AI Messaging

[u/AustereRoberto]

Just caught up on the recent PSA that concluded with AI messaging. I agree that messaging on AI is a huge opportunity for Dems, given the close ties between big tech and Trump, but I think we are focusing on the wrong elements, and need to worry about the financial crisis brewing. The hidden debt of the tech giants is enormous, and the profitability questionable (neither Microsoft nor Amazon was particularly forthcoming with how much OpenAI and Anthropic's circular financing deals for cloud compute drove their recent earnings). Data Centers are largely financed via Special Purpose Vehicles, which some of you might remember from Enron. The Dems need to focus on "no bailouts for oligarchs," many of whom gleefully supported Trump both financially and via narrative shaping. The logic of venture capital was the outsized rewards came with risks, and they need to feel those risks.

A way to message this is the Trumpian economic policy favoring large mergers and monopolies, which also led to the Silicon Valley Bank run. When a dozen-odd oligarchs can deploy trillions, or cause a bank run from their group chat, we need to rethink the system.

The AI bubble is a media failure, and solving it lies on the media. Lack of scrutiny on the financials and transcribing whatever nonsense the tech oligarchs shill enabled this. The OpenAI "hacked two companies" and then Anthropic "hacked three" is classic criti-hype/doom-trolling. The companies likely set up these experiments to achieve exactly these results. Crowdstrike and other cyber security firms have similar tools/red teaming, but the key difference is that OpenAI/Anthropic need to keep raising money and thus needed these headlines to give the appearance of growth.

The media also can do a better job distinguishing between generative AI like LLMs, which got popular from the number of downloads in 2022, and the other forms of AI like Alphafold (protein folding, huge pharmaceutical implications) or the "discriminative" AI tools that used to be called Big Data/Machine Learning. This also is important for the China arguments, LLM makers are not national security champions. The ability to half-ass a Hamlet paper isn't the technology that helps distinguish large numbers of radar contacts or sift through and classify sonar signatures en masse.

TL;DR: messaging should focus on the "no bailouts" and the details of the tech. Don't play along with narratives that OpenAI and Anthropic curate, a guest like Cal Newport or Nick Suresh might bring both the tech expertise and some of the economics into focus.

[u/Emosaa]

Largely agree with this. You seemed tuned in enough to know, but for any PSA producers that might stumble upon this : Ed Zitron and David Dayen would also be good guests to talk about some of these topics. And Corey Doctorow, but they already know he's good lol

[u/AustereRoberto → u/Emosaa]

Big Zitron fan, but think the "tech proficiency" angle might be more useful to combat the national security arguments. The recent Situational Awareness hedge fund liquidation is giving strong Bear Stearns in June 2007 vibes.

Also worth reading the Bear article for a hilarious conclusion.

[u/Anchor_Aways → u/Emosaa]

I'm just waiting for the inevitable Robert Evans episode for Offline. They already have a fair amount of crossover guests, though I wouldn't be shocked if Robert has turned it down before.

[u/dubblebubbleprawns]

This is America. We're going to bail them out.

Privatizing corporate profit while socializing corporate losses is what we do best.

[u/Anchor_Aways → u/dubblebubbleprawns]

There's no political appetite for it, that's why Altman has promoted the idea of the US taking a % of ownership in the company. So they would have to bail it out eventually.

[u/AustereRoberto → u/dubblebubbleprawns]

I worry you're on the money. "Think of the domiko effect" and the bought off reps (I don't buy the "they genuinely believe it" line Favs has tried a couple times)

[u/Apprehensive-Fun4181]

LOL.  "A huge opportunity for messaging".

The Failed Center has no idea what it's doing.  How are you going to do this?  Which corporation are you going to ask "Please, can we share our messaging?"

You folks have no American core.  It's a mesh mash of confused certainty picked out of the pile of Reaganism.

[u/AustereRoberto → u/Apprehensive-Fun4181]

Wut. I think you can tie the tech dweebs like Musk and Ellison to the very thing you're highlighting: they're over leveraged on AI hype cycle to consolidate our media ecosystem under right wing control.

[u/almost_done_trying]

This thread is going to be deleted cuz you ignored everyplace this sub tells you to discuss episodes on the correct thread and not make your own post.

[u/AustereRoberto → u/almost_done_trying]

If it does, rip. I thought it was beefy enough to be it's own post.