My hottest tech take is that what big tech has actually succeeded at more than anything is a complete outsourcing of any and all responsibility for their actions.
They've succeeded at building wildly irresponsible tools that get used in wildly irresponsible ways and nobody in power seems to care.
Right now, the proliferation of "AI" threatens to slow down the energy transition. Energy demand from data centers is growing faster than anything else, despite the progress we've made making data processing, transmission, and storage more energy-efficient.
That's fucked up.
If there's a new religion, it's the one that techbros have: more computing will solve all our problems.
The faith that throwing more effort at cracking the AI nut will unlock new potential for humanity or whatever blinds the believers from considering any problems they might create along the way.
I honestly don’t know if solving our problems is even on anyones radar anymore. The goal is just to sell out. Tech needs a new Hype Cycle every couple of years to keep investors feeling that FOMO. Whether or not the end product is even useful is secondary to how many people made bank in the process.
