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Old Google search engine landing page
The title of this article was suggested by an on-air comment by a WMSE DJ. It reminded me that the world’s a mess and it’s the fault of computers and tech. Fifteen years ago they were still enriching our lives. In my case the PC enabled me to become an internet seller and retire early and work from home. I believe the original hippies who brought this into our homes and libraries really meant to make our lives better with knowledge at our fingertips. Now, a few decades and many Wall Street shareholder calls later, we have quite a problem on our hands.
Thanks to social media half the world hates each other. Grads are booing commencement speakers who dare to bring AI up. AI scrapes data from Facebook posts and gives it to you as health care advice. I think the New York Times has said don’t use AI for healthcare in at least the last four articles I’ve read. Parents around the U.S. are demanding school districts have less screen time for their children.
AI can’t tell fact from fiction and also gives out suicide advice. AI is just like a big tuna fishing net that catches dolphins and everything else. AI is just scraping data whether it’s from a Q Anon kook or whatever. It’s often referred to as AI Slop. You can get a Grok subscription, do revenge porn or child abuse, post it on X and Elon Musk will defend it as free speech.
The X CEO had initially pushed back against the European Commission and its threat of investigation into X for child abuse until a $139 million fine was issued to his company in December according to RawStory. Countries around the world are implementing or planning to implement social media bans for children to protect youth mental health and prevent online harm. Anecdotally, my doctor said younger patients seem to have more cognitive issues now. Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t care. He can escape to his Hawaiian bunker if the world falls apart.
Theft and Toxins
AI steals books from authors and content from artists and musicians (who get paid fractions of a cent for real song plays) and now have to compete with fake AI artists. Podcasts preach toxic masculinity. As former semi-truck driver, I always thought empathy was a good thing. I also thought equal pay for women was good. They earned it hauling doubles or even triple trailers on the turnpikes, but the boss would have hired all women drivers—if he could have paid them less. I feel sorry for young ladies today, the pool of sane young men is shrinking fast. Thank Joe Rogan, Andrew Tate and the rest of the manosphere podcast blowviators.
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Politicians were woefully unprepared for this or already corrupted because our tech overlords have already bought them. One bright note recently happened for residents of the state of New York. New York's Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act requires companies that use algorithms to set personalized prices based on a consumer's personal data (like browsing history or shopping habits) to prominently display the disclaimer: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” Also known as “surveillance pricing,” you may remember DoorDash has been heavily scrutinized for its aggressive, AI-driven dynamic pricing. Companies using AI can factor in your zip code, income and even what day you get paid to determine the price you pay over another person. Worldwide artificial intelligence spending and investment is forecast to reach $2.5 trillion in 2026. In order to get a return on investment, AI will not save you money. It will be used to squeeze more out of you so they can get their money back and make a profit at some point. Hopefully before the AI bubble bursts.
Subscriptions and other Enshittification (sometimes called platform decay) is the process where digital platforms and services gradually degrade in quality to maximize short-term profits. Coined by author and tech critic Cory Doctorow, the concept describes how companies transition from serving users to exploiting them. I understand subscriptions in the old sense like newsprint or digital or cable TV. Now it seems like everything is moving toward this model. BMW subscription for heated seats, VW subscription for extra horsepower, Tesla (and you will know us by the trail of the dead) self-driving function. Garage door opener subscription after two years or they will “brick” (disable or turn off) the opening function. I love tech but have no desire to own a connected toaster. I’d rather just push the lever down than have to search for a crap app on my phone to make toast. It’s ridiculous now how many items we can buy that are part of the internet of things just so they can track and sell your data and, in the often worst case, shut it down.
Tracking Our Keystrokes
Is your computer slower lately? Telemetry, the automatic collection and sending of your very personal data is the most likely cause. They track every keystroke, take screenshots every three seconds and listen to every word you say if the microphone is on.
Gambling is now as close as your phone. I think a whole topic not mentioned in the media is how many lives are ruined by that. I think they get too much ad revenue from gambling sources to cover it. Lies are now considered free speech. Crypto pump and dumps fool the financially illiterate. Car manufacturers sell your black box data to insurance companies so they can raise your rates. Ford patented an in-cabin AI system that uses cameras and sensors to read drivers' lips and analyze facial expressions.
All this data collection means we need data centers. We’ve all heard the never-ending litany about how bad those are. The AI bubble could ruin your 401-k. AI hacking could steal your savings. Maybe you’re just getting sick of the “Agentic Experience” forced on you as Microsoft Chairman and CEO and UWM graduate Satya Nadella refers to it.
Hold on to Hope
Even though the tech world is making our lives worse now, I still hold out hope. Maybe AI will find a cure for cancer instead of enabling revenge porn. I’m not holding my breath however. We still don’t have unmanned robo-taxies driving in Wisconsin snow. People have said self-driving vehicles were just around the corner ever since Oshkosh's military self-driving truck technology started in 2004 and it wouldn’t move due to a tumbleweed in its path. I’m still a skeptic because we were promised jetpacks in the ‘60s and I still don’t have one.
I believe drones are good if used in war so less of our soldiers are killed. Drones should be used for emergency care like organ transplant delivery or locating stranded hikers. Drone shows are a wonderful substitute for fireworks and I love drone photography. Amazon just proved a drone can drop a package on a dog’s head. Yes, dogs always get excited when a drone hovers above them. Do we want a future where every time you look to the sky you see 10,000 drones delivering toothpaste, diapers and Big Macs and no one can hear you swear at them due to the noise of the drones.
What I mentioned is only the tip of the iceberg. So what can we do? If you feel your property value will drop because you live too close to a proposed data center join a neighborhood group already fighting it. If you don’t want to subsidize data center electrical needs, again join a group. Let local leaders know you don’t want your taxes to go up to pay for infrastructure costs. Republicans seem to be aware of the unpopularity of data centers (Voters 70% against). Democrats are slowly starting to pick up on this. You need to help them by letting them know of your concerns. Europe has done more to protect children and consumers, so it is possible.
