How the powerful want us to see AI
A funny thing happened when Isaac Newton discovered gravity. As Peter Dear writes in his new history of science, The World As We Know It, English authorities...
Where AI doesn't belong
“Current AI systems are a death sentence for civic institutions.” That cheery pronouncement comes from two Boston University Law School professors, Woodrow...
What we get from paying attention
20 years or so ago I visited the Museum of Modern Art here in New York and saw an exhibit that I’ve never forgotten. Somewhere on the third or fourth floor...
On leaving it all behind
The 1985 Albert Brooks film Lost in America offers a fantasy that, on some days, feels like a plan. Brooks plays a yuppie who escapes the professional grind...
The upside of child sacrifice
Those Moloch worshipers were pikers. Back in those days, I imagine the ancients brought a child or two to the altar to be knifed in early spring, in order...
Life in an age of extraction
I used to believe that running an honest business was a path to long-term success. Treating customers and clients with integrity would build a reputation...
2025 showed why to get off Big Tech
My Techtonic show this week inaugurated the Creepy Awards, which I hope to give annually to the most creeptastic tech oligarch. This year the winner was –...
Ham radio could save your life
In September 2024, Hurricane Helene blew in from the Gulf of Mexico to wreak destruction in an unlikely place: the mountains of western North Carolina....
More reasons to avoid Tesla and Musk
I recently learned two new reasons to avoid Tesla vehicles. First, there’s another lawsuit about their incredibly dangerous door handles. Two people died in...
The AI buildout shouldn't force people to drink sewage
Here’s a story about AI you need to hear. First the bad news, then the good news. 1. AI gets fresh water, while citizens are told to drink sewage Five years...
What data does in secret
Lee Schmidt was creeped out. A retired Navy veteran living in Norfolk, Virginia, Schmidt was unhappy that 176 license plate readers had been installed...
Feudal America
This week’s Techtonic episode covered an important topic that I’ll say more about in a moment. But first I’m excited to show off the new Techtonic website,...
The Luddite renaissance is here
Two weeks ago I stood outside the Apple Store on West 14th Street in Manhattan and watched someone dressed as Death destroy an iPhone with a rock. People...
Don't let the data center come to town
In southwest Memphis sits the Colossus, a giant AI slop factory owned by Elon Musk. Gas-powered turbines at the facility foul the air with “nitrogen oxides...
Generative AI is the new plastic
“I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.” “Yes sir.” “Are you listening?” “Yes, I am.” “Plastics.” Perhaps the most famous lines from “The...
My view of the future vs. Peter Thiel's
As I wrote in Oligarchs achieving escape velocity (Sep 10, 2025), a handful of plutocrats now exert outsize influence on our economy, politics, and society....
AI chatbots are not your friend, and neither is the Friend
I’m sorry to have to play Cassandra again, but my worries about chatbots are coming true. Several weeks ago I wrote The real threat posed by AI chatbots...
Oligarchs achieving escape velocity
I marked my 8-year anniversary this week of Techtonic, my radio show and podcast at WFMU. The episode, called “Milestones for Big Tech... and Techtonic” (see...
Why everything suddenly got worse: a conversation with Cory Doctorow
The Google antitrust trial was finally decided this week, and the results aren’t good. Google escaped any significant remedy, leaving it unscathed and...
AI is starting to secretly edit your files
One of the scarier headlines I’ve recently comes from the BBC: YouTube secretly used AI to edit people’s videos (August 24, 2025). This is just as I...