Antinuclear

TODAY. All the way with AI – up, up, then -into the abyss?

In Australia – way back – we used to say “All the way with USA!”. (We still do – can’t help it – it’s our “cultural cringe” – we think we’re a bit stupid).

But sorry – all the way with AI doesn’t rhyme – which makes the whole thing even gratingly worse.

I’ve been alerted to this global problem by the wonderful article “ Is it worse to have no climate solutions – or to have them but refuse to use them?“, by the heretical Rebecca Solnit. In a previous era, she would have been burnt at the stake. Probably still will be, the way things are going.

At least she’ll have company- there are bound to be many deaths as wildfires become more prevalent and more severe. Yes, I’m talking about climate change – that boring old subject, which shouldn’t get a mention in the media, while we obsess over important stuff, Trump’s caps, and childless cat ladies.

It’s not as if Rebecca Solnit is telling us anything new, really. We all know that big leaps in technology are led by ambitious, technically brilliant, highly competitive men. Somehow or other, we revere these men, even though some of them clearly have a strangely lop-sided cognitive state -with a deficit in integrity and ethics.

That’s why “progress” from way back, then through the industrial revolution, and now the digital revolution has been accompanied by shocking exploitation of millions of people . It’s been the ill-treatment of “the working class”, of indigenous peoples – to develop mines, and progress in transport and modern industries, and of course, in warfare. But still we admired and followed the “captains of industry” who led us all into the mixed bag of “progress”

Today’s captains of industry – Musk, Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg – and about 7 more digital champions are headed towards becoming trillionaires – with many other clever technical billionaires in the running, too. Along with their obscene wealth goes their power and influence over governments , education, and media.

Rebecca Solnit brings something different to this discussion. She simply points out, using the example of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt  – the mindset that we should not worry about climate change – we should go ahead with AI because somehow Artificial Intelligence will solve the problem.

As Solnit says “decoy is the new denial” , meaning that “we ignore workable present-day solutions in favor of unworkable and nonexistent ones while continuing to burn fossil fuel.”

We know that the solutions are there – thousands of scientists are telling us. But these thousands of men, and women, too – have more normal brains, including qualities of integrity and ethics, and the ability to look at the total picture, and imagine the future.

October 19, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized