This Machine Kills

We’re joined by Brian Merchant to chat about his reporting on the frontlines of labor exploitations in video games development and animation studios where companies are using AI to replace and degrade jobs, fracture and disempower the workforce, and push the quality of artistic works down even further. When executives explicitly say they are going to use a technology to destroy your livelihoods, then you should believe them and act accordingly. The collective response by workers – especially in the highly unionized animation industry – has been strong and swift. Their message is clear: “AI can fuck right off.” ••• AI Is Already Taking Jobs in the Video Game Industry https://www.wired.com/story/ai-is-already-taking-jobs-in-the-video-game-industry/ ••• He Made a Movie About Humans Rising Up Against AI. Now He’s Doing the Real Thing https://www.wired.com/story/hollywood-animators-fight-artificial-intelligence-labor-mike-rianda/ ••• Brian’s newsletter: https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.x.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.x.com/braunestahl)

We get into the collapse of investor confidence in the AI boom, then turn to the thriving black markets for smuggling vast quantities of AI microchips into China and the geopolitics of technological progress and economic sanctions as AI becomes a site of proxy wars by other means. ••• Burst Damage https://www.wheresyoured.at/burst-damage/ ••• With Smugglers and Front Companies, China Is Skirting American A.I. Bans https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/04/technology/china-ai-microchips.html ••• How four U.S. presidents unleashed economic warfare across the globe https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2024/us-sanction-countries-work Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We are joined by Danya Glabau and Laura Forlano, authors of Cyborg, a new book that explores how this archetype of sci-fi stories is also a critical theory for understanding the tangle of socio-technical relations that constitute our lives. The cyborg helps us think in terms of embodiment and environments, break down boundaries and barriers, and trace the dialectics of control and freedom that come with being cyborgs. ••• Cyborg | Danya Glabau, Laura Forlano https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262547550/cyborg/ ••• Danya on Twitter: https://x.com/allergyPhD ••• Laura on Twitter: https://x.com/laura4lano Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We first get an update on regulatory arbitrage in the weed vape industry, then discuss how the benchmarks used to rank AI models—and make claims about their "intelligence" relative to humans—are largely low quality, out-of-date, not fit for purpose, or just meaningless and deceptive. Yet they are widely treated by industry as authoritative standards. Then we talk a bit about yet another case of a risk scoring algorithm resulting in devastating consequences. ••• Everyone Is Judging AI by These Tests. But Experts Say They’re Close to Meaningless https://themarkup.org/artificial-intelligence/2024/07/17/everyone-is-judging-ai-by-these-tests-but-experts-say-theyre-close-to-meaningless ••• An Algorithm Told Police She Was Safe. Then Her Husband Killed Her. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/18/technology/spain-domestic-violence-viogen-algorithm.html Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We first talk about how all news stories, even the most world historic ones, feel ephemeral and disposable, and how this is the perverse effect of a (news/social/cultural) media ecosystem that is designed around logics of optimizing for content production and audience attention. Then we get into the CrowdStrike outage and how it reveals (and requires) a more fundamental, systemic critique of IT infrastructure and its techno-politics. ••• The Microsoft/CrowdStrike outage shows the danger of monopolization https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jul/20/the-microsoftcrowdstrike-outage-shows-the-danger-of-monopolization ••• CrowdStruck https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jul/20/the-microsoftcrowdstrike-outage-shows-the-danger-of-monopolization%20https://www.wheresyoured.at/crowdstruck-2/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We talk about that paragon of capitalism, car dealerships, and the deceptive, manipulative, extractive tactics they have perfected to make the experience as hellish as possible — particularly by turning the dealership’s finance and insurance department into an engine of 100 percent pure parasitic profit. ••• Escape From the Box https://prospect.org/power/2024-07-08-car-dealership-fee-financing-scams Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We are a bit ahead with recording, but we had to talk about the Trump assassination attempt and JD Vance being tapped for vice president (for like the first 30 minutes). Then we get into a great essay on how private financial markets — or the shadow finance system that is unregulated, unaccountable, and undemocratic — have become the dominant form of finance in society, thanks in large part to trillions in capital allocated from public pension funds. It’s a classic case of private parasites feeding on public hosts. ••• Private Financial Markets Are Eating The World https://lpeproject.org/blog/private-financial-markets-are-eating-the-world/ ••• Why an ‘AI health coach’ won’t solve the world’s chronic disease problems https://theconversation.com/why-an-ai-health-coach-wont-solve-the-worlds-chronic-disease-problems-234369 Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We take a look at recent reports where venture capitalists like Sequoia and the investment banks like Goldman Sachs are starting to wonder out loud whether AI will ever be able to generate enough revenue and consumer demand to make the bubble feel solid. The returns on AI necessary for this massive infrastructure buildout to make sense are looking increasingly fantastical. It was only a matter of time until capital finally came around to our skepticism of generative AI. ••• AI’s $200B Question https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/follow-the-gpus-perspective/ ••• AI’s $600B Question https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/ais-600b-question/ ••• Gen AI: Too Much Spend, Too Little Benefit? https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/gs-research/gen-ai-too-much-spend-too-little-benefit/report.pdf Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We