The feds are raising the alarm about a new category of threat.
In the wake of attacks on CEOs, a nationwide protest movement targeting data centers, and increasing concerns about AI job replacement, federal intelligence agencies and domestic law enforcement are circulating reports with a new domestic target in mind: anti-technology extremists.
More than 1,000 pages of unpublished reports from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and fusion centers obtained by WIRED show a national shift taking place to surveil this new and worryingly broad category of people and activities deemed an emerging threat.
I’m not surprised by this at all.
AI just makes components way too expensive, they are not ecologically designed and wasting loads of water for cooling, and it is forced upon for many people at their jobs.
Not to talk about how much data they have “harvested” (stolen) from people to train their models. Artists are not appreciated and their art is used to train these models for free. People are laid off from their work places in the name of AI (but in reality companies are too deep in their AI investments and because of this they cannot have more workers and this is when the company suffers and they like to say its because of AI to keep the stakeholders happy that they have done something “progressive”)
So I would argue there’s plenty of reasons why people would get AI hatred
Honestly, I don’t see AI as something negative. It has negative aspects, like any technological advancement. It helps me as a writer and researcher to look for books, studies, topics, to translate, to create texts and fun stories.
Regarding the use of documents and books to train models, I don’t see it as something bad or as an infringement of copyright. In the end, it is a free use of what has been learned. I have my doubts regarding the creation of images and videos.
Does it affect the work of artists? Without a doubt. But in the same way that automation affects the automotive sector or any other industry. Self-checkout machines also take away jobs from many people. The negative effects of technology come from a capitalist system where increased productivity does not translate into a reduction of working hours, but rather leads to increased unemployment and an ever-growing accumulation of capital (with the resulting economic and production crises).
As for the ecological impact, I cannot comment on that, because I am not informed on the matter. Perhaps the solution lies in Chinese models, which are much more efficient because they are not enormous brains capable of performing any task, but rather select specific “specialties.”
It’s been a fascinating decade for tech. Here’s some word soup on the topic:
Ten years ago, these business were (rightfully or wrongfully, you decide) exalted as champions of the future. The common attitude today is FAR more weary, certainly bordering on hostile
Even amongst the not-privacy-minded crowd, I find there’s a general sense that big tech is predatory. Very few people seem to deny it. Far more common is the nihilistic “yes of course this problem is real, of course my government and these billion dollar corporations are milking me for every scrap of data I can produce, but I am impotent to combat it” outlook
If I had to pick a singular inflection point, where it started to go sour, it’s probably the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The global political landacape since *erhm* ~2016ish has definitely added fuel to the fire. And for whatever reason, the proliferation of AI has seemed to tapped into a communal sense of frustration that can probably be traced to the same roots
Commenting specifically on the ecological impact: I think that one just needs to look at the impact of hyperscale data centers in the US. This is less common in China because they are not nearly at the level of investment the US is seeing, but I’m sure they will catch up. Ecological impacts are one thing, but also the human health impacts are becoming extremely noticable.
Soviet economic study is fringe this days. I’m honestly surprised to see those points still being repeated lol
In reality, datacenters minmax on available density, capacity and electricity all the time. AI clusters are especially cooling efficient as modern GPU farms aren’t colocated within an air cooling block but rather rely on closed loop water cooling solutions. It’s simply too much of a waste to cool the GPU clusters with air.
This was a hot talking point for a week until people actually dug up the stats to compare datacenter usage with agricultural waste. For me personally, AI would be more precious than frontyard irrigation systems if i were a US citizen.
I don’t quite understand the hate towards industrialization. Perhaps modern Americans just don’t understand what economic wonders their country has experienced because America conquered hunger and became wealthy way before the rest of the world?
It’s not Soviet economics, it’s basic economics. I’ll leave you with the “prediction” made by the greatest economist of the 20th century in his essay “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren”:
For many ages to come the old Adam will be so strong in us that everybody will need to do some work if he is to be contented. We shall do more things for ourselves than is usual with the rich to-day, only too glad to have small duties and tasks and routines. But beyond this, we shall endeavour to spread the bread thin on the butter—to make what work there is still to be done to be as widely shared as possible. Three-hour shifts or a fifteen-hour week may put off the problem for a great while. For three hours a day is quite enough to satisfy the old Adam in most of us!
If it hasn’t come true, it’s simply because it serves certain interests to have a mass of unemployed people and those working double shifts fighting in the jungle of the labor market for a minimum wage.
I won’t argue any further, but, as an immigrant, i find it hilarious to see westerners blaming capitalism, “certain interests” and AI as of recently for their misfortunes.
I thought I wouldn’t have to make it explicit, but “certain interest” is the employer’s interest in paying their workers as little as possible. You’re welcome!
american exceptionalism? in my privacyguides forums?
if the US’ condition is one where it has “conquered hunger”, I hate to see what places where hunger hasn’t been conquered look like
sure, all of us should be grateful for what we have (given we’re all “fortunate” enough to be posting on this forum) but that doesn’t mean we aren’t allowed to call out inequity that still exists – and it’s sheer willful ignorance to pretend that AI (and the economic system in which it exists) doesn’t bring with it a whole lot of things that people would be upset at, starting with the obvious effects on pricing of technology, but also bringing it closer to this forum’s main topic, the massive privacy violations that AI and so-called “surveillance capitalism” beget.
If a system exists only to squeeze wealth out of you perhaps the issue is systematic, blaming people for getting abused is not the answer. For all the good capitalism has done it has become that system, corporations do not have a desire to compete anymore.
It is more profitable to lobby the government until you have a de facto monopoly, and even without a monopoly it is more profitable to cooperate with your “competitors” implicitly. If the stupid consumers have no choice but to buy from you, your wealth is all but guaranteed, for an example of this you must not forget that the US has banned the import of Chinese EVs.
The “certain interests” have also been shown to be actual pedophiles, unless you want to pretend epstein wasn’t real. The people in charge are not your friends, you are a disposable bit of trash they squeeze some money out of, that’s all you are to them.
In recent news, SpaceX is planning to fast-track getting listed in stock market indices. The reason of course being that retirement accounts will be buying their stock automatically and at an extremely inflated valuation, so have fun getting your money stolen
Like many new tech, there are many negative impacts.
For those who have grave concerns, and you are well-versed in this tech space, you have all the reasons to jump into the water or take the driver’s seat, help developing this technology in the right direction.
Criticism would nudge polititions to change policy and regulations, but it has no effect on “for-propfit” organizations to continue develop their products.
