Technology has always just been something that takes what humans do and increases its speed. > I feel like we're building a tyrannical system of control. The

Technology has always just been something that takes what humans do and increases its speed. > I feel like we're building a tyrannical system of control. The control and tyranny was already there. Culture has been produced by an "AI" ever since recorded media became accessible to the masses - that AI has been a mixture of companies wanting to keep reliable revenue streams in place, creating/maintaining the aura known as "popular culture" as a side effect. The whole media industry and its proliferation throughout the late 20th century - very "Artificial" and certainly mechanically "Intelligent", but possibly arguably just as soulless as "increasingly produced by AI". AI-curated playlists and recommendations were just the logical next step. I don't really think we'd be moving in a different direction without modern tech. It would just be moving a bit slower. Without the modern techscape: - People would still be listening to the radio because that's where the new music comes from, you'd buy CDs or other media because some "AI" on the radio put something you liked in front of you. - Broadcast and cable TV (with its program managers, sponsors, and commercials) would still be a thing people watch and use to gather what's the next big exciting thing - more "AI" telling you what to like. - We'd have fewer pop and movie stars, but they would be more recognizable - because they would have the time to use existing media such as commercials, "news" interviews, etc. to build mindshare; and we'd be able to talk about them a bit longer before the machine moves on to the next one.