It was more human when like in East Germany you could count on your neighbor or co-worker reporting you or, yes, even a family member. This is what happens when technology replaces human contact.
Then again I couldn’t find my car in the mall parking lot last evening. I called those monitor people, flustered now. “What the Flock I cry out I can’t find my car!!”
No answer. The horror! left my dog in the car. It’s so hot out. I panicked but finally found my car. “Why didn’t you address my plea?” I later inquired.
The answer… “We are very displeased with you, Sir. It has come to our attention that just recently you became a paid subscriber to Caitlin Johnstone’s Substack. This is a serious breach of our rules. You have a very cute dog. Lucky you found him on time in this heat. Oh, BTW his rabies immunization is due next week. Have a good rest of the day.
"They are ruining what it is to be human. There is so much ugliness in all this."
I think that's the whole point of the "AI revolution." The TechBro billionaires want to ruin what it means to be human--and get rid of as many humans as possible at the same time. They have genuinely ugly souls and no compassion for their fellow humans. Perhaps they're AI 'bots and we're already living in The Terminator future?
Well, there’s one thing Caitlin got wrong. James Fennimore Cooper has never been considered a good stylist. His prose has always been the subject of jokes. He verges on the brink of being unreadable.
The best reason to be against Billionaires and their constant screaming about taxes and people wanting medicare-for-all - is that the billionaires own the government. And wingnuts pretend the problem is the government (not the billionaires) - which the billionaire scumbags love.
Caitlin, I agree with you about all the horrible uses and abuses of AI (by corporations and governments). But I DISAGREE with you in one very important way (at least for the time being) - each and every one of us has a CHOICE on how (or if) we use AI (unless you are compelled to use it by force/necessity in your work environment).
For instance, as a software engineer, I have many developer friends that use 'VIBE coding' (personally and at work). And I absolutely REFUSE to do it because if I do, I will learn NOTHING and I will not grow as a software engineer.
The same applies to your example of the person using AI to read books. I would NOT use an AI for general reading comprehension of books (I would prefer to use and develop my critical thinking, reasoning, and analytical skills for this). Now, if I were to read challenging books (like Marx's Das Kapital, etc.), I would definitely appreciate all the help I could get in understanding such works (and using an AI for a back-and-forth question and answer session to clarify concepts helps tremendously). Also, I can ask the AI to create a 'multiple-choice' quiz for me after I finish reading a chapter to test how well I have understood the material.
But here is the message I am trying to get across to you - we have personal agency in HOW and WHAT we use AI for. And each of us has to make these choices for ourselves and the consequences of such choices. TOO MANY people give in to CONVENIENCE and sacrifice on personal growth and learning (in all areas of life) and use AI. But this is a choice that THEY have made.
I use AI extensively for many purposes, but I use it to ENHANCE my learning/growth/experiences rather than REPLACE my cognitive/emotional/etc. abilities. Sure, I often take longer to understand some topics/tasks sometimes than I would otherwise with an AI doing all the work for me. And that's ok with me. I'm 'not in a race of anykind' (but possibly this is because I have certain life privileges maybe? I'll have to think more about this).
At least for the time being, don't each and every one of us have a personal responsibility and agency to decide for ourselves how and for what we would/should use AI?
Is it fair to blame AI technologies instead of also looking at human nature, systems of political economy, and personal agency when it comes to understanding the impacts of AI technologies on homo-sapiens and human societies?
Caitlin, you ALWAYS seem to be blaming AI technologies for everything (from the many articles I have read of yours on your opinions of AI). But I would say that this is more a biased opinion than an objective and comprehensive analysis on the subject matter.
Let me end with a couple of points -
(1) I HATE AI technologies for what it is doing to the planet (but I hate cryptocurrencies EVEN MORE for reasons I won't get into here - I mention this because BOTH technologies create many of the same problems).
