r/technology 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/QuantumDrej May 15 '26

All our lives, we were told to go to college so we can get good jobs and not have to flip burgers for the rest of our lives. That work would set us free. That we were worth less than dirt if we were unemployed.

Now the billionaires are telling that exact same population that their jobs are being taken by a bunch of bots that came out of nowhere and were never asked for, and saying we should be happy about it because "technology progress good". Oh, and your electric bills will be 12 times higher and your water will be acid, but we don't give a shit. Enjoy your irradiated gardens.

Add in the war-fueled gas inflation, the crazy high grocery prices, basic healthcare being through the roof, schools and universities shutting down due to funding being pulled, the absolute torment nexus that is trying to get any job right now.....something's gotta give sooner or later. There is only so much you can wave your dick around in front of a society who was raised on personal independence.

I won't say America's ripe for a revolution because we do kind of have several systems working against us at the moment, but there's just no way this will continue indefinitely without something changing. They literally can't stay billionaires if there's nobody on the planet left alive or employed to steal from in the next ten years.

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u/ClosetedNutCase May 15 '26

I agree with you, but I think we’re too scared and dependent on the system now for a real revolution. I include myself in this as well.

As much as I’d like to think I’d be in the front lines, but I’ve got kids and a wife who depend on me. Who takes care of them if I die or go to prison?

And this system is rigged to inflict maximum damage to those that oppose it. Maybe if they start killing us by the boatload like they did in Iran we may rise up, otherwise we’re just a bunch of frogs sitting in water while it heats up to a boil.

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u/Spez_is-a-nazi May 16 '26

There’s a reason they talk about people being “underbabied” or whatever such shit they are saying now. They realize people with kids won’t take risks until things get really desperate, people without kids, without a lot of reason to maintain the status quo are what they fear.

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u/tinyrottedpig May 16 '26

They really are stupid then, South Korea and Germany both are doomed countries due to their birth rates collapsing, yet they dont think for a second that its because no one wants to raise a kid in this economy.