189 Bad News: We’re Already Living in a Dystopia. AKA Why Corporations are the Fucking WORST, Part, like, 54 or something
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Callie stumbled onto some disturbing articles on The Intercept that sent us down the rabbit hole researching the scary shit that giant companies like Amazon and Google are up to. We realized that we’re already living in a dystopian corporatocracy, which we’re sure is no surprise to anyone. Buckle in, it’s pretty grim.In This Episode
So, this week in Everything is Real Real Bad Girl, we talk about the terrifying things that giant tech corps like Google and Amazon have been up to (or have been attempting to be up to). It’s…not good. Articles referenced for this episode:- Amazon Promises “Unwavering” Commitment to Police, Military, Clients Using AI Technology (The Intercept)(
- Amazon employees protest sale of facial recognition software to police (The Verge)
- Google is Quietly Providing AI Technology for Drone Strike Targeting Project (The Intercept)
- Google Staff Tells Bosses China Censorship is “Moral and “Ethical” Crisis (The Intercept)
- Google defends controversial China project in meeting with employees (The Verge)
- Google Removes ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Clause From Its Code of Conduct (Gizmodo)
- Blind Loyalty: How a social network is redefining the future of corporate culture (TechCrunch)
- Former employees say Lyft staffers spied on passengers (TechCrunch)
- China doubles down on real-name registration laws, forbidding anonymous online posts (TechCrunch)
What kind of lights did Noah use on the ark?
Links and Information
News- Masterpiece Cakeshop Owner Sues Colorado After Refusing To Bake Trans Woman’s Cake (HuffPost)
- This Guy Devoured a Slab of Raw, Bloody Meat to Taunt a Vegan Festival (Vice)
- Doctor’s Respond to USDA’s $50 Million Diary Industry Bailout (VegNews)
- USDA Bails Out Dairy Industry with $50 Million Band-Aid (VegNews)
- Open Path Collective – therapy resource for mental health care at a discounted rate.
Weapons of Math Destructions (TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2u_eHHzRto). The book is really great.
She is making the arguments I have been making for years about AI and machine learning. In my computer science department (at a major university) I was viewed and ostracised as paranoid and lunatic by professors and fellow PhD students. The Snowden revelations and the work aforementioned kind of vindicated me, I guess…??? Anyway good work.