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I'm really hoping AI does not become the next political culture war thing, but I'm afraid it probably already is moving in that direction; though it does at lea

I'm really hoping AI does not become the next political culture war thing, but I'm afraid it probably already is moving in that direction; though it does at least seem that the dividing lines won't be red vs blue this time.

JoshTriplett 8d ago
There are already widespread attempts, by both red and blue proponents of AI, to paint opposition to AI as being from the other side. Hopefully those ad-hominem arguments will peter out as it becomes clear that opposition is bipartisan.
Aurornis 8d ago
The Department of War is posting memes against Effective Altruism on Twitter and Bernie Sanders is putting out video of him talking to Elizier Yudkowsky. It is already a political culture war topic.
- embedding-shape 8d ago
  > The Department of War Ironically, the first things that pops into my mind when I hear that nickname, is back when actually used to be called that, and they showed "Don't Be a Sucker": > Admonishes Americans that they will lose their country if they let fanaticism and hatred turn them into "suckers." "Let's forget about 'we' and 'they' -- let's think about us!" In the context of the emerging Cold War, this film appears paradoxical - https://archive.org/details/DontBeaS1947 https://archive.org/details/DontBeaS1947 (1945)
Drupon 8d ago
[flagged]
- AlexandrB 8d ago
  Does anyone remember "learn to code"[1] being offered as a solution to blue collar workers displaced by outsourcing and free trade? Funny how the worm turns. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learn_to_Code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learn_to_Code
goda90 8d ago
It feels like the data center situation has many people seeing it as a Big Business vs average people fight instead of red vs blue. Even the president's posts about it all being Chinese propaganda are falling a bit flat.
- cosmic_cheese 8d ago
  I feel like that was always going to be the outcome with how many of these datacenter projects have been conducted. Shady backroom deals, hearings deliberately arranged to be impractical for residents to attend, residents’ opposition being ignored, no regard for impact on the surrounding area, etc. The pace may have been a little slower, but I doubt that there’d been a fraction as much backlash had they played nice and more consideration been taken. Nobody really cared about data centers until a few hastily implemented ones made nuisances of themselves.
Apocryphon 8d ago
Vaccines and 5G (remember European kooks burning down cell towers?) became political culture wars, so this is unlikely to be any different.
- mdp2021 8d ago
  Some phenomena are pushed from above, while others result from pure skepticism from below. "Vaccines and 5G" refer to direct health concerns; "AI" is a shorthand name for "what if" scenarios.
- red-iron-pine 8d ago
  they became echo chambers because foreign agit-prop efforts got to them, hard, and the GOP needed to keep their base riled up to stay elected
uludag 8d ago
Seeing the US public, this does't seem much like a culture war. Maybe culture consensus would be more apt. I would have a hard time finding large groups of people vehemently arguing for data centers or more AI at a town hall or something.
- gamessucknow 8d ago
  [dead]
- archagon 8d ago
  More like class war.
vovavili 8d ago
>though it does at least seem that the dividing lines won't be red vs blue this time. You'd think. Every single person unreasonably skeptical of AI that I know of usually comes from blue echo chambers.
bko 8d ago
I think it's a very common human trope to believe that we are in end-times. I imagine the overlap between the people that believe that AI will end humanity and those that believed climate change will end humanity 10 years ago is pretty significant. Before that it was people that believed in the rapture. Sure one of these things could technically end humanity within our lifetimes. But the fact that the end of humanity has been predicted for as long as humans have been around is telling.
- palmotea 8d ago
  > I think it's a very common human trope to believe that we are in end-times. I imagine the overlap between the people that believe that AI will end humanity and those that believed climate change will end humanity 10 years ago is pretty significant. Everyone knows why they're building this stuff (to replace labor, and damn the consequences of people who work for a living), and I think that's the root of popular resistance. Fears of species-ending catastrophe is an elite preoccupation (as the more likely economic catastrophe will leave them relatively unscathed). They also serve to show the utter insanity of the AI labs and the people who work for them: they have these fears but they're building the machines anyway.
WithinReason 8d ago
The dividing lines always end up red or blue, there must be some kind of "social physics" law which states that these work as two attractors. Will the left or the right will end up rabidly pro-AI/anti-AI? Place your bets! Because you know it will happen.
VCFundedGenYer 8d ago
It's not a culture war. It comes down to whether you care about the environment or not. LLMs are destroying the planet.
red-iron-pine 8d ago
what culture war? it's a class war mon ami. i've met not a single meatspace human outside of techbros who were in favor of unlimited AI. most of the tech bros even conceeded that it could be terrible for everyone including themselves, but mostly laughed it off as #yolo or "we can't get the Chinese get ahead". not one of those in favor of AI was making less than 200k a year. they're already low-key priming people with Zechariah 13:8 -- "two-thirds will be cut off and perish"? -- on places like 8chan, or via "edgy" tuber channels like ssethtzeehtach, and it's not hard to see the writing on the wall if you're an average joe.
Zenul_Abidin 8d ago
It's wild that there are people out there who hate a technology that can literally work for them.
sph 7d ago
I sincerely do hope AI resistance becomes the spark to the class war barrel of gunpowder. Especially given who stands to truly benefit from this technology.

