@brad @benroyce @swordgeek @georgetakei

Yep. More than most people realize. If I could get everyone to read one thing it would be this: https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CANVAS-Core-Curriculum_EN4.pdf

Organized civil resistance erodes the pillars of support that uphold an authoritarian regime. They know that, and so they will do anything to mythologize their power and make themselves seem invincible when they are anything but.

@benroyce @swordgeek @georgetakei

You’re right but IMO they mesh together. The most effective astroturfing takes a real phenomenon/sentiment and amplifies it. That could be as simple as vote and engagement manipulation to boost ‘real’ comments.

E.g. after the last two No Kings protests Reddit was flooded with “it doesn’t matter/waste of time/these protests are useless” comments. Many were probably ‘real’ but astroturfers likely seized the opportunity to upvote them.

@benroyce @swordgeek @georgetakei

I’m becoming more and more convinced that cynical defeatism is being intentionally astroturfed and amplified in left-leaning online communities all over the internet by malign actors.

@JoBlakely @xgranade @danirabbit @scottjenson

I agree with you in theory, I wish all the nations of the world could all just get together and cooperate on mutually beneficial solutions. It’s the obvious rational route for everyone. But our best attempt at doing so (COP) has been a near total failure. Ideal solutions are useless without political will.

@JoBlakely @xgranade @danirabbit @scottjenson

Hadn’t heard of that before. Very interesting read, thanks.

@JoBlakely @xgranade @danirabbit @scottjenson

That means using it for things like climate modeling, green energy/storage R&D, green energy deployment, infrastructure resilience research, etc etc.

It bothers me that AI is being used as a scapegoat for the climate crisis by some, as if stopping AI will save us. We were barreling toward the cliff’s edge and arguably already fell over it well before AI started consuming significant amounts of energy.

@JoBlakely @xgranade @danirabbit @scottjenson

I know that this is a majorly heterodox position on the left right now but we are in the midst of a climate emergency (since well before the AI data center boom) so bad that literally billions of lives (mostly in some of the poorest nations on earth) and untold suffering depend on mitigation, and it is a moral imperative to use every technology available (yes including AI) to help save as much as possible.

@JoBlakely @xgranade @danirabbit @scottjenson

“In its current form” is the key phrase.

Reflexive rejection of emerging technology in its totality is self-defeating.

We need a mass political movement to shape it toward pro-social ends. That means steering it toward scientific and research use-cases, stringent regulatory guardrails, and hardcore trustbusting.

It’s only a fascist technology if we let the fascists control it.