Computer Says Maybe

Across Africa, social media and AI are presented as pathways to economic opportunity, promising new livelihoods for creators, entrepreneurs, and communities historically excluded from traditional markets. But behind that promise lies an economy built on exploitative labour and environmental harm. Much of the value generated by African creativity and labor flows to powerful tech companies and their shareholders, while the people making these technologies work have little say in how they're developed or who benefits.
More like this: An Accelerationist EU: Is The AI Race Worth Winning?

Across the continent, people are finding ways to challenge this imbalance, adapting technologies to their own needs and pushing for a bigger role in shaping the digital economy. In this conversation, ‘Gbenga Sesan, Chenai Chair, and Ojoma Ochai explore how to reclaim agency while navigating the gap between technology's promised benefits and its systemic costs - and what it would take to build a digital future where economic opportunity doesn't come at the expense of rights, dignity, and justice.
This episode is part of a series produced in partnership with Luminate, highlighting how communities around the globe are confronting the consequences of the tech industry's promises of “progress” and building alternatives rooted in justice and real public benefit. Learn more and check out the live shows and other episodes here.
Further reading & resources:
Masakhane African Languages Hub
Paradigm Initiative
CcHUB
Exciting news: Computer Says Maybe has just won three awards! two from the Lovie Awards for Best Technology Podcast and one from Signal Awards for Best Limited Series for our Computer Says Kill series. Huge thank you for listening to the podcast and supporting our journey.
Join The Maybe Collective to explore the politics of technology through curated content and thoughtful conversations. Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly insights, access to exclusive events, and real ways to get more involved on issues you care about.
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Zoe Trout, and Peter Price at Rethink Audio.

In Europe, the push for technological sovereignty is gaining momentum as the EU tries to reduce its reliance on US and Chinese tech companies and strengthen its own global position. But in its effort to compete, is Europe just adopting the same any-growth-at-any-cost mindset that’s driven so much of the industry's most harmful behavior?
More like this: Regulator or Accomplice? How New Laws May Support Old Ambitions

How can Europe gain independence from the US tech industry without embracing AI accelerationism as a central policy priority? In this episode, we bring together Audrey Gaughran, Lou Welgryn, and Max Schulze, who work at the intersection of data, climate, and AI across Europe, to explore the real costs of so-called tech sovereignty, the influence of accelerationism on European policy, and what a more sustainable vision for European leadership might look like.
This episode is part of a series produced in partnership with Luminate, highlighting how communities around the globe are confronting the consequences of the tech industry's promises of “progress” and building alternatives rooted in justice and real public benefit. Learn more and check out the live shows and other episodes here.
Further reading & resources:
Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO)
Data for Good
StopDirtyDataCentres.eu
Leitmotiv
Join The Maybe Collective to explore the politics of technology through curated content and thoughtful conversations. Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly insights, access to exclusive events, and real ways to get more involved on issues you care about.
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Zoe Trout, and Peter Price at Rethink Audio.

Those at the top all know each other. The workers fighting the same fights against them and their monopolies, from taxi drivers to farmers to filmmakers, rarely meet. This episode’s guest thinks that’s why corporate power keeps winning.
More like this: The Gig is Up: How Uber Ruined Wage Labor with Veena Dubal

In this episode, Alvaro Bedoya, former FTC Commissioner, explains how spending his travel budget meeting with farmers, small business owners, and union members turned him into an economic populist. He makes the case for rebuilding the Farmers Alliance model of cross-industry coalitions, explains how an Iowa farmer’s Facebook post connected the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger to the fight against consolidation agriculture, and argues that the Ellisons’ media empire and the AI boom are both bets made by people with too much power and too little judgment.
Further reading & resources
How I Became a Populist — Alvaro Bedoya, The New Republic
The Workers Who Defy Gravity — Alvaro Bedoya, Washington Monthly
Billionaires could ruin the movie industry — and people are FURIOUS — More Perfect Union
Join The Maybe Collective to explore the politics of technology through curated content and thoughtful conversations. Sign up for monthly insights, access to exclusive digital events, and real ways to get more involved on issues you care about.
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

The AI industry is so unpopular that it has started paying for the support it can’t earn. So what does it take for people to turn that mistrust into power that the industry can’t just buy off?
More like this: Flock Shock: How Local Fights Over Surveillance Are Reshaping American Politics w/ Sarah Hamid & Anthony Ralphs

In this episode, Steven Renderos, Executive Director of MediaJustice, walks us through our current political climate as data centers become a kitchen table issue and AI PACs stealthily pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the midterms. Steven also argues that the biggest mistake we can make is accepting the inevitability argument, and shares how we can build something that holds up for the next fight and the fights to come.
Further reading & resources:
BroBots vs the People Campaign — MediaJustice
The People Say No: Resisting Data Centers in the South — MediaJustice
Media Capture: Who Controls the Story Controls the Future — MediaJustice
While the Left Sleeps — Phil Agre, Wired, Aug 1995
Join The Maybe Collective to explore the politics of technology through community discussions, access to exclusive digital events, and real ways to get more involved on issues you care about.
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout.

You may have seen the viral clip of a man in a full Darth Vader costume protesting Flock at a San Diego City Council meeting. The man behind the mask was Anthony Ralphs, who spent months trying to get the city to reconsider its contract with the surveillance tech company. After repeatedly raising concerns with the council, he turned to political theater - and got national attention. His protest is part of a growing backlash against Flock, bringing people across the political spectrum together to challenge surveillance tech and demand more say in how it’s used.

In this episode, Anthony reflects on what it took to get people to listen. Then, Sarah Hamid from the Electronic Frontier Foundation breaks down how Flock’s data-sharing works and explains a strategy gaining traction in communities looking to get this technology out of their cities: bringing lawmakers and community organizers together before contracts are signed. Together, they unpack how backlash against Flock is turning frustration with surveillance tech into renewed political engagement.

Further reading and resources:
The Man Behind the Anti-Flock Darth Vader Mask Wants to Know: 'When Will This End? — 404 Media
Flock Taught Cops How to Surveil No Kings Protesters — 404 Media
Street Level Surveillance: ALPRs** — Electronic Frontier Foundation
EFF's Policy Position on ALPR Surveillance: Eliminate It and Reduce Its Harms — Electronic Frontier Foundation
Cities terminate Flock contracts at record pace in August — Ars Technica
Join The Maybe Collective to explore the politics of technology with a community of fellow co-conspirators. Sign up for monthly insights, access to exclusive digital events, and real ways to get more involved on issues you care about.
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout