Today, I’m sharing my conversation with Karen Hao, award-winning reporter covering artificial intelligence and author of NYT bestseller, Empire of AI. We discuss:* The scale-at-all cost approach to AI Big Tech is pursuing — the misguided assumptions and beliefs it rests upon, and the harms it causes.* How the companies pursuing this approach represent a modern-day empire, and the role narrative power plays in sustaining it.* Boomers, doomers, and the religion of AGI.* Alternative visions of AI that center consent, community ownership, context, and don’t come at the expense of people’s livelihoods, public health, and the environment.* How to reclaim our agency in an age of AI.👉 Tech hype hides power. Reclaim it in my live course Systems Change for Tech & Society Leaders.Links:- Check out the podcast, Computer Says Maybe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit untangled.substack.com/subscribe
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There’s no such thing as ‘fully autonomous’ agents
I’m Charley Johnson, and this is Untangled, a newsletter and podcast about our sociotechnical world, and how to change it. Today, I’m bringing you the audio version of my latest essay, “There’s no such thing as ‘fully autonomous agents.’ Before getting into it, two quick things:1. I have two part essay out in Tech Policy Press with Michelle Shevin that offers a roadmap for how philanthropy can use the current “AI Moment” to build more just futures.2. There is still room available in my upcoming course. In it, I weave together frameworks — from science and technology studies, complex adaptive systems, future thinking etc. — to offer you strategies and practical approaches to address the twin questions confronting all mission driven leaders, strategists, and change-makers right now: what is your 'AI strategy' and how will you change the system you’re in?Now, on to the show! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit untangled.substack.com/subscribe
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Is tech a religion? Is Elon Musk a hungry ghost?
Today, I’m sharing my conversation with Greg Epstein, American Humanist chaplain at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of the great new book Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World’s Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation. We discuss:* How tech is becoming a religion, and why it’s connected to our belief that we’re never enough.* How Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates are hungry ghosts. * What ‘tech-as-religion’ allows us to see and understand that ‘capitalism-as-religion’ doesn’t.* My concerns with the metaphor and Greg’s thoughtful response.* How we might usher in a tech reformation, and the tech humanists leading the way.* The value of agnosticism and not-knowing when it comes to tech.Okay, that’s it for now,Charley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit untangled.substack.com/subscribe
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Can we democratize AI?
Today, I’m sharing my conversation with Divya Siddarth, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Collective Intelligence Project (CIP) about how we might democratize the development and governance of AI. We discuss:* The CIP’s work on alignment assemblies with Anthropic and OpenAI — what they’ve learned, and why in the world a company would agree to increasing public participation.* The #1 risk of AI as ranked by the public. (Sneak peek: it has nothing to do with rogue robots.)* Are participatory processes good enough to bind companies to the decisions they generate? * How we need to fundamentally change our conception of ‘AI expertise.’* How worker and public participation can shift the short-term thinking and incentives driving corporate America.* Should AI companies become direct democracies or representative ones? * How Divya would structure public participation if she had a blank sheet of paper and if AI companies had to adopt the recommendations.That’s it for now,Charley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit untangled.substack.com/subscribe
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Building healthy local communities online & off
Today, I’m sharing my conversation with Deepti Doshi, Co-Director of New_Public about what they’ve learned building local healthy communities, online and off. We discuss:* The problem New_Public is trying to address with their initiative, Local Lab. (Which I highlighted in my recent essay, “Fragment the media! Embrace the shards!”)* What Deepti has learned about what makes for pro-social conversations that build community on messaging boards and private groups.* Why it’s an oxymoron to call Twitter a ‘global town square’ and the relationship between scale and trustworthy information ecosystems.* The importance of ‘digital stewards’ in facilitating online community.* How the social capital people build online is translating into IRL actions and civic engagement.* What a future might look like if New_Public realizes the vision of Local Lab.That’s it for now,Charley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit untangled.substack.com/subscribe
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