Democracies struggle as crises converge
3m
European commentators warned that artificial intelligence, the climate crisis and the far right were converging into a scenario of human self-destruction, while democracies and diplomacy struggled to avert dystopia.
by Tim Stephens
“Activist groups are using artificial intelligence to target the ABC’s coverage of the Middle East with accusations of bias.”
AI is making society ungovernable.
#auspol
www.smh.com.au/business/com...
AI is making society ungovernable.
#auspol
www.smh.com.au/business/com...
Activist group using AI to flood ABC with thousands of bias complaints
The AI system lets campaigners deliver thousands of messages from their supporters with different language, tone and length but the same meaning.
www.smh.com.au
September 20, 2026 at 9:31 AM
“Activist groups are using artificial intelligence to target the ABC’s coverage of the Middle East with accusations of bias.”
AI is making society ungovernable.
#auspol
www.smh.com.au/business/com...
AI is making society ungovernable.
#auspol
www.smh.com.au/business/com...
As we get thrust into an unnecessary period of fascistic violence, war over resources, and the stripping of basic human services and dignity, the appeal of AI for the powerful isn’t just planning or war making, it’s creating a system that will do what they want and allow them to shirk all blame.
September 19, 2026 at 3:13 PM
As we get thrust into an unnecessary period of fascistic violence, war over resources, and the stripping of basic human services and dignity, the appeal of AI for the powerful isn’t just planning or war making, it’s creating a system that will do what they want and allow them to shirk all blame.
and he is right too - the smokescreen of existential risk posed by AI agents lets us overlook "The boring risks of human agency that we already face today."
September 20, 2026 at 8:58 AM
and he is right too - the smokescreen of existential risk posed by AI agents lets us overlook "The boring risks of human agency that we already face today."
My hot take on AI and climate change is that I would not like to be killed by either of them
September 19, 2026 at 3:45 PM
My hot take on AI and climate change is that I would not like to be killed by either of them
What’s behind the AI doomerism?
What’s up with Trump’s obsession with the Kennedy Center?
And what does the Macklemore story tell us about power in America?
I’m back to discuss all of this, and much more, on a new Coffee Klatch.
What’s up with Trump’s obsession with the Kennedy Center?
And what does the Macklemore story tell us about power in America?
I’m back to discuss all of this, and much more, on a new Coffee Klatch.
What’s Behind the AI Panic? | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich
What’s behind the AI doomerism?What’s up with Trump’s obsession with the Kennedy Center?And what does the Macklemore sto
youtu.be
September 19, 2026 at 2:00 PM
What’s behind the AI doomerism?
What’s up with Trump’s obsession with the Kennedy Center?
And what does the Macklemore story tell us about power in America?
I’m back to discuss all of this, and much more, on a new Coffee Klatch.
What’s up with Trump’s obsession with the Kennedy Center?
And what does the Macklemore story tell us about power in America?
I’m back to discuss all of this, and much more, on a new Coffee Klatch.
Notice what’s happening just in the past few days.
AI caused war crimes.
AI hacked corporations.
AI is denying healthcare.
AI nearly caused war with China.
Already the concept is becoming a catchall and hiding that, in all cases, there were people and systems getting desired results.
AI caused war crimes.
AI hacked corporations.
AI is denying healthcare.
AI nearly caused war with China.
Already the concept is becoming a catchall and hiding that, in all cases, there were people and systems getting desired results.
September 19, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Notice what’s happening just in the past few days.
AI caused war crimes.
AI hacked corporations.
AI is denying healthcare.
AI nearly caused war with China.
Already the concept is becoming a catchall and hiding that, in all cases, there were people and systems getting desired results.
AI caused war crimes.
AI hacked corporations.
AI is denying healthcare.
AI nearly caused war with China.
Already the concept is becoming a catchall and hiding that, in all cases, there were people and systems getting desired results.
'Europe’s dilemma over AI was rendered in stark terms this week. The head of the continent’s central bank, Christine Lagarde, said Europeans have two options: shun the technology and lose out on growth; or embrace it and become dependent on tools developed by the US and China.'
