Smalltown Boy—Bronski Beat

#365Songs: October 23rd

Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away

You leave in the morning with everything you own in a little black case
Alone on a platform, the wind and the rain on a sad and lonely face

Ask yourself: why are the most powerful billionaires so interested in this election? Why are they tossing aside their personal brands to cozy up to a divisive character, whose track record of loyalty is not good? They claim “censorship” as they do the censoring. They’re against immigration when it’s for the workers who grow and make their food, but in favor of it when it’s time to hire engineers. They’re not worried about insurrections, Nazi references, women’s rights, Fascism, dictators, armed militias, the Wall, perhaps even Democracy.

They care about one thing: deregulation. They want laissez faire ‘get off my lawn’ politics. Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz have overindulged in crypto investments, and that’s why the moment they threw support at Trump he suddenly launched his new scheme, World Liberty Financial, and started making promises he can’t keep. Venture Capitalists don’t spend money on anything they don’t feel will return exponential gains, and that includes elections. Elon’s mounting legal and regulatory issues will suddenly disappear if Trump is reelected, so it’s no surprise that he’s turned the former Twitter into his own amplification system for fake news, viral misinformation, and hate speech while crying censorship and wokeness every chance he gets.

But it’s far darker than that.

Pressure is mounting on Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg for ignoring clear data that his social networks were wreaking havoc on our mental health, those algorithms that have created a global loneliness epidemic in teens and children. Though he hasn’t come out in favor of Trump, his platforms are shadow banning and censoring political posts. Zuckerberg’s personal “look at me I’m cool now with my goofy ass clothes and gold chain” rebrand doesn’t cover the fact that a Trump win is good for him. He’s terrified of prosecution, like Trump himself, and will do anything to protect his own ass while ensuring continued deregulation.

Mother will never understand why you had to leave
But the answers you seek will never be found at home
The love that you need will never be found at home

Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away

Our children were dragged into rabbit holes and left there to rot, alone, in a cesspool of negativity, toxicity, body shaming, and memes that are altering how their brains process information. Algorithms built to addict, videos served to indoctrinate and paced to trigger dopamine’s “more more more” systems. A minute becomes an hour becomes a lifetime.

Now, these same unrestrained tech companies are offering the antidote to the problem they created: a digital Dollar Store with AI therapists (yes, it’s a thing now offered by Meta on Instagram), AI companions, and simple-to-use tools to ensure they never learn how to write a paper, formulate their own arguments, or express curiosity through problem solving.

Two weeks ago, as many around America experienced another rare Northern Lights exposure, Meta disrupted our feeds with a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge and a caption that read, “Couldn’t see the Northern Lights? Create your own with Meta AI.” Dragging us down further in the false world, into the lonely underbelly of tech’s worst intentions.

Pushed around and kicked around, always a lonely boy
You were the one that they’d talk about around town as they put you down

And as hard as they would try they’d hurt to make you cry
But you never cried to them, just to your soul
No, you never cried to them, just to your soul

All that data we’ve shared — our photos, videos, words, memories, stories, private chats — first powered the ads that made the founders and VC’s wealthy. They used every trick to keep us digitally engaged while socially disconnected so they could serve as the engine that sold us shit we didn’t need. Now, they’re using that same data to train the AI tools that’ll make them richer, that’ll replace our jobs, that they will one day lose control over — when you listen carefully to what leaders like Sam Altman say, they willingly admit the dangers of artificial general intelligence, even as they race to achieve it.

Unpunished, unregulated, celebrated for their sociopathic brilliance.

Tech founders don’t care about you. They care about power, money, and competition. They don’t care if AI is dangerous as long as they develop it first. They don’t care who they hurt and what they destroy. They care only about themselves.

Sound like someone you know?

If Trump wins, they win. If they win, we all lose. It’s just that simple.

Think about it, please. Kids are lonely because tech makes them lonely, so in turn tech creates an AI bot to help those same kids feel less lonely. The worst solution to tech-induced depression is more tech. An AI therapist powered by Meta is the last fucking thing we need in this world.

Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away (Cry)
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away (Cry)

A few months ago, a recruiter from Andreesen-Horowitz reached out to me about a job at a company called Character.AI. “Personalized AI for every moment of your day,” they say. A friend, a partner, a companion. Disinterested in the job but curious to learn more, I talked to them. It was clear from the first moment that they were in search of a fiction writer, a gaslighter-in-chief who could paint an idyllic Disney-ish picture of digital companionship while burying the Black Mirror Second Life-y-ness of dystopian technology.

I was deeply depressed but not at all surprised to read tech journalist Kevin Roose’s article today in the New York Times.

Headline: Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide?
The mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy says he became obsessed with a chatbot on Character.AI before his death.

Roose wrote, “There is now a booming, largely unregulated industry of A.I. companionship apps. For a monthly subscription fee (usually around $10), users of these apps can create their own A.I. companions, or pick from a menu of prebuilt personas, and chat with them in a variety of ways, including text messages and voice chats. Many of these apps are designed to simulate girlfriends, boyfriends and other intimate relationships, and some market themselves as a way of combating the so-called loneliness epidemic.”

He went on to write, “For some users, A.I. companions may actually worsen isolation, by replacing human relationships with artificial ones. Struggling teens could use them in place of therapy or asking a parent or trusted adult for support. And when users are experiencing a mental health crisis, their A.I. companions may not be able to get them the help they need.”

Again, the word “therapy” comes up in the context of our AI companions. They’re not even trying to hide their intentions this time: we’ll make you lonely, give you a friend, make you feel loved, even provide you therapy. All without leaving your bedroom.

We’ve been complicit in the building of this world, this “freemium” “gig” economy where everything is a commodity and nothing is worth anything. Cheap entertainment, more more more more. There’s no turning back, but we still can determine how far we take it. How far we let it drag us down to our ultimate demise. The only product is me, you, and everyone you know.

Regulate or die. Period.

If Trump loses, he may go to prison but he’ll still be a paper billionaire. If Trump loses, Elon may get regulated, may walk forever with a bruised and battered image, but he’ll keep buying new politicians while crafting new tricks. If Trump loses, VC’s like Peter Thiel and his cronies might make a little less money on current investments, but they’ll be just fine.

Will Kamala and the Democrats put an end to unrestrained tech? Of course not, but there’s a higher likelihood of some regulation, of some prosecution of the industry’s biggest villains. But all we can do for now is follow the darkest money, and the darkest money has been funneled towards Trump. All I know is that if we don’t do something right now, that Character.AI story is only the beginning of a very, very dark future.

Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away
Crying, crying to your soul, to your soul, to your soul, to your soul
Cry

Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away (Cry)
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away (Cry)

~

Start following the #365Songs playlist today, and listen to each new song with each new article!