We asked a group of writers to consider the forces that have shaped our lives in 2017. Here, science fiction writer Ted Chiang looks at capitalism, Silicon Valley, and its fear of superintelligent AI.
Opinion | How Scared Should We Be of A.I. Right Now?
The dark and distressing way that Silicon Valley talks about A.I. can be traced to a philosophy that influenced many tech executives.
More Everything Forever
This "smart and wonderfully readable" (New York Times) exposé shows why Silicon Valley’s heartless, baseless, and foolish obsessions—with escaping death...
Opinion | Silicon Valley Is Bracing for a Permanent Underclass
The people building A.I. fear that we have only a short time before advanced A.I. disrupts the labor force.
Take it from the insiders: Silicon Valley is eating your soul | John Harris
Former Google and Facebook executives are sounding the alarm about the pervasive power of tech, writes Guardian columnist John Harris
When Silicon Valley’s AI warriors came to Washington
Effective altruism is increasingly described as a cult. But as the movement’s billionaire adherents pour money into D.C., its obsession with the AI apocalypse is remaking the capital’s tech policy landscape.
Silicon Valley Doesn't Get Why You Hate AI
Technology leaders don’t seem to understand society’s gripes about AI, but boy, are they posting through it.
I Thought I Knew Silicon Valley. I Was Wrong
Tech got what it wanted by electing Trump. A year later, it looks more like a suicide pact.
Why We Fear AI: On the Interpretation of Nightmares — Common Notions Press
Industry insiders Hagen Blix and Ingeborg Glimmer dive into the dark, twisted world of AI to demystify the many nightmares we have about it. They combine expertise in cognitive science and machine learning with political and economic analyses to cut through the hype and technobabble to show how fear
Ted Chiang: Fears of Technology Are Fears of Capitalism
Writer Ted Chiang (author of the fantastic Exhalation) was recently a guest on the Ezra Klein Show. The conversation ranged widely — I enjoyed his thoughts on s
‘Headed for technofascism’: the rightwing roots of Silicon Valley
The industry’s liberal reputation is misleading. Its reactionary tendencies – celebrating wealth, power and traditional masculinity – have been clear since the dotcom mania of the 1990s
AI Billionaires Are Starting to Get Scared
The world's tech billionaires are starting to moderate their rhetoric on AI automation, but that doesn't mean it's all in good faith.
‘Think Everybody Dead’: How the Threat of AI Is Fueling a New Political Alliance
A billionaire-backed movement from Silicon Valley and populists like Bernie Sanders are eager to stop an AI disaster — but can they overcome their mutual distrust and work together?
The Anti-Intellectualism of Silicon Valley Elites
I recently re-read Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, and now every time a reactionary Silicon Valley billionaire opens his mouth, I think about it. So I wrote about it for The Nation. Here's the column: On Instagram, there’s an activist named Brian Patrick (@pano.
Why Silicon Valley can’t fix itself
The long read: Tech insiders have finally started admitting their mistakes – but the solutions they are offering could just help the big players get even more powerful
