American Obsessions, Part II

Just beneath the surface in the history of technology advancing economic growth has been a deep-seated fear that technology would turn against humans. Science fiction has often given expression to that worry. Most Americans see sci-fi as exposing threats to humanity, while, as mentioned in Part I of this Briefing, many AI executives see those narratives as a blueprint. Silicon Valley elites claim that artificial intelligence (AI) is a different kind of technology, and recent iterations of that different tech have forced the worry just below the surface to come to the top, most visible in the spreading pushback against construction of data centers. With pushback against parts of the frontiers of artificial intelligence has come a host of other concerns about technology’s advances, from surveillance cameras to dynamic pricing and from Meta “spy glasses” to AI-generated entertainment content. These are piled atop revelations about the damage wreaked on society by an earlier wave of new technologies, such as social media and education tech. The distrust, fear and sense of lost control that are psychologically driving this pushback now face the overwhelming influence of money and privilege enjoyed by the Silicon elite and their billionaire confreres. Democratic leadership, as it developed after the Second World War, is now being challenged by the private sector’s massive push to move AI forward.