Come on, John, you know why people buy into the idea of runaway AI or robots taking over the world. Hollywood and a certain kind of sci-fi have primed us for this! As for being put on hold or forced to talk to an AI for customer service—customer service is dead.
The rulers don’t care about customers anymore. Even the humans who finally answer the phone—if you can wait that long—read from scripts. Computer support is the same. I learned this calling Apple for help.
And horses—yes, I agree—we’d be better off if everyone just rode bicycles and/or horses. That day might come.
This AI dream—the one every nation’s leader chases (except maybe the Global South, though China’s definitely on board, sorry Mao)—to lock people into blockchained, surveilled prisons so elites never fear “the little people” again—is a psychopath’s pipe dream.
There aren’t enough resources on Earth to run AI forever, especially on blockchain. Global AI demand could soon top 100 TWh a year—that’s the energy use of a small country. And blockchain?
Bitcoin alone burns ~150 TWh/year—more than Argentina.
Ethereum (pre-merge) used ~80 TWh/year; now a fraction (~0.01 TWh) after switching to Proof-of-Stake.
Combined, AI and crypto could hit 250–300 TWh/year, conservatively. They depend on rare minerals (lithium, cobalt, nickel), advanced semiconductors, and massive water-cooled data centers.
One data center can gulp millions of gallons of water daily.
Chip production relies on finite resources and fragile supply chains (like Taiwan’s semiconductors). (Thanks, Google, for the stats.)
I wrote something way too long to share here, but here's the question: would late-stage capitalism survive without digital tech?
What do you think?
I think it's something we should think about and, if not, if capitalism needed this digital pivot to survive, maybe our only hope is to ditch the tech monster and find a better way.
Of course, psychopaths could still push the Armageddon button—or even more chilling, the AI itself could glitch past fail-safes and do it alone. Systems fail...
Just happen to have the book ‘I saw it happen in Norway’ by CJ Hambro. An account of the invasion of Norway by the Germans. “The tragedy which befell Norway is a rare object lesson that ought to be studied in every country that is still neutral and independent, for every country is in danger, and every unsuspicious nation is living under mortal menace”.
Come on, John, you know why people buy into the idea of runaway AI or robots taking over the world. Hollywood and a certain kind of sci-fi have primed us for this! As for being put on hold or forced to talk to an AI for customer service—customer service is dead.
The rulers don’t care about customers anymore. Even the humans who finally answer the phone—if you can wait that long—read from scripts. Computer support is the same. I learned this calling Apple for help.
And horses—yes, I agree—we’d be better off if everyone just rode bicycles and/or horses. That day might come.
This AI dream—the one every nation’s leader chases (except maybe the Global South, though China’s definitely on board, sorry Mao)—to lock people into blockchained, surveilled prisons so elites never fear “the little people” again—is a psychopath’s pipe dream.
There aren’t enough resources on Earth to run AI forever, especially on blockchain. Global AI demand could soon top 100 TWh a year—that’s the energy use of a small country. And blockchain?
Bitcoin alone burns ~150 TWh/year—more than Argentina.
Ethereum (pre-merge) used ~80 TWh/year; now a fraction (~0.01 TWh) after switching to Proof-of-Stake.
Combined, AI and crypto could hit 250–300 TWh/year, conservatively. They depend on rare minerals (lithium, cobalt, nickel), advanced semiconductors, and massive water-cooled data centers.
One data center can gulp millions of gallons of water daily.
Chip production relies on finite resources and fragile supply chains (like Taiwan’s semiconductors). (Thanks, Google, for the stats.)
I wrote something way too long to share here, but here's the question: would late-stage capitalism survive without digital tech?
What do you think?
I think it's something we should think about and, if not, if capitalism needed this digital pivot to survive, maybe our only hope is to ditch the tech monster and find a better way.
Of course, psychopaths could still push the Armageddon button—or even more chilling, the AI itself could glitch past fail-safes and do it alone. Systems fail...
BTW, here is a really insightful piece: https://lauraruggeri.substack.com/p/the-ghost-in-the-machine-artificial
Also, I enjoyed your analysis of the evolution of films and plan to watch Sorcerer tonight if I can find it.
Just happen to have the book ‘I saw it happen in Norway’ by CJ Hambro. An account of the invasion of Norway by the Germans. “The tragedy which befell Norway is a rare object lesson that ought to be studied in every country that is still neutral and independent, for every country is in danger, and every unsuspicious nation is living under mortal menace”.