posted in Technology
Nobody Asked for AI
jacobin.com/2026/08/ai-llms-monopoly-bubble-capital
jacobin.comNobody Asked for AIWe tend to think that markets reflect consumer choice. But the artificial-intelligence boom has been powered by the investment decisions of concentrated capital rather than by consumer demand.
Replying to @sanitation@lemmy.today
AI has been around a lot longer than most people realize. Grouping all AI into whatever cloud garbage silicon valley tech bros are selling makes them look like Luddites.
Replying to @timewarp@lemmy.world
Language is constantly evolving and the meaning of certain terms shifts between eras. Right now everyone understands “AI” to mean the LLM slop factories being forced on the world by a trillion dollars in investment cash. If you want to be upset about that, be upset at Silicon Valley for spending so much of that VC money on marketing to corrupt the public’s understanding.
Also, “Luddite” isn’t the insult you think it is. The luddites were a pro-labor movement, not an anti-technology movement, and many of the labor protections we have today (despite being under attack by big tech) are owed to their successes.
Replying to @very_well_lost@lemmy.world
“A Luddite is someone who opposes new technology, computers, or automation. The word comes from 19th-century English textile workers who smashed factory machines that threatened their jobs, though today it is often used as a general label for anyone who dislikes or resists tech.”
Interesting lecture about meaning of words there bro.
Replying to @timewarp@lemmy.world
While this definition isn’t necessarily wrong, it [purposefully] leaves out important context, namely that the so-called Luddites opposed technology and automation due to cuts to their incomes and rights, which were very obviously coming.
If industrial corporations guaranteed to keep all employees, to not lower their salaries, and to maintain the quality standards - the people we know today as Luddites would have never protested.
It was never about technology itself, despite what top Google results or AI summary will tell you. It was about people’s livelihoods, rights and freedoms, as well as quality of the craft.