bart fish

these two power tools of ai images i created, are live on @betterimagesofai.bsky.social

i donated them so anyone can use them for free. if you’re not familiar with better images of ai, their mission is to source ai images that aren’t stereotypical and better represent the discourse around ai.

100% it’s a power tool.

what if the jobs that ai creates, are ones that nobody wants?

what if these jobs are low paying, lack security and involve being exposed to traumatic materials?

this is already happening in countries like kenya, uganda, the philippines, venezeula and india.

read more at powertoolsofai.com

The AI age is the "age of no consent" "Inevitability" means design decisions are no longer informed by user needs; now they are unilaterally imposed. The users are the ones being designed.

Users hate AI. So tech made it mandatory. Even if you don't use it, it pollutes what you read and how systems make decisions. The computer's hallucinated word is final.

And it needs all of your data to do it.

In the age of no consent, UX exists to normalized complete acquiescence to surveillance:

Ethan is a prolific ai slopper. Not sure what he loves more; creating ai slop or writing books about it.

Yeah, I expected he’d ignore me and that’s totally fine. 100% seems like a weird play to alienate your fans. I’ve quoted and recommended his newsletter soooo many times. But yeah, I’m moving on too. Not the vibe or kind of community I’m interested in.

Ed recently blocked me because I tagged him in a relevant post about my artwork and referenced his business idiot piece.

I wasn’t a paid subscriber but was an avid reader of his newsletter and was considering paying for it. I also regularly listened to his podcast.

“that millions of people share the same forms of mental pathology does not make these people sane.”
-erich fromm, the sane society

@jttaplin.bsky.social you might enjoy this. Read your book and it was an inspiration for this print in particular.

how could you make this control feel inevitable? with mountain tons of hype and money. use linkedin to promote pro-ai content and focus all vc investment on ai.

why does it feel like this ai era was all baked up in some technocratic think tank?

how could you make it a point of national pride? create the illusion of another cold war. create fear that this control could be weaponized against us.

how could you make it a religion? create a faith-based paradigm where ai is not judged by what it can do today but instead by what it might do in the future.

how would you control major institutions (higher ed) that might fight back? target students and question the efficacy of modern education.

Collage depicting a brain with callouts that all say chatgpt, inferring that our thinking is being replaced. “Control the brain” is at the top and emphasized. A scrap shows screwdrivers alluding to tools and a young woman has her face in her hands at the bottom right.

if you wanted to control large masses of people, where would you start? how they create, consume and distribute information.

how would you force adoption? threaten their livelihood and financial security.

power tools is an art series about the toolmen, their tools and the power they wield. each piece was created through a mix of physical, digital collage and gelli plate printing 5/5

these toolmen do not care how their tech hurts people, society or future generations. they are technocrats, an ultra-wealthy group of tools bent on bringing their childhood sci-fi dreams to life at any cost 4/5

marc andreessen wrote an entire manifesto about super toolmen and how social responsibility and ethics are the enemy.

sam altman has said that the most successful people create religions and that’s clearly what he is doing 3/5

mark zuckerberg is personally responsible for millions suffering from loneliness, disconnection and misinformation.

peter thiel believes that calls for caution, consent and regulation around ai are biblical signs of the anti-christ 2/5

ai is not merely a tool. it’s a power tool. a tool used to surveil, persuade, misinform and control.

elon musk wants to use his ai to rewrite history, using his own extremist views to create an orwellian record 1/5

Looking forward to it. Your newsletter is single-handedly sustaining my sanity these days. Thank you for everything you do 🙏🏻

social media = influence machines
ai = bullshit machines
politics = both

I’m convinced Trump is preparing for war. Whether it’s occupying Greenland or advancing into Canada or Mexico. The resulting protests will be enough for him to initiate martial law.

OpenAI shares many similarities with Trump’s regime. They are both attacking higher education, the creative class and seeking control of the media and information. OpenAI is not about tech innovation, it’s about consolidation of power.

OpenAI’s goals are similar to the Trump regime’s. They both are attacking higher education, the creative class and attempting to control the distribution and censorship of media. It’s not about tech innovation, it’s about consolidation of power imo.

By flattening creative expression, it turns art into a commodity, one devoid of the craft, power and influence it once had. This is not entirely dissimilar from the current war on education and freedom of speech.

I recently finished reading this and it was a thoroughly enjoyable, yet unsettling read. I came into it already quite critical of Musk, Thiel, Andreesen and Zuckerberg but this book uncovered many more reasons to be concerned. Kudos to @jttaplin.bsky.social for writing such a great exposé.

Actually, I forgot he’s on here! @jttaplin.bsky.social

One thought I had recently — I think there is some meat around AI and how it represents an anti-Rand philosophy in many ways. Stealing from real creators and artists, to create some farcical value. Could be a follow up article 👀

I enjoyed your analysis a great deal. As someone who read a bunch of Rand when I was young, it wasn’t til years later that I realized how shallow her ideas were. I recently read “The End of Reality” by Jonathan Taplin and he had some pretty interesting commentary on Rand, Andreesen and Musk.

Elon Musk is so familiar with the idea of weaponizing empathy because he’s been weaponizing altruism his whole career. It’s never been about “saving the human race” for Musk, it’s about gaining influence, respect and power by appearing to be selfless.

I don’t usually post work on here but this is a brand refresh I led late last year.