Alternative thoughts

Our press secretary, Sean Spicer, gave alternative facts to that…

Alternative facts - Kellyanne Conway (Wikipedia)

Following the 2017 inauguration of Mr “grab ’em by the pussy” the world was treated to a deluge of alternative facts. Few were prepared for the new era of “you can just say things”. The rule books were torn to shreds. Whilst liberals were angsting over decorum, the techno-fascists were rising up. When America decided for a second time that a pedo-in-chief was preferable to a woman, all pretence fell away.

The AI industrial complex is the culmination of tech, money, and power that the Musk’s and Thiel’s of the world were waiting for. For a monthly subscription users can disengage their brain and choose alternative thoughts to escape a dystopia they voted for.

The endgame of techno-facism is more money, more power; a price tag on humanity.

It’s just a tool

At this point, those who work in tech and refuse to acknowledge the harm and the violence are hopelessly naive and/or complicit in their selfishness.

Violence is more than just hitting people. Taking away people’s agency is violence, exposing people to suffering is violence. Violence has many shapes and forms. And “AI” needs an acceptance of endless amounts of violence

AI as a Fascist Artifact - Jürgen Geuter

I can understand why someone doomscrolling slop-tok shorts might not pause to consider the effect of their implicit acceptance. But the “it’s just a tool” crowd in the tech industry — well, is it wilful ignorance or feeble apologism?

Why is it that those most embedded in tech are most eager to push the AI narrative? Hint: they’re almost all looking to get in on the grift. Sell shovels. Sell guides on how to shovel. Sell B2B automated shovelling logistics. All the while enriching the pockets of the techno-facists looking to control those hooked on tokens. It’s quite a tool. A tool that has the tech industry clapping like sea lions and giddily proclaiming there are five lights.

Apparently the public at large don’t yearn for automation. Let’s hope those across the pond can connect the red flags before we get Vance/Kirk 2028.

It’s just a job

Software “engineers” have been more than happy to pull the one-armed code bandit and recite the 10× productivity mantra. What incentive do they have to care when they’re strongly encouraged to gamble on their employer’s dime.

More. Faster. Burn those tokens! Stop thinking, your context is getting cold!

They get subsidised rates and front row seats to the looming collapse. Collapse it assuredly will. The wheels are falling off. Are the thrills of addiction waning, too? Anecdotally, I’ve seen an increase in developers becoming bored with their new toys.

When the bubble bursts it will be too late for many. The AI mandate has been busy destroying the careers and opportunities of those who still care.

Craig Cook said “fuck AI” and quit.

The fantasy of AI efficiency has rapidly devoured the brains of every Silicon Valley MBA prick like a body-snatcher invasion. Predator-class oligarchs are positively horny to replace their annoying human workforces with a compliant, manufactured slave race that doesn’t demand a living wage and won’t whine about their “health” and “dignity” and “fundamental rights.”

The End - Craig Cook

Ky Decker quit too, questioning whether they belong in tech anymore.

Tech organizations have now given up on pushing back against an unethical and violent administration, deciding that it is in their best business interest to flatter the president’s ego with gold trophies and pandering praise. Elon Musk and the “Department of Government Efficiency” took a sledgehammer to 18F and replaced it with National Design Studio, a propaganda shop whose main talent is building expensive and inaccessible landing pages.

Do I belong in tech anymore? - Ky Decker

These are just two stories from those brave enough to speak out.

The usual “you’re prompting it wrong” commenters on Hacker News and Lobste.rs were atypically sympathetic to Ky’s plight. Perhaps reality is sinking in? Or the reply-bots were offline. That’s a good sign I guess. Nevertheless, the ostracising and harassment towards a “no thanks” stance on AI and techno-facism remains a real problem (source: my inbox).

I don’t care about the anonymous cowards that think I’ll read one thousand words of LLM-extruded abuse after they gave the game away in the subject line. They exist, but I’m talking about the private conversations I’ve had with those suffering the burnout alone. They are trapped in jobs. They’re forced to bear the alternative thoughts proxied via the mouth holes of their managers. They are afraid to speak up.

It’s just a life

It takes some combination of financial privilege, mental exhaustion, or foolhardiness to quit a job when the market is so bleak. I respect those that do but I don’t blame anyone for bunkering down. Wait it out is practical advice but it doesn’t ease the anxiety. “Preserve your mental health” is key but what that means is different for each of us.

And throughout all of this, I felt such an energetic sense of purpose and activation in creating new music for the first time in over a decade that I also felt I had rediscovered my true self.

I released a song for the first time in 15 years - Salma Alam-Naylor

Salma Alam-Naylor released a certified banger: reject the machine. Salma created this music to fight against an abusive relationship with the technology industry.

I see this passion project as a middle finger to the aesthetics of fascism. To me it’s a reminder that by rejecting the alternative thoughts peddled by techno-facists we deny what they really want: control. I’ve been inspired to continue pursuing my own creativity. Will that bear fruit? It doesn’t matter. It’s my life and I will remain in control.

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