(2) IMHO, I don't think humanity needs AI technologies to solve our most pressing problems (climate change, hunger, poverty, etc.). They can be solved WITHOUT AI technologies (in my humble opinion)
(3) Inspite of points (1) and (2) above, I love using AI technologies in the specific ways I use them. Of course, my experience-time with AI is limited and I admit that I don't know how AI use might change me over the next 5, 10 or more years. We really are in unchartered territory here...
But AI technologies are NOT a black/white thing. There is incredible NUANCE and human agency involved. And I think it is inaccurate, short-sighted, and biased to always blame AI technologies for everything (when the source of the problem might be a deeper, underlying factor(s)).
Use it or be used by it. Master it for your purposes (revolution; democratization of AI) or i will master you for those of its owners. AI is not going away, anymore than the printing press or internet. So the only rational and moraMakl response is to make it ours. Only then will it be built out without harming the ecosystem and be a kind of national library rather than a tool of control. I am by nature a Luddite: machines break down if I just look at them, but AI is something that can be used to enslave us or to liberate us, depending on who controls it.
The signature of impotence is the act of increasing disproportional abuse of power from those we pay tax to manage the resources.
Clearly, corruption is rampant in government and their corporate brown noses whom wish to manipulate and maintain fraudulent financial benefits over the tax payers.
It would be nice if there was some kind of political opposition to this, but there is none that I can find. Nobody running in any party is saying that this shit needs to be shut down and these corporations need to be neutered and partitioned into ineffectual little app companies. Nobody.
So there is no hope, that I can see. Like the climate apocalypse, there will never be a solution, because there is no political system to protect us, and individually, everyone will buy in eventually.
Sam Altman needs human friends. If that is even possible. What a loser
When you refuse to go along with the herd, the herd acts as if you are simple. or a terrorist.
Not to worry. The climate is going to kill us all first, before we're all controlled by AI. At least that's the plan of the world of nature. .
Nature has it in for us no matter what. But it looks like AI has it in for us as well. It looks like we're totally fucked tbh.
It was more human when like in East Germany you could count on your neighbor or co-worker reporting you or, yes, even a family member. This is what happens when technology replaces human contact.
Then again I couldn’t find my car in the mall parking lot last evening. I called those monitor people, flustered now. “What the Flock I cry out I can’t find my car!!”
No answer. The horror! left my dog in the car. It’s so hot out. I panicked but finally found my car. “Why didn’t you address my plea?” I later inquired.
The answer… “We are very displeased with you, Sir. It has come to our attention that just recently you became a paid subscriber to Caitlin Johnstone’s Substack. This is a serious breach of our rules. You have a very cute dog. Lucky you found him on time in this heat. Oh, BTW his rabies immunization is due next week. Have a good rest of the day.
Can't wait for Musks AI robots. "Go out and bring me a something to eat" and it returns with someones leg.
😂
"They are ruining what it is to be human. There is so much ugliness in all this."
I think that's the whole point of the "AI revolution." The TechBro billionaires want to ruin what it means to be human--and get rid of as many humans as possible at the same time. They have genuinely ugly souls and no compassion for their fellow humans. Perhaps they're AI 'bots and we're already living in The Terminator future?
If you saw someone vandalising a Flock camera, no you didn't.
Well, there’s one thing Caitlin got wrong. James Fennimore Cooper has never been considered a good stylist. His prose has always been the subject of jokes. He verges on the brink of being unreadable.
That’s just what I was thinking. One of the great take-downs of all time was Mark Twains utterly brutal: “Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses".
Didn't they use to say that about Herman Melville?
Flock surveillance cameras are the sensors of the security state.
https://nedb.substack.com/p/get-the-flock-outta-here
beep beep
The best reason to be against Flock is that the government wants you to be for it.
The best reason to be against Billionaires and their constant screaming about taxes and people wanting medicare-for-all - is that the billionaires own the government. And wingnuts pretend the problem is the government (not the billionaires) - which the billionaire scumbags love.
Caitlin, I agree with you about all the horrible uses and abuses of AI (by corporations and governments). But I DISAGREE with you in one very important way (at least for the time being) - each and every one of us has a CHOICE on how (or if) we use AI (unless you are compelled to use it by force/necessity in your work environment).
