It's actually less scary that AI videos will exist to trick people and more scary that people will watch a genuine video you send to them of war crimes, their favorite politician saying psycho things, etc. and then those people will react by claiming that what you're showing them is AI generated. It's the forever excuse for nationalists to cheer for "their team" while "their team" participates in the indiscriminate destruction of innocent human lives.
J.P. I read your column religiously. You give me hope! (usually!)
Here's something I wrote on this topic:
From: The Revolution Will Be LIVE: Top 10 Reasons to Organize in the Real World, Antonia Scatton, May 04, 2025
"AI is also accelerating the inevitable collapse of trust in Internet content. Disinformation was limited by the capacity of live people working in troll farms. AI will blow that up exponentially. You already cannot believe what you see with your own eyes. AI will continue to train itself on own crappy output until the Internet is hopelessly polluted. People are already starting to unplug."
JP, I have to disagree with you on this one. You complain that AI is bringing us to a world without trust, but it seems to me that even before AI we already had a world without trust, if you've been paying attention.
Think about it: There are several statements that are believed by half of our society and disbelieved by the other half. (I won't name specific examples because your beliefs might not match mine.) This means that someone is lying to half of us.
We have to make our decisions based on evidence at a higher level than just what we can see with our eyes. For instance:
Which wars are based on lies, and which wars are being fought for legitimate reasons? I can't be certain, but it appears to me that MOST of the wars are based on lies, and therefore we need to change the system that decides which wars to have.
And which economic system has good results, and which has bad results? Again, your answer to that has to be based on higher levels of thinking.
I don't have simple answers for these questions. But these questions arose before we ever had anything like AI.
There is a separate, second problem with AI: What about all the electricity and water it requires? I would rephrase that question: Who is paying for the electricity and water, and who is profiting from it? If capitalism made any sense, it would pay for such expenses. I won't pursue that question further here, except to say that this is a separate question from the question of pursuing truth.
Even in Dune, technology never ever does go away, despite the Butlerian Jihad wars (including AI). In addition, AI will never be conscious or have feelings. This is clear to anyone knowledgeable regarding the deterministic nature of digital computers. As Frederico Faggin writes in his elucidating book, "Irreducible" (published in 2024):
"Consciousness is the ability to experience through qualia, and know the meaning of the experience. Qualia are the private sensations and feelings that reveal the meaning of the experience to the entity." #p4
Computers and AI can never have an "Experience", do not have "Private" sensations with meaning. This is a unique attribute of Consciousness that cannot be replicated and is not available to human technology. No amount of electrical signals or biochemical signals can produce the "Qualia" of inner experience, which by the way, also includes some of the precognitive abilities of Paul Atreides in Dune - as Frank Herbert demonstrated so beautifully, writing about the eventual stunning evolution of human consciousness via Maud'Dib (and the consequences of such an evolution).
"Technology is just a symbolic and mechanical aspect of reality" - Faggin also writes. Computers and AI are reductive and deterministic. Consciousness is not reductive, nor is it deterministic.
The problem presenting itself right now to humankind is not really about the "tools" available, or the technology itself (which is neutral). It is as JP Hill writes: one of human regulation and moral standards. It is a problem of human organization and governance. A psychological problem of the human race being led by a relatively few sociopathic individuals, not as intelligent or well meaning as they might claim they are. And it is enormous test on whether the human race will learn to cooperate with itself and abide by fundamental values of human worth, and fundamental REGULATIONS that avoid creating a world society based on greed, deception and mass murder.
It's actually less scary that AI videos will exist to trick people and more scary that people will watch a genuine video you send to them of war crimes, their favorite politician saying psycho things, etc. and then those people will react by claiming that what you're showing them is AI generated. It's the forever excuse for nationalists to cheer for "their team" while "their team" participates in the indiscriminate destruction of innocent human lives.
Well said!
That’s part of what makes AI scary
Wow, so much here. Thank you for putting all this together.
Good points all well made!
I would only add that AI is arguably associated with vampires since the tech bros see it as part of their bonkers quest for transhumanism
Another aspect of late decaying capitalism. In Marx’s words - “All that is solid melts into air”.
All the more reason we need to get off line, get outside and keep building IRL networks to resist this fascist mess we're in.
J.P. I read your column religiously. You give me hope! (usually!)
Here's something I wrote on this topic:
From: The Revolution Will Be LIVE: Top 10 Reasons to Organize in the Real World, Antonia Scatton, May 04, 2025
"AI is also accelerating the inevitable collapse of trust in Internet content. Disinformation was limited by the capacity of live people working in troll farms. AI will blow that up exponentially. You already cannot believe what you see with your own eyes. AI will continue to train itself on own crappy output until the Internet is hopelessly polluted. People are already starting to unplug."
https://reframingamerica.substack.com/p/the-revolution-will-be-live
Not just videos. Starting January 1, 2026, 6 states will be using AI for service approvals for Medicare recipients.
https://www.newsweek.com/medicare-will-start-using-ai-help-make-coverage-decisions-next-year-2111093
JP, I have to disagree with you on this one. You complain that AI is bringing us to a world without trust, but it seems to me that even before AI we already had a world without trust, if you've been paying attention.
Think about it: There are several statements that are believed by half of our society and disbelieved by the other half. (I won't name specific examples because your beliefs might not match mine.) This means that someone is lying to half of us.
We have to make our decisions based on evidence at a higher level than just what we can see with our eyes. For instance:
Which wars are based on lies, and which wars are being fought for legitimate reasons? I can't be certain, but it appears to me that MOST of the wars are based on lies, and therefore we need to change the system that decides which wars to have.
And which economic system has good results, and which has bad results? Again, your answer to that has to be based on higher levels of thinking.
I don't have simple answers for these questions. But these questions arose before we ever had anything like AI.
There is a separate, second problem with AI: What about all the electricity and water it requires? I would rephrase that question: Who is paying for the electricity and water, and who is profiting from it? If capitalism made any sense, it would pay for such expenses. I won't pursue that question further here, except to say that this is a separate question from the question of pursuing truth.
Nice weaving in the Butlerian Jihad!
Even in Dune, technology never ever does go away, despite the Butlerian Jihad wars (including AI). In addition, AI will never be conscious or have feelings. This is clear to anyone knowledgeable regarding the deterministic nature of digital computers. As Frederico Faggin writes in his elucidating book, "Irreducible" (published in 2024):
"Consciousness is the ability to experience through qualia, and know the meaning of the experience. Qualia are the private sensations and feelings that reveal the meaning of the experience to the entity." #p4
Computers and AI can never have an "Experience", do not have "Private" sensations with meaning. This is a unique attribute of Consciousness that cannot be replicated and is not available to human technology. No amount of electrical signals or biochemical signals can produce the "Qualia" of inner experience, which by the way, also includes some of the precognitive abilities of Paul Atreides in Dune - as Frank Herbert demonstrated so beautifully, writing about the eventual stunning evolution of human consciousness via Maud'Dib (and the consequences of such an evolution).
"Technology is just a symbolic and mechanical aspect of reality" - Faggin also writes. Computers and AI are reductive and deterministic. Consciousness is not reductive, nor is it deterministic.
The problem presenting itself right now to humankind is not really about the "tools" available, or the technology itself (which is neutral). It is as JP Hill writes: one of human regulation and moral standards. It is a problem of human organization and governance. A psychological problem of the human race being led by a relatively few sociopathic individuals, not as intelligent or well meaning as they might claim they are. And it is enormous test on whether the human race will learn to cooperate with itself and abide by fundamental values of human worth, and fundamental REGULATIONS that avoid creating a world society based on greed, deception and mass murder.