The Anti-Fascist Approach to AI
A Conversation with Dan McQuillan
Did you miss us?! The Anti-Dystopians is back from its summer hiatus!
In this episode, I spoke with Dan McQuillan, a Lecturer in Creative & Social Computing in the Department of Computing at Goldsmiths University of London and the author the new book “Resisting AI: An Anti-Fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence.” We discussed how AI can obscure political decisions, the dangers of automated bureaucracy and algorithmic cruelty, what Max Weber and Hannah Arendt can tell us about AI, whether AI might bring back eugenics in a new coat, and how to resist AI and fascism across the world.
You can follow Dan on Twitter @danmcquillan, or order the book here (psst, if you order on Hive you can support your local bookstore!).
As always, you can listen to it here or subscribe here (Spotify) or here (Apple Podcasts). If you like us, please rate, review and share the Anti-Dystopians to help us get new listeners. If you want to support the production of the show, you can visit here.
Further reading from the episode:
Excerpt from the book published in Logic Magazine, “Deep Learning and Human Disposability - AI is a technology for managing social murder.”
Logic magazine
More on Australia’s robo-debt scandal
Algorithm Watch, a non-profit research and advocacy organization that is committed to watch, unpack and analyze automated decision-making (ADM) systems and their impact on society
Science article on dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations
More on the algorithms and Amazon drivers: Fired by Bot at Amazon: ‘It’s You Against the Machine’
David Columbia on Artificial General Intelligence and White Supremacy
And, finally, that infamous AI interpretation of salmon swimming in a river . . . .
What I’ve been reading
Have had this one bookmarked for a while (over a year), but it is everything you wanted from a story about hacking, corporate control and McDonald's ice cream machines: They Hacked McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines—and Started a Cold War
If you enjoyed Paris Marx on the podcast a few weeks ago, here is their article in Lit Hub How Corporate America Created Car Culture—And What We Can Do To Change It
A company that claimed it would use the blockchain to help reforest the Earth accidentally set off a 35,000 acre wildfire in Spain.
Minecraft has rejected NFTs, calling it out for profiteering.
Amazon blocked abortion-related advertising on its platform days after Roe v. Wade was overturned
Avast has written a guide to how to digitally disentangle yourself from a former abusive partner.
If you want a longer book recommendation, I’ve been reading Adventure Capitalism: A History of Libertarian Exit, from the Era of Decolonization to the Digital Age and it is EXCELLENT
