In the first part of the program, we welcome back to the show Leonardo Flores, co-founder of the Venezuela Solidarity Network, to talk about the US’ dangerous and honestly stupid escalation against Venezuela. Leo debunks the US’ absurd claims of drug trafficking, contextualizing them in a longer history of using drugs as a cover for violent escalation against nations in Latin America. Leo also talks about the remarkable critical media literacy of the Venezuelan people - something that the government has nurtured for almost 30 years via a varied and healthy media landscape that promotes independent and local media rather than a centralized corporate system. Next up, Nolan Higdon comes back on the show to talk about AI through the lens of critical media literacy. Nolan highlights the importance of not leaning on AI for foundational skills such as reading comprehension and critical media literacy, that AI is not some superior intellect but rather a system built by vehemently anti-democratic and indeed anti-human minds. Nolan explains that while the point isn’t to be afraid of technology, we must understand what the technology really is, what it can do for us and perhaps more importantly what it can do to us.

The post Venezuela, Propaganda, and the Promise (and Peril) of AI appeared first on Project Censored.