Tech Won't Save Us

Last time it was the crypto industry; now the AI industry is stepping up to join it. Molly White joins Paris Marx to discuss how the tech sector is spending big to buy influence in the US midterm elections to ensure new laws serve its interests over those of the public.
Molly White is the creator of Tech Influence Watch and Web3 is Going Just Great. She writes the Citation Needed newsletter.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.
Also mentioned in this episode:
You can now pre-order Paris’s new book Hyperscale.
Molly just wrote about Trump’s $1.4 billion crypto disclosure.
Molly wrote about the crypto industry’s recent election spending.
Molly also wrote about how the Citizens United decision is affecting elections today.
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Public ire toward AI keeps growing as the data center boom continues to hit people’s pockets. Chris Person joins Paris Marx to discuss the soaring cost of consumer electronics, including why prices are unlikely to fall anytime soon, and how people can experiment with homespun cyberpunk tech.
Chris Person is a co-founder of Aftermath and makes Highlight Reel.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.
Also mentioned in this episode:
You can now pre-order Paris’s new book Hyperscale.
Chris mentioned the BC250, an e-waste machine he’s written about recently.
Chris also wrote a review of the Steam Machine.
Xbox and Apple both announced price hikes this month.
Stock prices for memory companies like SK Hynix are hitting record highs.
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As tech companies race to build hyperscale data centers, communities are coming together to push back. Saul Levin joins Paris Marx to discuss how rising opposition to data center construction is uniting people across party lines and prompting broader conversations around what infrastructure people want instead. 
Saul Levin is community organizer and host of The Hum.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.
Also mentioned in this episode:
You can now pre-order Paris’s new book, Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech's Data Empires.
Saul wrote a piece with Astra Taylor about the bigger picture of data center organizing.
The Seminole Nation in Oklahoma passed a ban on AI data centers on their lands.
Sam Altman and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer posing together at the site of a new data center drew wide criticism.
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The Canadian government is going all in on AI, without understanding the real effects of the technology. Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood joins Paris Marx to discuss Mark Carney’s push for large-scale investment in AI, despite being unable to describe how adoption will work, how Canadians will benefit, and what policies will be implemented to mitigate growing risks and harms. 
Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood senior researcher and political economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Hadrian wrote about the Canadian government’s new AI strategy.
Paris wrote about the AI strategy and the new social media policy.
The Canada Revenue Agency chatbot is expensive and giving incorrect information.
The Canadian Immigration Department is using AI that hallucinates when reviewing applications.
AI tools intended for Ontario doctors are providing incorrect information.
Here’s an overview of the federal AI strategy, “AI for All.”
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The Uber model is finally coming for healthcare. Katie J. Wells joins Paris Marx to discuss how much the healthcare gig apps resemble Uber’s rollout, why they aren’t being properly regulated, and the effects they’re having on staff and patients alike.
Katie J. Wells is a Senior Fellow at AI Now Institute and a co-author of Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Paris asked listeners to fill out a survey. It will only take a few minutes!
Here is Katie’s most recent work examining the gig model for healthcare.
Ontario’s auditor general found serious flaws in the transcripts of AI scribes.
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