! This is actually the one I felt the least sure of, so I'm glad it resonated. I wish I had more of an answer to the solution (pretty much why I was less secure about this one). Funny enough, I actually wrote about techno feudalism in the original draft but ended up cutting it for length and content.
Cool titbit about the bronze age collapse, I had read that as well. I actually have a few pieces in the works that are based on history as a frame of reference for modern issues. Hoping to get them out in the next few months.
Also, there’s not a cabal of billionaires pretending to care about right/left causes to trick people into slavery? My worldview is fucked if not.
Way to tie it all together. Kind of like Dude’s rug that got pee’d on in Big Lebowski.
I’d add that I think the AI programs that we are getting access to is the crumbs. The real shit most likely been in use for a decade or more, by the military.
People don’t understand that the AI we have is just information, organized in a way we ask it to be organized. We think it’s only limited by variables of input. But the compilation of output is gated and guided, as in the case(s) you mention.
Good piece!
Been thinking (and writing) about very similar ideas as well. I like to see all kinds of perspectives about it.
I want to connect this idea to something I read yesterday on Public. There does seem to a convergence of technologies to outsource all of our thinking and memory to technology where it can be conveniently manipulated. I don't want to think it's deliberate, just a bunch of technologies developing, but I am finding it more and more difficult to not be paranoid. https://open.substack.com/pub/public/p/big-tech-hubris-and-greed-behind?r=1nvizm&utm_medium=ios
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGxjIBEZvx0
So slight correction: it was not found that Twitter was overly censorious towards right wing voices, or that it was shadow banning them, what was found was that right wingers were more likely to abuse the code of conduct. That’s a ring winger problem, not a Twitter one
I’m reminded of that Dave guy from BarStool Sports who does those Pizza Slut rating videos now. Portnoy! That’s his name… what was I saying?… oh yeah, he sold BarStool for some ridiculous amount and then bought it back for a dollar once its then owners couldn’t monetize it in that blog conglomerate way online media dooms all popular sites to. Elon will sell Twitter back for pennie’s on the dollar because it both serves an informational niche in the media landscape that too many are already entrenched in as a path of least resistance and because we’re watching him realize there’s no grift whereby he can bilk the government into subsidizing this failure as it does all his other business endeavors
Woke AI is a parlor trick because all Machine Learning can lead to is task-ification. A picture of a black CEO doesn’t change the actual propensity for the overabundance of existing white ones to model themselves like autistic Jack Welch-es
Very good clarion call, for one of the issues that will play a big part in crumbling societies. If it is allowed to evolve - the myopic and apathetic consumption will only increase exponentially, as will it's control of virtually all facets of societies. you only need look at the cult like popularity and demand in the last year or so, to see things don't bode well for the frogs.
I liked that you you're still wrestling with a "solution'.
IMHO, you must start with the premise that we (as in all of us) are to blame for letting these destroying genies out of their bottles. First rule in dealing with a problem is to recognize it and accept your part in creating it.
I don't think more legislation is the answer. There are many pitfalls in that. Ones we can easily look back and see ending badly, where other issues were concerned. An example is the knee jerk wailing for security after 9/11 and the galactic rise of the surveillance state. That genie will have to be draw, quartered and cremated in order to get it back in it's bottle - so don't hold your breath. Legislation, means overlords making said legislation, rules and definitions. You only trade AI/Tech tyranny for more of the human version, we already have.
The answer must lie in the education and choices of the people - you hit on it - the free market. However, while a better option, it is also fraught with deep and ignorant pitfalls - namely the people.
They truly are the cause of the woes we are living through and discussing here. Had no one flocked to this AI or chatbot tech, it would have failed and subsided. As it was, contrary to many who warned that out smarting the "stupid chatbot" was really teaching it about humans, people flocked to it. So long as "it's" made fun, shiny, escapist, and envy-centric (all your friends are using it-loser) people - on the whole - will trip over one another to have it. Even after they are shown the perils of the "thing", they will continue to use and consume it - hello social media.
The core problem is not just getting people to understand their addiction will kill them, but caring it will- especially if it doesn't for a long time. Until you can get them to do both of these (especially the last generation) you'll be bailing water on the titanic, with a coffee cup.
My prediction, which many don't like, because they think short term and want it fixed "now" (in their lifetime, but an election cycle would be better) - there will be a fall, a crash, call it what you will, in the next 15-30 years. This country is no different than any other that has fallen in the past - because people and societies destroy themselves in cyclic manners and incrementally. A drastic reset is necessary, when trying to undo generational damage, corruption and decay in a society/country. If it were possible to do in a few election cycles, it would have happened already.
The trick is to be prepared and guard against the tendencies/trends that happen after a reset. The same tendencies that brought us to today's chaos, over the past 2.5 centuries.
One of those destructive tendencies was/is gravitating toward tech solutions, for all the problems and hardships of life - and that's where the education of the masses and getting them to care, comes into play. People will always choose the fun, easy path, but as we've clearly seen, that path leads to a world on the brink of the next fall.
Keep sounding the alarm, it is very needed.