Elke Schwarz

A reminder: those making, selling, promoting AI for all aspects of human life are NOT experts in human affairs or social dynamics. They are technicians or business people with little knowledge of or care for political and social dynamics.

This thread is spot on and this part raises one of the most devastating aspects of this new AI focused environment: “They can’t see themselves in relation to others”.

VC and defence tech — a recipe for disaster? War should not be normalised as a financial opportunity, writes Elke Schwarz, a professor at the Queen Mary University of London.

Published today: my op-Ed for Sifted on why the dynamics of VC are too risky for defence. I’m grateful to the editors for letting me make this point in the ‘lion’s den’ sifted.eu/articles/def...

Venture Capital Statecraft: The UK’s New Growth Model The UK government has tied its growth model and security strategy to the development of a US-dominated defence tech sector.

"VC strategy thrives on rapidly scaling up growth for extraordinary returns... VC investment, especially in defence, comes with its own dynamics."

Sharp analysis from @elkeschwarz.bsky.social on UK government's growing entanglement with US venture capital:

transitionsecurity.org/venture-capi...

My latest for @transitionsec.bsky.social, where I take a look at the implications of the UK forgeing its defence strategy in the image of the US. I argue that this pathway to growth, via a "defence dividend”, risks primarily serving those with vested industry interests, not the public at large.

NEW ESSAY: Ahead of the Budget, read @ElkeSchwarz on how the UK Government has made venture capital investment in defence tech the cornerstone of its growth model and security strategy.

transitionsecurity.org/venture-capital-statecraft/

📢The Swedish Defence University is recruiting TWO fully-funded, salaried PhD positions to conduct research on Artificial Intelligence and War, supported by the national WASP-HS programme - a unique opportunity. Please share widely! www.fhs.se/en/swedish-d...

There is always another joker up someone's sleeve sifted.eu/articles/eri...

... and speaking of self-referential systems of tech, power and violence, this sure was an interesting read www.thenation.com/article/soci...

See also: Defence

The general ethos of our time seems to be: do the same thing as everyone else, just more, faster and harder. That seems to apply for the whole AI craze as much as for politics.

I don’t understand why it does not sink in that by trying to ‘compete’ with Reform, Labour just lowers the bar with every move, allowing Reform to set a new outrageous low to which Labour then must respond. Politically it cannot work. Morally it’s unjustifiable. Socially it’s wilfully destructive

Alles könnte auch ganz anders sein Wie das literarische Werk von Ursula K. Le Guin den Blick auf die Welt verändert.

"'Wir leben im Kapitalismus. Seine Macht scheint unausweichlich. Aber das galt auch für das göttliche Recht der Könige', sagte Le Guin in ihrer Rede von 2014. Ihr Wort macht Hoffnung. Bis heute."

I am not even three minutes into that Axios / Karp interview and already I am slightly lost for words when this weapon system CEO describes that their software can also cover that "kind of sexy violent part of war" for commanders .... That sexy violent part of war. Honestly.

Europe is next

The power of lobbying ...

Thank you, that looks great!

The entire speech is an ode to the venture capital dynamic. He lays out five points that mould defence to the needs of VC (my words, not his). Important: he will remove "anything that unnecessarily slows down government contracts". In line with the playbook theconversation.com/the-silicon-...

This is precisely it: lack of consent is central. That is why regulation is seen as such a hindrance. Regulation embodies the requirement that others, affected by the technology, should be taken into account, if not, give consent.

I’ve been hoping someone would do this mapping! Very useful

These two headlines tell a most dystopian story about the current state of affairs.

That's funny because from what I hear, China has been doing very well with AI despite (or maybe because) the AI space is quite regulated, a lot more than the US ... and one might say that it is somewhat cynical to read what China is doing through the lens of the US ... but what do I know.

That's also what they indicated in their IPO S1 form back in 2020: "We are working towards becoming the default operating system across the U.S. government. Our victory in federal court now makes that possible." This has been the growth strategy (p.7). www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...

@danmcquillan.bsky.social is right. The emperor's advocates, too, know there are no clothes

Eric Schmidt – AI bubble is great!
Sam Altman – we’re making a very aggressive infrastructure bet – we need the whole of industry to support it.
Alex Karp – PEOPLE SHORTING AI COMPANIES ARE BATSHIT CRAZY

Yes, looking forward to it!

Huge thank you to our contributors, including:
🔹 @tariqmodood.bsky.social
🔹 @martinoneill.bsky.social
🔹 @jowolff.bsky.social
🔹 @elkeschwarz.bsky.social

And to @halcyene.bsky.social and Professor David Archard for editing the collection.

Delighted and grateful to @halcyene.bsky.social to have a short piece in this excellent collection. What a great initiative, all open access. Check it out below

Essays on philosophy in public life - Nuffield Foundation

"The point is to change it" — a volume of new essays from 21 leading academics exploring the role of philosophy in public life — launches today!

Contributors include @tariqmodood.bsky.social, @martinoneill.bsky.social, @jowolff.bsky.social, @elkeschwarz.bsky.social and more.

Click below to read 👇🦉

Jonah Hill (as Efraim Diveroli): "they call guys like us War Dogs, bottom feeders that make money off of war, without every stepping foot on the battlefield ... it was meant to be derogatory, but ... we kinda liked it"

Nicholas Cage (as Yuri Orlov): "there are over 550 million firearms in circulation worldwide, that's 1 firearm for every 12 people on the plant ... the only question is, how do we arm the other 11"