refocus on the war in Ukraine and the country’s pivot toward being the “Silicon Valley for autonomous drones and other weaponry.” Thanks to a combination of foreign investment, entrepreneurial governance, DIY scrappiness, and a ‘by any means necessary’ attitude, the future of cheap, lethal, autonomous warfare is being forged and tested in Ukrainian war zones — before inevitably being deployed everywhere else in some form. ••• A.I. Begins Ushering In an Age of Killer Robots https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/technology/ukraine-war-ai-weapons.html Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We chat about an interesting case study in technology governance: the rise of vapes and the return of cigarettes. How do you create new markets for a product that is highly addictive but also extremely regulated (even banned)? The answer is to flaunt regulation, disrupt competitors, and create an image of coolness using social media influencers. Platforms like Uber learned their strategies from industries like big tobacco, and now the new crop of nicotine dealers are deploying the strategies of platforms like Uber. ••• The Vapes of Wrath https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1197959345 ••• Juul Is an Easy Target—Let's Ban More Tech Products That Harm Us https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjk4q5/juul-is-an-easy-targetlets-ban-more-tech-products-that-harm-us ••• Why Uber and Lyft are taking a page out of big tobacco’s playbook in labor law battle https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/11/why-uber-and-lyft-are-taking-a-page-out-of-big-tobaccos-playbook-in-labor-law-battle ••• Government waters down vaping ban to win support of Greens https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-24/vaping-ban-watered-down-greens-support/104016012 ••• How Big Tobacco enlists Black activists to fight menthol, vaping bans https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/06/21/menthol-ban-vaping-black-lgbt-activists/ ••• Big Tobacco Heralds a Healthier World While Fighting Its Arrival https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/health/tobacco-fda-menthol-ban-nicotine.html ••• A Viral Cigarette Brand? In 2023? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/style/hestia-cigarettes-downtown.html ••• That Cloud of Smoke Is Not a Mirage https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/style/smoking-cigarettes-comeback.html Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We get into how the massive global expansion of data centres — thanks largely to demand from training and operating AI — is putting major strain on energy systems and requiring the generation of more electricity. How’s all that new energy demand being met? Some renewables, a lot of fossil fuels, but also maybe futuristic magic technology? Big tech firms like Micorosoft and their nuclear tech partners—including startups backed by Sam Altman and Bill Gates—say they expect to harness fusion by 2028. This prediction is totally unserious and fantastical, while also hiding the fact that the expansion of AI is powered largely by fossil fuels. ••• AI Is Already Wreaking Havoc On Global Power Systems https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-ai-data-centers-power-grids/ ••• AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/06/21/artificial-intelligence-nuclear-fusion-climate/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We chat a bit about some upcoming international travel, then do a reading series by a data scientist who wrote a great blog post about how most of the work done by data scientists in large organizations feels totally worthless, pointless, unfulfilling, and unnecessary — in other words, the definition of bullshit. And yet data science is valorized and mythologized in ways that are disconnected from material reality. ••• I Will Fucking Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/ ••• Most Data Work Seems Fundamentally Worthless https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/most-data-work-seems-fundamentally-worthless/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We are joined by David Dayen (editor, American Prospect) and Lindsay Owens (director, Groundwork Collaborative) to discuss the special issue of the American Prospect they put together on “how pricing really works.” We drill down into why pricing is the perfect window for seeing how power works in the economy. We explore the great many tactics and technologies that companies have devised to make pricing into a major source of profits by enforcing a system of unfair, deceptive, and aggressive strategies designed to exploit each person based on what they are willing to pay and what they are willing to accept. We wrap up by talking about what can be done by legislators, regulators, and the court of public outrage to push back against the weaponization of pricing. ••• How Pricing Really Works https://prospect.org/pricing ••• Groundwork Collaborative https://groundworkcollaborative.org/ ••• David Dayen https://x.com/ddayen ••• Lindsay Owens https://x.com/owenslindsay1 Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We are joined once again by Evgeny Morozov to discuss his new podcast series, A Sense of Rebellion, which tells the story of a wild bunch of eccentric hippies who had grand ideas for how to design interactive technologies and intelligent environments and cybernetic systems that are radically different from today’s smart tech and AI. Morozov takes us deep down the rabbit hole of Cold War counterculture and technoculture, and deep into the life and mind of Warren Brodey, a now largely forgotten giant of early cybernetics. This new podcast series is the second in a trilogy on “tech rebels who failed.” ••• A Sense of Rebellion: https://www.sense-of-rebellion.com/ ••• Evgeny Morozov: https://x.com/evgenymorozov ••• The Boston hippies who developed technologies that Silicon Valley wouldn’t dare to make https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/06/15/opinion/warren-brodey-environmental-ecology-lab/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We keep rolling with our discussion about the Insulin Empire with Athena. ••• The Insulin Empire https://thebaffler.com/after-the-fact/the-insulin-empire-ongweso-jr-sofides ••• Mutual Aid Diabetes https://mutualaiddiabetes.com/ ••• T1International https://www.t1international.com/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)