Why Europe has been absent from the great AI safety debate
Though Europe has measures that address how consumers might encounter AI, technology will impact them if the worst scenarios bear
www.theguardian.com
September 20, 2026 at 7:52 AM
'Europe’s dilemma over AI was rendered in stark terms this week. The head of the continent’s central bank, Christine Lagarde, said Europeans have two options: shun the technology and lose out on growth; or embrace it and become dependent on tools developed by the US and China.'
Reposted by Alessandro Nai
Just watching an old documentary tonight, something about data centers, ai and robots.
September 19, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Just watching an old documentary tonight, something about data centers, ai and robots.
This fantasy that “AI is out of control” provides cover for powerful people and corporations to simply program systems to carry out actions and then shrug. And if that is brought into the larger scheme of operations, the powerful will shrug and blame the tool they control.
September 19, 2026 at 3:15 PM
This fantasy that “AI is out of control” provides cover for powerful people and corporations to simply program systems to carry out actions and then shrug. And if that is brought into the larger scheme of operations, the powerful will shrug and blame the tool they control.
'The great debate over AI safety that has erupted in recent days threatens to make the choice moot. If the worst scenarios come to bear – and experts have differing views on this – then the technology will impact the continent regardless.'
September 20, 2026 at 7:52 AM
'The great debate over AI safety that has erupted in recent days threatens to make the choice moot. If the worst scenarios come to bear – and experts have differing views on this – then the technology will impact the continent regardless.'
Direct link to me. NBC kept the parts on Hinton & existing regulatory solutions, but cut discussion of the US exec branch of govt & tech resisting regulation like 2 year olds resist bed. My full quote: "We have not seen AI go rogue. We've seen people be sloppy with their software and make mistakes."
Iran Government-Led Rally Sends Defiant Message to U.S.; How to Reset the AI Doomsday Clock
YouTube video by NBC News
www.youtube.com
September 20, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Direct link to me. NBC kept the parts on Hinton & existing regulatory solutions, but cut discussion of the US exec branch of govt & tech resisting regulation like 2 year olds resist bed. My full quote: "We have not seen AI go rogue. We've seen people be sloppy with their software and make mistakes."
by Marc Lynch
“does AI make it easier for autocrats to conduct surveillance and repression, or does repression itself corrupt the very data AI needs to work?” This is great and very much in line with my current research interests
michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/ai-was-sup...
michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/ai-was-sup...
AI Was Supposed to Perfect Authoritarian Control. Repression Is Getting in the Way.
A conversation with political scientist Eddie Yang on how fear and self-censorship blind AI systems built to enforce them, and why the same data problem could be quietly contaminating AI in the West
michaelalbertus.substack.com
September 19, 2026 at 7:45 PM
“does AI make it easier for autocrats to conduct surveillance and repression, or does repression itself corrupt the very data AI needs to work?” This is great and very much in line with my current research interests
michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/ai-was-sup...
michaelalbertus.substack.com/p/ai-was-sup...
The whole dark fantasy of AI becoming a god is simply a neofeudal / neofascist mystification. Like peasants believing wars and pandemics and basic suffering is divinely controlled, we’re supposed to buy into sci-fi nightmares that further alienate us from how systems of power actually work.
September 19, 2026 at 3:17 PM
The whole dark fantasy of AI becoming a god is simply a neofeudal / neofascist mystification. Like peasants believing wars and pandemics and basic suffering is divinely controlled, we’re supposed to buy into sci-fi nightmares that further alienate us from how systems of power actually work.
