At the UN's Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa warned that artificial intelligence poses the threat of an "information Armageddon." Scholars of critical theory preceive that online culture reproduces a "cycle of epistemic injustice" by fostering "organized stupidity" that fuels extremism and authoritarism. And the same technology now implements the grim material application of this degraded intellectual climate, with a UN Human Rights Council study especially accusing Palantir of being part of an "economy of genocide" through its enabling of AI-enhanced targeting in Gaza. And the pollution generated by the data centers that power AI is now "almost incomprehensible." Despite all this, UNESCO in Geneva called for a "safe and inclusive AI that benefits all," and an openly boosteristic "AI for Good" confab was held alongside the Global Dialogue. The "anti-tech rebellion" against screens in school classrooms is a significant sign of hope bu the end of reading and death of literacy are alrady upon us. Moves toward greater regulation of AI are most significant as a catalyst for the conversation that needs to be had: how to launch an effective movement for abolition. In Episode 336 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues to make the case.

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Production by Chris Rywalt

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