An early futurist take on the development of artificial intelligence was that it would replace the need for human labor and usher in an age of leisure for everyone. At this point the effects on job availability are uncertain, but the rosy glow of the early predictions is fading fast.
For a more realistic view it is worth looking at how things have developed in the social media industry. In that trillion-dollar undertaking the tangible benefits have gone overwhelmingly to the billionaire class. Useful, objective news has been subverted by an avalanche of lies and conspiracy theories. The early promise of the internet to empower ordinary people has been undermined by kowtowing to authoritarianism.
Resistance is still possible. There is still access available to independent initiatives, online and offline. The time to speak up and to act is now.
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Tyrants like Trump always fall – and we can already predict how he will be dethroned
Simon Tisdall in The Guardian
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