d14n

The computing industry is extremely resource intensive. In terms of materials. In terms of manufacturing. In terms of energy usage. In terms of the knowledge and expertise required to build and design computer hardware. In terms of needing computers to build the next computers. The list could, should, and will, go on, and on, and this was all the case before AI. AI has just thrown tons of cash and political gasoline on the already burning fire, that was already way out of control. Take a look at this permacomputing thread about how computing technology (the hardware) can continue to exist after economic collapse, and you will start to see this picture come into focus too. I guess someone could say this position is a thinly disguised form of whataboutism. But I’m not really trying to redirect an argument against AI, so much as I’m trying to sharpen the critique of AI as a form of centralization, by zooming out and looking at the broader context of computing. I say this because one of…