It can be both a big deal fundamentally and a major pillar of a weird, scary religion. It is currently both. Of course machine learning is a big deal, it was a

It can be both a big deal fundamentally and a major pillar of a weird, scary religion. It is currently both. Of course machine learning is a big deal, it was a big deal a decade ago and more. We know it’s a big deal. This Calvinism meets growth hacking, this Scientology for Atherton thing is bizarre and kind of terrifying. It is in no way surprising that a philosophy that justifies short-run amoral wealth maximization with tired arguments about long-run utilitarianism would turn out any other way. What’s surprising is that people who talk about imminent digital gods are put in positions of vast power instead of therapy.