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The phony comforts of useful idiots
On Casey Newton and the shallowness of anti-skepticism.
Section II of Newton’s essay articulates why he believes AI is real & dangerous by defining some key terms and offering some evidence to support his argument, all of which also shed some light on why he has settled on this criticism binary. But Uber used its size as a signal to attract the capital necessary to reshape labor markets, public transit systems, regulatory frameworks, consumer behavior, and urban governance into forms more hospitable for a business model that was previously illegal, unprofitable, unsustainable, and untenable. Similarly, Zitron’s close analysis of OpenAI’s finances suggests that—barring a series of increasingly unlikely maneuvers—OpenAI (and other genAI firms) will have to go the Uber route to survive: use Smaugian hoards of capital to realize legal and political reforms that force markets, consumers, competitors, clients, and governments into forms that can accommodate previously illegal, unprofitable, unsustainable, and untenable business models.
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