People like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs revolutionized our lives (for better or worse, it's up to you). Both men changed our relationships with personal computers and communication. Their work changed the nature of the internet and our lives forever.
Their legacy is strangling humanity.
Every subsequent tech bro and entrepreneur is trying to do what Jobs and Gates did, with varying success. From companies like WeWork to ideas like Moonwalkers, the AI shoes that will make you walk faster.
It’s a compulsion. An obsession. A neuroticism. A virus that’s spread throughout our collective consciousness and zeitgeist until it fills our every waking moment.
Everyone wants to revolutionize humanity. No one wants to think about the consequences.
My parents recently bought a new washer and dryer. The washer and dryer are so high-tech and fancy that you can turn them on with your phone. Everyone they tell this to asks the same question.
Why? What’s the point?
If I load the machine, why not start it while I'm standing there?
We have smart fridges, ovens, washers, dryers, shoes, thermostats, and every other household appliance, but every tech bro failed to realize the downfalls of such technology. What good is a smart oven when it can’t work? What good is a printer that doesn’t print? (Here’s a bonus one because smart printers are such a fucking treat)
Here’s a compilation from the Internet of Shit's Twitter account.
And who can forget about the very real, very serious security risks of putting everything online.
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
-Hanlon’s Razor
But when does deliberate stupidity become malice?
I could go full conspiracy theory and say that the internet of things is actually a plot to ensnare us all and trap us in a technological hell. I did write an article about how algorithms are creating media zealots. However, the simplest answer is often the right one. Tech bros, software engineers, and venture capitalists want to leave their mark on the world like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, and the way they do that is by making everything “smart” and “AI.”
To reiterate what I wrote about Dune and AI, people like Sam Altman and OpenAI went ahead and created ChatGPT. They didn’t consider the damage it’d wreak on the wider internet. Most developments in AI are made without considering the consequences. The consequences for artists, writers, students, job applicants, and regular everyday people.
Our lives have changed forever, but at what cost?
This has been Michael Vincent Hawthorne. I wanted to briefly discuss this phenomenon that I’d been seeing in technology.
If you want more of me, I’m somewhat active on Notes. Till next time.