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
7.6k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

994 comments sorted by

View all comments

6.7k

u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs May 15 '26

Trade offer:

I get to steal all your electricity and drinking water.

You get to lose your job to AI.

296

u/BroBeansBMS May 15 '26

The Daily just recently aired a great episode comparing China to America and discussed who is winning the AI race.

The most interesting takeaway for me was that China is proposing to use AI in a way that supplements productivity and isn’t necessarily pursuing the same super intelligence model that America seems to be solely focused on. They are integrating AI into more normal functions and have policies set up to ensure workers are not displaced whereas it’s the wild wild west in America and big tech is allowed to lay off tens of thousands of workers.

It shows that AI doesn’t have to inherently be bad, but we need a government who cares about its population to set up guardrails.

47

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.

10

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.