This Machine Kills

We take a deeper look at the political ecology of the “forever chemicals” that are integral to the existing microchip manufacturing process, the very serious damage they are wreaking on human health and the environment, the industrial interests that are aggressively pushing back against any attempt to regulate these chemicals, and the CEO of Chemours who has come forth as an ardent defender of the polymers in our blood. Stuff we reference ••• The crackdown on risky chemicals that could derail the chip industry https://www.ft.com/content/76979768-59c0-436f-b731-40ba329a7544 ••• EU ban on forever chemicals would hit bloc’s green transition, warns top industry boss https://www.ft.com/content/197ca0c8-0a4d-4794-bc46-796139821f3d ••• The dystopian lake filled by the world’s tech lust https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150402-the-worst-place-on-earth ••• Mark E. Newman https://www.chemours.com/en/about-chemours/leadership/mark-e-newman-leadership-bio Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We dig into the technological theology that has been taking hold in Silicon Valley and its orbital communities – in various ways, different degrees, and over time. The components of this theology are nicely compiled into an acronym coined by Timnit Gebru and Émile Torres: Tescreal – transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, longtermism. Stuff we reference: ••• We need to examine the beliefs of today’s tech luminaries https://www.ft.com/content/edc30352-05fb-4fd8-a503-20b50ce014ab ••• Technology and Its Discontents: On the Verge of the Posthuman https://www.jstor.org/stable/40068384 ••• Why We are Called Hammer and Hope https://hammerandhope.org/article/issue-1-article-4 Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We get into the Writers Guild of America strike, why this is an important labor action to watch, the terrible conditions they are striking again, the mindset of the professional class of capital managers that control “content” production, and how the potential use of AI in tv/movies follows from already existing practices like “mini-rooms,” which brought gig economy dynamics to the work of writing. Stuff we reference: ••• ​​As the Writers’ Strike Enters Its Third Week, the Studios Aren’t Budging https://jacobin.com/2023/05/writers-guild-of-america-strike-tv-shows-film-artificial-intelligence-studios ••• TV Writers Say They’re Striking to Stop the Destruction of Their Profession https://jacobin.com/2023/05/writers-strike-wga-amptp-streaming-pay ••• Is This the End of the TV Writers’ Room as We Know It? https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/08/the-end-of-the-tv-writers-room-as-we-know-it-mini-rooms ••• Your Boss Wants AI to Replace You. The Writer’s Strike Shows How to Fight Back https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2023-05-11/column-the-writers-strike-is-only-the-beginning-a-rebellion-against-ai-is-underway ••• Will a Chatbot Write the Next ‘Succession’? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/business/media/writers-guild-hollywood-ai-chatgpt.html ••• ‘Disrespectful to the Craft:’ Actors Say They’re Being Asked to Sign Away Their Voice to AI https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d37za/voice-actors-sign-away-rights-to-artificial-intelligence ••• Writers vs. robots: Hollywood moved toward automation long before AI https://www.fastcompany.com/90893629/hollywood-started-leaning-toward-automation-long-before-ai Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

Cory Doctorow — returning champion, friend of the show, and author of the new novel Red Team Blues — joins us to chat about fiction (science), finance (crypto), forensics (accounting), and much more. You never knew forensic accounting could be so radical and thrilling, but Red Team Blues is an immanent critique of techno-financial capitalism in the guise of a page ripping novel. We cover a lot of ground, all of it fascinating, as we always do when Cory comes on TMK. ••• Buy Red Team Blues: https://craphound.com/shop/ ••• Follow Cory: https://twitter.com/doctorow ••• Cory’s blog: https://pluralistic.net/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We dig into the technological theology that has been taking hold in Silicon Valley and its orbital communities – in various ways, different degrees, and over time. The components of this theology are nicely compiled into an acronym coined by Timnit Gebru and Émile Torres: Tescreal – transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, longtermism. Stuff we reference: ••• We need to examine the beliefs of today’s tech luminaries https://www.ft.com/content/edc30352-05fb-4fd8-a503-20b50ce014ab ••• Technology and Its Discontents: On the Verge of the Posthuman https://www.jstor.org/stable/40068384 ••• Why We are Called Hammer and Hope https://hammerandhope.org/article/issue-1-article-4 Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We are joined by Jonathan Guyer – senior foreign policy writer at Vox – to discuss his reporting on how the intimate relationship between Silicon Valley and Saudi Arabia is getting even deeper and weirder. We get into the geopolitics, the soft power, and the reputation laundering of Saudi Arabia – and its intersections with the cynical values and capital flows in Silicon Valley. Jonathan’s twitter: https://twitter.com/mideastXmidwest Jonathan’s articles: ••• How Saudi money returned to Silicon Valley https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/5/1/23702451/silicon-valley-saudi-money-khashoggi ••• How the Saudi crown prince erased the stigma of a murder https://www.vox.com/world/2022/10/3/23380680/global-elite-have-forgotten-jamal-khashoggis-murder-mbs-new-york-investment-conference Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We spike our blood pressure with a discussion about recent reporting on the systems used by health insurers to automate rejecting claims. It’s one of those classic situations we all know and love: human doctors rubber stamping algorithmic decisions in a system created by a private equity ghoul to save major insurers a few dollars by making the lives of real people significantly worse. Stuff we reference ••• How Cigna Saves Millions by Having Its Doctors Reject Claims Without Reading Them https://www.propublica.org/article/cigna-pxdx-medical-health-insurance-rejection-claims ••• Lina Khan: We Must Regulate A.I. Here’s How. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/03/opinion/ai-lina-khan-ftc-technology.html Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We get into Evgeny Morozov’s latest essay on the geopolitical interests and military neoliberalism that’s really driving the AI arms race. Morozov traces today’s developments back to the Cold War – not just as a metaphor, but by showing how many of the same people and institutions are still in positions of power. To understand the America vs China framing of technological competition, which is now so dominant and two-dimensional in the discourse about AI, we must see how it is stoked by people like Eric Schmidt and Gilman Louie and their networks of influence, capital, and ideology. Article we discuss: ••• AI: the key battleground for Cold War 2.0? | Evgeny Morozov https://mondediplo.com/2023/05/02china Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We cruise into the drive-thru of Taco Bell’s Innovation Lab and discuss the strange sublime of food that has been industrially engineered to hit every pleasure center in your brain, while also profaning all this is holy and natural in this world. We are awe-struck by the productive capacity and scientific innovation of capital, while also in total horror of what it has produced and innovated. And yes, I will add a Doritos Loco Taco to my meal. Thanks. Article we discuss ••• Taco Bell’s Innovation Kitchen, the Front Line in the Stunt-Food Wars https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/04/24/taco-bells-innovation-kitchen-the-front-line-in-the-stunt-food-wars Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

We are very pleased to be joined by Sarah Myers West— managing director of AI Now Institute and former Senior Advisor on AI to the FTC—to discuss their excellent new report, 2023 Landscape: Confronting Tech Power. We lay out how the dominance of Big Tech is built on a triforce of advantages: data, compute, geopolitical. These advantages serve as both core pillars and core chokepoints for corporate control over AI. And if we hope to overturn their power, then we must undermine these advantages. The report lays out a number of key interventions for policy, regulation, and organizing. ••• 2023 Landscape report: https://ainowinstitute.org/general/2023-landscape-executive-summary ••• Sarah’s twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahbmyers Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)