Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)1d ago

Veatch: “What was really surprising to me during my initial dive into all of this was how, when you look at the question of superintelligence as a documentarian or journalist, it doesn’t take long before you smack your forehead into the low doorframe of race science, because it’s baked into this technology”

I love this metaphor because of how it speaks to the contortions people (here: AI boosters) go through to ignore/pretend not to notice the race science.

https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/897923/ghost-in-the-machine-valerie-veatch-interview

The gen AI Kool-Aid tastes like eugenics

Ghost in the Machine — out on Kinema March 26th — director Valeria Veatch speaks with The Verge about gen AI’s roots in eugenics.

The Verge
Show threadAaron7h ago

@emilymbender Can you point me to something to read on how the race science influences the technology and science of AI?

This isn't a gotcha. I just don't get it - unless I am thinking about this wrong and it has more to do with the culture of the people developing this stuff, how the LLMs are trained and so on where the race science creeps in.

I have tons of criticisms of AI but they are primarily linked to who is funding this and why not the roots of the tech itself.

Show threadProf. Emily M. Bender(she/her)7h ago
@subterfugue Watch Ghost in the Machine, i.e. the film (available through Kinema this coming weekend!) that the article in my op is about.
Show threadAaron

@emilymbender I understand you pushing me off toward what you posted given that this is the internet and comments like mine are usually a misrepresentation and a trap. But I am actually genuine here, and I don't have much interest in that documentary after reading her interview which seemed quite shallow.

I think there is something to the history of this, but I would rather read something in depth to understand what the connection and influence actually is rather than the guilt by association that she is relying on.

I appreciate the work that you are doing and wish you the best.

2:50pmWeb
Show threadProf. Emily M. Bender(she/her)7h ago

@subterfugue I responded as I did because it is quite rude (I think) to reply to a post about a piece of media, not acknowledge that media, and ask a question answered in that media.

But if you prefer to read, try:

https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/13636

https://thecon.ai

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/adam-becker/more-everything-forever/9781541619593/

The TESCREAL bundle: Eugenics and the promise of utopia through artificial general intelligence | First Monday

Show threadProf. Emily M. Bender(she/her)7h ago
@subterfugue That said, your jump to "guilt by association" suggests to me that you are very resistant to the idea that "AI" is based in race science and are in fact just looking for reassurance for your own point of view.
Show threadAaron6h ago

@emilymbender Depending on what you mean by "based in race science" I am of course resistant to that.

The assumption of most people who hear that is that the tech can never be of any value because of such a taint. I completely disagree. I think the tech could potentially be of value. (I think AlphaFold is valuable for example)

If you however mean that the history of the development of this stuff has race science all over it, and that the people driving its development right now are influenced by race science or believers in it, YES I agree. Of course.

Anyway, thank you for those articles. I've been reading them for the past hour. I don't have your expertise and thus didn't find them.