Reposted by Fabián Muniesa
been thinkin about how robots are gonna kill us
September 20, 2026 at 1:39 AM
been thinkin about how robots are gonna kill us
either it is in principle possible to set up appropriate safeguards (in which case the "AI alignment" story is just as much about who gets to set them up and enforce them as it is about the content of the safeguards) or it is not (in which case we should be talking about transnational moratoria)
“our ai broke out and hacked some organisations” = "we failed to set up appropriate safeguards, failed to continuously monitor our experiments, and ignored a basic principle of reinforcement learning: if hacking gets rewarded, the system learns to hack"
September 19, 2026 at 8:14 PM
either it is in principle possible to set up appropriate safeguards (in which case the "AI alignment" story is just as much about who gets to set them up and enforce them as it is about the content of the safeguards) or it is not (in which case we should be talking about transnational moratoria)
It’s very simple. AI isn’t independent or autonomous. It’s a tool being specifically programmed to commit crimes against humans and against rival businesses. But the fantasy of autonomy is an incredible facade that means total deniability and our political and media classes have already bought in.
September 19, 2026 at 3:21 PM
It’s very simple. AI isn’t independent or autonomous. It’s a tool being specifically programmed to commit crimes against humans and against rival businesses. But the fantasy of autonomy is an incredible facade that means total deniability and our political and media classes have already bought in.
Reposted by Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Patrick S. Forscher
We already have an AI kill switch: cut power to servers.
Really want to talk existential threat? Fine. We humans have many ways to blow things up. Like data centers.
Panicky discourse assumes the first priority is protect tech company investments and expand their businesses. But why should it be?
Really want to talk existential threat? Fine. We humans have many ways to blow things up. Like data centers.
Panicky discourse assumes the first priority is protect tech company investments and expand their businesses. But why should it be?
September 19, 2026 at 12:04 PM
We already have an AI kill switch: cut power to servers.
Really want to talk existential threat? Fine. We humans have many ways to blow things up. Like data centers.
Panicky discourse assumes the first priority is protect tech company investments and expand their businesses. But why should it be?
Really want to talk existential threat? Fine. We humans have many ways to blow things up. Like data centers.
Panicky discourse assumes the first priority is protect tech company investments and expand their businesses. But why should it be?
This is a great short (4 item) thread on #cybersecurity #stuxnet #ukraine and #geopolitics but the above @lemonde.fr article also details a false AI generated report that almost caused US to board a CN ship. OTOH I guess it's possible that wasn't just an error, but insecure AI - more #cyberwarfare.
Not saying that such attacks would have been unthinkable before, but the Russian war in Ukraine has normalized attacks of this kind & we are seeing more & more cyberattacks with real world physical implications since 2022 as a result. Confluence of increased interconnectedness & breaking of taboos.
September 20, 2026 at 6:10 AM
This is a great short (4 item) thread on #cybersecurity #stuxnet #ukraine and #geopolitics but the above @lemonde.fr article also details a false AI generated report that almost caused US to board a CN ship. OTOH I guess it's possible that wasn't just an error, but insecure AI - more #cyberwarfare.
Reposted by Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, David Stott
It’s people - not AI systems - who are choosing to murder civilians with small drones at ever escalating rates around the world, as I recently wrote about with Yale’s Nathaniel Raymond for @foreignpolicy.com:
September 19, 2026 at 12:29 PM
It’s people - not AI systems - who are choosing to murder civilians with small drones at ever escalating rates around the world, as I recently wrote about with Yale’s Nathaniel Raymond for @foreignpolicy.com:
To be clear, some are talking about them. I absolutely know that and I amplify them!
But the breathless headlines about AI circling the world that everybody’s talking about? We don’t see the same visibility about risks of climate, nature, pollution, and fossil fuels. Yet they’re already happening.
But the breathless headlines about AI circling the world that everybody’s talking about? We don’t see the same visibility about risks of climate, nature, pollution, and fossil fuels. Yet they’re already happening.
September 19, 2026 at 5:18 PM
To be clear, some are talking about them. I absolutely know that and I amplify them!
But the breathless headlines about AI circling the world that everybody’s talking about? We don’t see the same visibility about risks of climate, nature, pollution, and fossil fuels. Yet they’re already happening.
But the breathless headlines about AI circling the world that everybody’s talking about? We don’t see the same visibility about risks of climate, nature, pollution, and fossil fuels. Yet they’re already happening.