JoshTriplett 8d ago

There are already widespread attempts, by both red and blue proponents of AI, to paint opposition to AI as being from the other side. Hopefully those ad-hominem arguments will peter out as it becomes clear that opposition is bipartisan.

Aurornis 8d ago

The Department of War is posting memes against Effective Altruism on Twitter and Bernie Sanders is putting out video of him talking to Elizier Yudkowsky. It is already a political culture war topic.

embedding-shape 8d ago
> The Department of War Ironically, the first things that pops into my mind when I hear that nickname, is back when actually used to be called that, and they showed "Don't Be a Sucker": > Admonishes Americans that they will lose their country if they let fanaticism and hatred turn them into "suckers." "Let's forget about 'we' and 'they' -- let's think about us!" In the context of the emerging Cold War, this film appears paradoxical - https://archive.org/details/DontBeaS1947 https://archive.org/details/DontBeaS1947 (1945)

Drupon 8d ago

[flagged]

AlexandrB 8d ago
Does anyone remember "learn to code"[1] being offered as a solution to blue collar workers displaced by outsourcing and free trade? Funny how the worm turns. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learn_to_Code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learn_to_Code

goda90 8d ago

It feels like the data center situation has many people seeing it as a Big Business vs average people fight instead of red vs blue. Even the president's posts about it all being Chinese propaganda are falling a bit flat.

cosmic_cheese 8d ago
I feel like that was always going to be the outcome with how many of these datacenter projects have been conducted. Shady backroom deals, hearings deliberately arranged to be impractical for residents to attend, residents’ opposition being ignored, no regard for impact on the surrounding area, etc. The pace may have been a little slower, but I doubt that there’d been a fraction as much backlash had they played nice and more consideration been taken. Nobody really cared about data centers until a few hastily implemented ones made nuisances of themselves.

Apocryphon 8d ago

Vaccines and 5G (remember European kooks burning down cell towers?) became political culture wars, so this is unlikely to be any different.

mdp2021 8d ago
Some phenomena are pushed from above, while others result from pure skepticism from below. "Vaccines and 5G" refer to direct health concerns; "AI" is a shorthand name for "what if" scenarios.
red-iron-pine 8d ago
they became echo chambers because foreign agit-prop efforts got to them, hard, and the GOP needed to keep their base riled up to stay elected

uludag 8d ago

Seeing the US public, this does't seem much like a culture war. Maybe culture consensus would be more apt. I would have a hard time finding large groups of people vehemently arguing for data centers or more AI at a town hall or something.

gamessucknow 8d ago
[dead]
archagon 8d ago
More like class war.

vovavili 8d ago

>though it does at least seem that the dividing lines won't be red vs blue this time. You'd think. Every single person unreasonably skeptical of AI that I know of usually comes from blue echo chambers.

bko 8d ago

I think it's a very common human trope to believe that we are in end-times. I imagine the overlap between the people that believe that AI will end humanity and those that believed climate change will end humanity 10 years ago is pretty significant. Before that it was people that believed in the rapture. Sure one of these things could technically end humanity within our lifetimes. But the fact that the end of humanity has been predicted for as long as humans have been around is telling.

palmotea 8d ago
> I think it's a very common human trope to believe that we are in end-times. I imagine the overlap between the people that believe that AI will end humanity and those that believed climate change will end humanity 10 years ago is pretty significant. Everyone knows why they're building this stuff (to replace labor, and damn the consequences of people who work for a living), and I think that's the root of popular resistance. Fears of species-ending catastrophe is an elite preoccupation (as the more likely economic catastrophe will leave them relatively unscathed). They also serve to show the utter insanity of the AI labs and the people who work for them: they have these fears but they're building the machines anyway.

WithinReason 8d ago

The dividing lines always end up red or blue, there must be some kind of "social physics" law which states that these work as two attractors. Will the left or the right will end up rabidly pro-AI/anti-AI? Place your bets! Because you know it will happen.

VCFundedGenYer 8d ago

It's not a culture war. It comes down to whether you care about the environment or not. LLMs are destroying the planet.

red-iron-pine 8d ago

what culture war? it's a class war mon ami. i've met not a single meatspace human outside of techbros who were in favor of unlimited AI. most of the tech bros even conceeded that it could be terrible for everyone including themselves, but mostly laughed it off as #yolo or "we can't get the Chinese get ahead". not one of those in favor of AI was making less than 200k a year. they're already low-key priming people with Zechariah 13:8 -- "two-thirds will be cut off and perish"? -- on places like 8chan, or via "edgy" tuber channels like ssethtzeehtach, and it's not hard to see the writing on the wall if you're an average joe.

Zenul_Abidin 8d ago

It's wild that there are people out there who hate a technology that can literally work for them.

sph 7d ago

I sincerely do hope AI resistance becomes the spark to the class war barrel of gunpowder. Especially given who stands to truly benefit from this technology.