Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx is joined by Jathan Sadowski to discuss the relationship between technology and capitalism, and what lessons can be taken from the Luddites to properly assess and understand these systems.

Jathan Sadowski is is the author of The Mechanic and the Luddite: A Ruthless Criticism of Technology and Capitalism. He’s also the co-host of This Machine Kills and a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Jathan wrote about AI and the Tinkerbell Effect in Futurism.

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Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Dwayne Monroe, a senior cloud architect and longtime consultant these kinds of projects. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon.

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Paris Marx is joined by Will Tavlin to discuss how the Netflix model transformed film into the Typical Netflix Movie and how the company uses claims about data to deceive the public.

Will Tavlin is a New York-based writer who has written for n+1, Bookforum, and the Columbia Journalism Review.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Will wrote about Netflix and the Typical Netflix Movie for n+1.

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Paris Marx is joined by Cecilia Rikap to discuss the ways Amazon, Microsoft, and Google gain power from companies becoming dependent on their cloud services and how generative AI exacerbates that problem.

Cecilia Rikap is an Associate Professor in Economics at University College London.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Paris and Cecilia were co-authors on the “Reclaiming digital sovereignty” white paper.
• Cecilia wrote a report called “Dynamics of Corporate Governance Beyond Ownership in AI.”

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Paris Marx is joined by Ali Alkhatib to discuss the difficulty of holding the AI industry accountable and why sometimes it makes sense for people to destroy AI systems that are harming them.

Ali Alkhatib works with Logic(s) magazine and was previously the director of the Center for Applied Data Ethics.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Ali wrote a blog post called “Destroy AI.”

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Paris Marx is joined by Molly White, Brian Merchant, and Eric Wickham to discuss the highs and lows (mostly lows) of this year in tech news.

Molly White is the creator of Web3 is Going Just Great and Follow the Crypto. Brian Merchant is my co-host on System Crash, a new podcast we’re hosting. He’s also a longtime tech journalist and author of Blood in the Machine. Eric Wickham is the producer for Tech Won’t Save Us, along with a bunch of other podcast, and an independent journalist.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Molly joined Brian and Paris on System Crash.
• Peter Thiel made some dumb remarks about Luigi Mangione on the Piers Morgan show while looking very shiny.
• Apple sold fewer than half a million Vision Pro headsets this year.

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Paris Marx is joined by Amanda Mull to discuss the data-informed decisions that are changing the way we all experience air travel, mostly for the worse.

Amanda Mull is a senior reporter and Buying Power columnist at Bloomberg Businessweek.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Amanda wrote about the changing flying experience for Bloomberg and the big investments being made in airport lounges for The Atlantic.
• Legacy airlines are taking budget customers with the ultracheap fares.
• In the US, budget airlines are beginning to offer premium seats and other amenities to attract more premium customers.

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Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Aurora Gomez Delgado of Tu Nube Seca Mi Río. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon.

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Paris Marx is joined by Cam Wilson to discuss Australia’s plan to ban under-16s from social media, the interests driving it, and whether it’s the right approach to tackle the harms of those platforms.

Cam Wilson is associate editor at Crikey.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Cam wrote about the under-16 social media ban for Crikey.

Support the show

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Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Brid Smith, a former TD or Member of Parliament in the Irish Parliament in Dublin. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon.

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