Can an A.I. Company Ever Be Good?

Sunday, April 26, 2026

Paul Ford: Nearly a billion people are using ChatGPT. What appears to be a multitrillion-dollar economic bomb has been unleashed into the world. The loudest voices believe A.I. will either demolish the labor market -- creating a jobless dystopia or creating a (similarly jobless) utopia -- or reveal itself soon as a huge fraud and a bubble.

Posted by retort at 05:23 PM | 9 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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The entire culture of American technology is built around two terms: disruption and, of course, scale. But ethics are constraints on disruption and scale.

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Only if it were developed under an educated democracy.

#1 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2026-04-26 07:10 PM | Reply | Funny: 2 | Newsworthy 1

The Democrats are all against this stuff.

#2 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2026-04-26 08:16 PM | Reply

Only if it were developed under an educated democracy.
#1 | POSTED BY SPEAKSOFTLY

The more educated, the more political violence you tend to support. So no there's no such thing as an educated democracy, it destroys itself.

#3 | Posted by oneironaut at 2026-04-26 08:57 PM | Reply | Funny: 1

The Democrats are all against this stuff.

#2 | POSTED BY LFTHNDTHRDS

Interesting, I didn't imagine this would be so skewed.

Even when asked to build it close Republicans almost double the Democrat support for a datacenter.
www.politico.com

#4 | Posted by oneironaut at 2026-04-26 09:03 PM | Reply

Either when it is first created or a few years down the road, everything becomes weaponized to either oppress or to kill.

#5 | Posted by NerfHerder at 2026-04-26 09:29 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

Figure a way out. It can be done.

#6 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-04-26 11:42 PM | Reply | Funny: 1

I understand how AI may significantly undermine the workforce, especially many white collar jobs. Which may in turn will degrade blue collar jobs, as more and more people will be competing for that work. Really, in the long run, I don't see how it's good for anyone except a very wealthy few. Considering the billions (perhaps trillions) that are being invested in AI, where is the ROI? How will it be monetized? I'm having trouble seeing the general benefit to mankind.

#7 | Posted by Whatsleft at 2026-04-27 11:46 AM | Reply

No.

#8 | Posted by DarkVader at 2026-04-27 01:14 PM | Reply

How will it be monetized? I'm having trouble seeing the general benefit to mankind.
#7 | Posted by Whatsleft

Have you listened to some of the AI leaders? Many have some very sci-fi heavily influenced ideas such as the idea that it doesn't matter how much AI looses because a generalized AI would lead to a post-scarcity/post-capitalism global economy (or possibly destroy us all) and the AI that gets there first could/will rule the world.

#9 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce at 2026-04-27 02:46 PM | Reply