tech hustlers

Humans Versus Robots!

COMMENTARY

(Pictured: Self-portrait by human artist Vincent van Gogh; a shot from the 1927 film Metropolis.)

DO PEOPLE KNOW exactly what kind of world tech moguls and tech hustlers are planning for us?

Here’s the crackpot vision of one of them, David Holz, CEO of Midjourney, who is fully captured by the More Technology religion:

The assumptions made in the paper are many– that everything goes smoothly with no setbacks; a science fiction fantasy disconnected from the earth, bureaucracies, reality. One can find statements of writings from other plutocrats as fantastical and dangerous, including Elon Musk’s plans to merge humans and computers so that we become in effect, ourselves, robots.

Keep in mind it’s all being done in the name of money. More money! The reason banks and Venture Capitalists are throwing billions of dollars at these madmen. More outlandish plans, more gimmicks, more ways to get suckers inside the circus tent to enable and enrich the tech guys. “Look at me! I can be an artist! A writer! Golly gee!! Just by saying a few words into this here device.” But you’re not an artist or writer, merely an enabler generating imitative mock-artistic garbage while simultaneously allowing the scamsters to ask for ever more funding, more expansion, more unnecessary electronic gadgets: more madness.

The name of the game for the tech guys is accelerationism, a kind of economic blitzkrieg. In their credo, “Move fast and break things.” Moving ahead as quickly as possible in a narrow path to reach a far out objective. The idea of simply achieving the distant objective, worrying about damages, destruction and repercussions later. Therefore, the all-out media blitz for AI and various AI gadgets– to make, in the minds of the public, their anti-human technology accepted fact.

“It’s clear that AI is a permanent part of our digital lives–” -Scott Lamb, VP of Content at Medium.

A 100% push to put the tech over, requiring from the other direction in order to limit or stop it an equal amount of pushback. Otherwise, the many ills that afflict society– including alienation, homelessness, and an out-of-control wealth gap– will only get worse.

Are we up for the fight?

-Karl Wenclas

(If you haven’t yet signed the “Save the Writer!” petition, please do so.)

The Problem with AI-Generated Writing and Art



THE PROBLEM with AI-generated writing and art is it’s unnatural and inhuman. It’s a distorted version of human expression which can never be natural because of the way it’s created– akin to Frankenstein’s monster, when the monster’s creator seeks to play god and go beyond the bounds of the naturally possible into some untrod, uncertain, diabolical territory. Hellishness.

Study the ambitious characters pushing the technology and you see the extent to which they wish to bust natural bounds, no matter the consequences, like that character of plays and operas, Faust. They’re ready to make a Faustian deal. Some– like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman who has paid to have his brain uploaded to a computer– have already made the bargain.

THE RESULT for the rest of us is a bombardment of unnatural writing and art. Every bit as fiendish, lost, and rootless as the creature of Mary Shelley’s classic novel, first envisioned by her in a nightmare.


Words of the monster’s creator about what he made:

–a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth, who might make the very existence of the species of man a condition precarious and full of terror. Had I a right, for my own benefit, to inflict this curse upon everlasting generations? . . . I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had not hesitated to buy its own peace at the price perhaps of the existence of the whole human race.

(The novel, incidentally, is a stunning piece of writing, which could never be adequately captured by any film.)

The Save the Writer petition.

The New AI Consumer

Some tech geek out there wannabe startup tech bro is actually selling an AI pen. That’s what he’s advertising it as anyway. I guess it’ll do your handwriting for you, on those rare occasions you need to write anything by hand.

photo of an actual tech geek


Next up: An AI prompter. Having to think about what your AI botbook novel will be about is too mentally stressful. I mean, if the chatbot does all of the writing and most of the thinking for your literary masterpiece, why can’t it do all of it? Makes sense, right? I mean, what are you paying for, or not paying for? You’re using it, aren’t you? Should be enough.

Soon they’ll have AI shopping, done by algorithms. No shopping list required. The bots will know what you need and want. Transport will be provided by AI cars– autonomous, they’re called– which you won’t really need, because everything will be delivered to you by autonomous trucks, manned, I guess, by robots. I’m not making this up. Automakers and tech companies have invested billions in the premise. It’s coming soon. I promise.

When the groceries are delivered, there will be AI stoves to do the cooking for you. And AI dishwashers. Then AI laundry, and AI robots to make your bed and vacuum the carpeting. Modern conveniences, for your own good. So you’ll have more leisure time for, you know. Something. Sitting on the sofa watching television, or smoking pot. Vegging out. Or sleeping. It’s always pleasant to close the blinds on the world and go to sleep. Then in the morning the AI alarm clock will wake you and your coffee will be ready and you’ll be ready for– I don’t know. Another day.

It’s all in the works, believe me.


-KW

Sam Altman’s Actual Message to Congress

Getty Images

Remember: when tech hustlers make their pitch for their products, they’re operating on several levels. There’s what their words say, and then there’s the actual meaning conveyed between the lines.

In his May 16, 2023 testimony to a Senate committee, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was sending a message to the senators, when he said AI technology “can go quite wrong.” What he was actually saying: “This technology is dangerous!”

Altman knew they’d be thrilled hearing that. Why? Because of the military-industrial complex, which sustains the nation’s– and by extension, their— power in the world. Thoughts registering in their heads: New weapons with which to stay ahead of the Chinese!

Our politicians are egoistic, narcissistic individuals filled with vanity, on the emotional and mental level of a ten year-old. “Gollee!” they were thinking, wetting their pants with excitement, as Musk-like thoughts of space rockets, killer robots, and other new toys raced across their limited brains.

Sam Altman was taking a page from the Elon Musk playbook and giving the senators science fiction and gadgets. Closing the deal with them, to ensure he has a free hand to keep growing his pyramid scheme business while getting every available sucker– in Washington D.C. and those watching on television– on board.

Making the sale.

-K.W.

The Tech Hustlers

It’s interesting to me how tech hustlers like Sam Altman have conned several hapless literary figures of some repute into being their patsies.

For instance, esteemed author Stephen Marche, who was recruited by Pushkin Industries owners Jacob Weisberg and Malcolm Gladwell into being a spokesperson for AI chatbot capabilities. I really don’t think Marche knew all he was getting into when he was enlisted to construct, via chatbots, an AI novel, aka bot book. Or the company he would keep. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been a seat-of-the-pants player since he dropped out of Stanford University at age 19. I’ve known people like him– one a fast-talking character running a boiler room calling operation outside Philadelphia in a temporary office. Very temporary. The kind of place the crew could pack up and leave with phones and equipment within a day. The goal of the operation: to get the credit card number, the money, no matter what was said to obtain it. The promise was to get people out of their time shares. Orientation: “These people are easy marks– or they wouldn’t have bought the time shares to begin with.” (I left after two days, though I badly needed employment. Of course I was never paid.)

Anyway, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is that guy, but on a much larger scale. He wants disruption alright: power and money. A lot of it.


Chatbot purveyors are going to be hit with a lot of lawsuits, because the basis of their operations is stolen material. (See our post “Literary Pirates.”) Now, a billionaire like Altman couldn’t care less about lawsuits, nor about unfavorable news articles. He’s a big-money gambler. Blowback is part of the game. But for patsies like Stephen Marche who thrive on their respectability– or at least the appearance of same– it could turn out to be a very different story.

-K.W.