Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
On this edition of Parallax Views, we probe the possible intersection between the ideology of Silicon Valley tech culture's obsession with strong AI, or General Artificial Intelligence, and the issues of racism and white supremacy with David Golumbia, author of The Cultural Logic of Computation, The Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-Wing Extremism, and the recent essay (and subject of this episode) "The Great White Robot God: Artificial General Intelligence and White Supremacy".
We begin the conversation by discussing how David became interested in the topic of philosophy and ideology as it relates to tech culture. David explains how he was interested in the analytic philosophy of figures like Hilary Putnam, specifically the philosophy of language as it relates to mind, and its relation to the left intellectual tradition. In particular, David discusses the computational model of understanding the mind and why he has been critical of it. Additionally, David notes how he saw the early tech culture, or computer liberation, as engaging with right-wing ideology as opposed to left-wing intellectual traditions. During this portion of the conversation we delve into the philosophical differences between the left and right's intellectual traditions, and especially how they view freedom in extremely different ways.
From there delve into what's been called the Silicon Ideology or the California Ideology, and in particular it's obsession with logic and rationality. During this portion of the conversation we delve into the elevation of rationality to a place of almost quasi-religious veneration by both elements of the tech community and the alt right as well as the denigration of emotion by both these elements. This leads us into the main topic of this episode, namely David's essay "The Great White Robot God: Artificial General Intelligence and White Supremacy".
Sam Harris, the New Atheist leader that has become embroiled in the race/IQ discourse
David explains how New Atheists like Richard Dawkins and, in particular, Sam Harris served to spur his interest in writing the Great White Robot God essay. David notes that figures like Harris and Dawkins have become entangled in Islamophobic rhetoric and the race/IQ discourse. We delve into how the ideology of New Atheists seem to coincide not only with a number of right-wing talking points but also the Silicon Valley tech culture. David navigates us through the ways in which Artificial General Intelligence, or strong AI (see The Terminator or The Matrix movies for pop culture imaginings of the topic), seems to coalesce with the race/IQ discourse. During this portion of the conversation we discuss how the popular conception of AI is, in David's words, philosophically incoherent, why David views ideas like Ray Kurzweil's Singularity as crankery, and delve into the ideas of Eliezer Yudkowsky and his Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI). Although Yudkowsky steadfastly distances himself from the alt right, David argues that Yudkowsky's thinking, along with much of the Silicon Valley tech community as a whole, dovetails with the alt right.
David Golumbia
SUPPORT PARALLAX VIEWS ON PATREON!
Understanding Israel/Palestine at This Crucial Juncture w/ Khalil Sayegh
Israel and Attacks on Writers & Journalists w/ Jordan Elgrably/Israel Vs. Al Jazeera & the Implications for Press Freedom w/ Kevin Gosztola/Reflections on the Protests Past & Present w/ Jonah Raskin
Reporting on the UCLA Protests w/ Mel Buer/Congress Passes the Antisemitism Awareness Act w/ ADC's Chris Habiby/The Campus Protests, Antisemitism Awareness Act, & Related Issues w/ Richard Silverstein
Academic Freedom, Viewpoint Discrimination, and Israel/Palestine w/ Jodi Dean
The Turbulent World - April 2024 Update on Iran & Israel, Gaza Protests, Extreme Rhetoric in Israel, Israel's Information War, Benjamin Netanyahu, and More w/ James M. Dorsey
Dear Palestine: A Social History of the 1948 War w/ Prof. Shay Hazkani
Columbia U Protests + the Kent State Massacre, Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2024, Forever Chemicals, & Remembering Daniel Ellsberg w/ Mickey Huff
Applying the Lessons of the French Evisceration of Algeria to the Gaza War w/ Sean Tomilson
Examining Biden's Policies on Economics, Gaza, and the Border Heading Into Election Season w/ Karen Dolan/How Autocrats Seek Power w/ Richard Abel
Inside the World of Deathmatch Wrestling w/ Mike Krueger
Is the U.S.-Israel Special Relationship a Strategic Liability? w/ Jon Hoffman
"White Rural Rage" Book Receives More Criticism from a Scholar It Cited w/ Kristin Lunz Trujillo/Culture Warriors Push Propaganda About Haiti Crisis w/ Patrick MacFarlane
Prominent Jewish Americans Sign Letter Opposing AIPAC w/ Alan Minsky
Jonathan Glazer's Oscar Speech, Its Parallels to Vanessa Redgrave's 1978 Oscar Speech, & the Meaning of THE ZONE OF INTEREST w/ Corey Atad
Gaza War Update w/ Prof. James M. Dorsey
Schaller & Waldman's "White Rural Rage" Thesis Misuses Data to Push an Unhelpful Narrative w/ Prof. Nicholas F. Jacobs
Europe Must Look Beyond the U.S. for Its Future in a Changing World + Biden, Netanyahu, and the Gaza War w/ Amb. Patrick Theros
The Death of Film Criticism and the Infantilization of Cinema (+ Oscar Talk) w/ Jim DiEugenio
The Islamophobia Network and the Israel-Palestine Discourse w/ Sahar Aziz and Mitchell Plitnick
Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America w/ Josie Riesman
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
War Nerd Radio — Subscriber Feed
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Stuff You Should Know