Max Tegmark

Tech Boom Threatens Life: The War on Humanity

If you want to spice up Thanksgiving with fresh anti-Big-Tech ideas, my brother's book "The War on Life" just launched in English: https://t.co/rc8zSHqAov Here's my take on his book. We're all aware that artificial intelligence and other tech is transforming life on Earth at an accelerating pace. Some worship tech as a new religion, whose central credo is that more tech is always better, however it's used. Some ever take this literally, aiming to build a digital god ("the sand god") they call superintelligence.  But is this technologization really making things better for life on Earth and, if so, for whom? We've already driven about half of all species extinct. In the US, the government has reported a loneliness epidemic, 30% of female high school students have seriously considered suicide, and only 37% of people think things are better than 50 years ago.  In this thought-provoking book, my brother Per argues that this is all part of a larger trend he calls "the War on Life", whose origins trace back to ancient times when major monotheistic religions redefined our relationship with nature: rather than nature being an ecosystem that we should revere and live in harmony with, life in all its forms (including people) became a resource to be commodified, dominated and exploited. This commoditization process was accelerated by a race to the bottom between the non-living entities we refer to as for-profit corporations.  Part of this trend involves manipulating us to prefer artificial over natural: junk food over healthy, drugs over inspiring activities, screens over nature, texting over talking, and porn over physical intimacy. AI is now taking this to new levels, with some preferring AI companions over human relationships, and others hoping to delegate ever more human agency and influence to that alluring sand god.  My own view is that technology isn't evil, but also not morally good. It can and should be a tool that can be used for either. We should use it to empower us, not to replace, manipulate or overpower us. There is indeed a war on life, and with top tech CEO's hoping to summon the sand god by the end of this decade, its final battle is upon is. This book helps us see the battle lines. Are you ready to fight for Team Life?