The robot wars have now begun. Make no mistake, this is not scifi, it is the reckoning between bigtech and human scale messy life. As the bigtech companies, with unmeasurable wealth extracted from our mute acceptance of their platform society and in every aspect of our lives, we have become objectified, a problem waiting for another techno-imaginary solution. And slowly, we are realising this fact, and what is happening.
This is not a weird conspiracy theory cultist perspective. Its basic. Its right there in front of you every day. The lie-down-and-die welcome from governments to bigAI, with zero evidence that the future they sell is in any way real, or inevitable. They just *say* that it is.
There is another way, but big tech will never tell you this, just like the past hundred years of techno-industrial imaginaries. Edtech is the biggest joke of all and we know it but we just keep on accepting this BS. Get off the treadmill of fantasy futures.
Small tech. Slow design. Easier living with *less* work. Repair, recycle. No car. Eco energy. Green space over property development. Small house. Instead of thinking everyone needs a shiny car and a posh suit as if they all work in a bank, step off this treadmill of servitude and compliance. Stop helping your own demise and selfhood emasculation.
And what I say here is considered unprofessional. That I shouldn't say it. But we need to start saying it. Really loud.
There is another way.
Brian Merchant, tech writer and critic:
https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/the-weaponization-of-waymo
