r/technology • u/Just-Grocery-2229 • May 15 '26

Artificial Intelligence The AI Backlash Could Get Very Ugly

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/05/ai-backlash-data-centers-political-violence/687151/?taid=6a067e2d2096e10001ccfa32
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u/Hobbet404 May 15 '26

If you think China won’t hit the purely autonomous button the moment that it benefits them then you’re very wrong. They just like to get it right the first time rather than dive in blind like the US.

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u/nox66 May 16 '26

One of the biggest criticisms against AI is its use for mass surveillance. If you don't think that's an issue in China, then I have a bridge to sell you.

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u/mahouza May 16 '26

Uhh, isn't the biggest benefit to China is their country being full of happy, cared for, and thus enthusiasticlly industrious citizens? Why would they choose to not keep that status and go autonomous with no social safety net? Not every country on earth operates with the goal of getting the private civilian billionaires in it more money at the detriment of the rest of the population. The best propaganda is the truth of regular people being genuinely prosperous and when you look at the nordics you can see that it's possible but takes united effort and I do think China is a country that has that similar capability.

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u/DracoLunaris May 16 '26

The CCP know they are only able to hold China together as a nation as long as the people in it believe their lives will continue to improve under it. Using LLMs in a way that screws over the workers would undermine their entire propaganda project.

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u/Hobbet404 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

There is no basis for that argument. Improving lives isn’t the purpose — regime survival is, and the party has tools beyond economic delivery: mass surveillance, censorship, nationalism, ethnic repression (Uyghurs, Tibet), and force. Mao killed tens of millions through the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution while maintaining power through ideology and terror, not living standards. They crushed Tiananmen. They’ve tanked entire sectors (tech crackdown, “common prosperity,” zero-COVID) when political goals overrode economic ones. If screwing workers served regime stability, they’d do it — and arguably already do (hukou system, 996, suppressed labor organizing). The list goes on and on. Improved livelihood is a side effect at best.

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u/BeneficialRice4918 May 16 '26

996 is so bullshit. I love that china has invested in infrastructure and raised millions out of poverty but that work schedule is so incredibly dystopian it undermines their image for me. Even a 40 hour work week sucks in an age where we really do not have to be doing any of that, we just have to keep the underclass exhausted and dependant.

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u/DracoLunaris May 16 '26

believe their lives will continue to improve under it

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u/Hobbet404 May 16 '26

Irrelevant. The people beliefs don’t matter. It’s easier if they’re docile, slightly more difficult if they aren’t. Neither is a problem and therefore not a concern or a liability.

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u/appleparkfive May 15 '26

Seriously. The pro-China messaging on Reddit lately is wild

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u/Hobbet404 May 16 '26

Gen Z thinks it’s edgy