For instance, as a software engineer, I have many developer friends that use 'VIBE coding' (personally and at work). And I absolutely REFUSE to do it because if I do, I will learn NOTHING and I will not grow as a software engineer.
The same applies to your example of the person using AI to read books. I would NOT use an AI for general reading comprehension of books (I would prefer to use and develop my critical thinking, reasoning, and analytical skills for this). Now, if I were to read challenging books (like Marx's Das Kapital, etc.), I would definitely appreciate all the help I could get in understanding such works (and using an AI for a back-and-forth question and answer session to clarify concepts helps tremendously). Also, I can ask the AI to create a 'multiple-choice' quiz for me after I finish reading a chapter to test how well I have understood the material.
But here is the message I am trying to get across to you - we have personal agency in HOW and WHAT we use AI for. And each of us has to make these choices for ourselves and the consequences of such choices. TOO MANY people give in to CONVENIENCE and sacrifice on personal growth and learning (in all areas of life) and use AI. But this is a choice that THEY have made.
I use AI extensively for many purposes, but I use it to ENHANCE my learning/growth/experiences rather than REPLACE my cognitive/emotional/etc. abilities. Sure, I often take longer to understand some topics/tasks sometimes than I would otherwise with an AI doing all the work for me. And that's ok with me. I'm 'not in a race of anykind' (but possibly this is because I have certain life privileges maybe? I'll have to think more about this).
At least for the time being, don't each and every one of us have a personal responsibility and agency to decide for ourselves how and for what we would/should use AI?
Is it fair to blame AI technologies instead of also looking at human nature, systems of political economy, and personal agency when it comes to understanding the impacts of AI technologies on homo-sapiens and human societies?
Caitlin, you ALWAYS seem to be blaming AI technologies for everything (from the many articles I have read of yours on your opinions of AI). But I would say that this is more a biased opinion than an objective and comprehensive analysis on the subject matter.
Let me end with a couple of points -
(1) I HATE AI technologies for what it is doing to the planet (but I hate cryptocurrencies EVEN MORE for reasons I won't get into here - I mention this because BOTH technologies create many of the same problems).
(2) IMHO, I don't think humanity needs AI technologies to solve our most pressing problems (climate change, hunger, poverty, etc.). They can be solved WITHOUT AI technologies (in my humble opinion)
(3) Inspite of points (1) and (2) above, I love using AI technologies in the specific ways I use them. Of course, my experience-time with AI is limited and I admit that I don't know how AI use might change me over the next 5, 10 or more years. We really are in unchartered territory here...
But AI technologies are NOT a black/white thing. There is incredible NUANCE and human agency involved. And I think it is inaccurate, short-sighted, and biased to always blame AI technologies for everything (when the source of the problem might be a deeper, underlying factor(s)).
Use it or be used by it. Master it for your purposes (revolution; democratization of AI) or i will master you for those of its owners. AI is not going away, anymore than the printing press or internet. So the only rational and moraMakl response is to make it ours. Only then will it be built out without harming the ecosystem and be a kind of national library rather than a tool of control. I am by nature a Luddite: machines break down if I just look at them, but AI is something that can be used to enslave us or to liberate us, depending on who controls it.
The signature of impotence is the act of increasing disproportional abuse of power from those we pay tax to manage the resources.
Clearly, corruption is rampant in government and their corporate brown noses whom wish to manipulate and maintain fraudulent financial benefits over the tax payers.
Flock the surveillance state, and the Computer Regurgitated Autonomous Pictures its riding in on.
It is beyond words how far we have let ourselves descend
It would be nice if there was some kind of political opposition to this, but there is none that I can find. Nobody running in any party is saying that this shit needs to be shut down and these corporations need to be neutered and partitioned into ineffectual little app companies. Nobody.
So there is no hope, that I can see. Like the climate apocalypse, there will never be a solution, because there is no political system to protect us, and individually, everyone will buy in eventually.