As I recall, one issue with the first half of Brand's words was, did he mean free as "gratis" or free as "libre"? You'll wrestle with him if you don't figure that out. I think he meant libre, as in "free to fly about the country" when Southworst still let your bags fly free. But, you still have to pay for that.
The question then, is, how much is information worth?
AP story? Everybody runs it. Unless investigative or a real scoop, not that much. But, paywalling local journalism? Absolutely, and yes, newspapers were way behind the curve on that. Isn't that the story of newspaper journalism online the past 25 years?
The AI gravy train is sustainable as long as:
1. The gummint has contracts with some of these people. (I find abhorrent the degree to which intelligence-related items are privatized)
2. They find suckers for things like their individual, bespoke, cryptocurrency.
I don't think the political backlash is all that. In most states both "red" and "blue" county governments have little statutory power, state governments are "on the take" in both non-revolution colors, and will rein in city governments if they want to, until people vote "THEIR" rascals out.
There is one key element of a future with AI that seems to be increasingly overlooked in all the predictions of job replacement: the strain and demand on resources.
I'm not just talking about 'rare earths,' and the global battle between 'superpowers' to obtain them (just as street thieves have discovered them existing in catalytic converters).
I'm talking about energy. Specifically, electricity.
Just as access to whale blubber, then coal, then crude oil determined who-was-who in terms of industrial development, so, now, is not only access, but generation capabilities of any country trying to keep up.
Cellphones and the internet virtually skipped a generation of infrastructure building in so-called 'developing' countries like India and China.
In the early days of 'cable,' upon which the early days of 'the internet' was developed, private companies were obtaining rights-of-way and permits to put in their own infrastructure, separate and apart from what first was a monopoly - Bell Telephone - and then a group of separate businesses. And also separate and apart from what now is referred to as 'analog' - free, because it used the nation's/peoples' air waves - broadcast.
Streaming, and bluetooth, are somewhat past cable, being essentially radio, requiring actual purchase of bands on the spectrum of radio waves, which also requires power to generate (in your cellphone, batteries; but in your cellphone tower, generated power from a power plant).
At one time also (as you suggested, could be fun to look up!), when electricity did not reach every home or farm in America, the government sponsored/funded the Rural Electrification Program. There has been talk - though visibly little progress - of a sort of 'Rural Internet Program.' And that's only, so far as I have heard, in the US.
Sure, AI is great at searching. But it can only search along systems that have either bluetooth or other wifi access, just as Google doesn't work without internet access.
And ALL '21st Century' technology depends on electricity.
Until fusion generators become possible and available, as with the continuing need for print newspapers, there will be pockets of the world without the infrastructure or reliable energy (India, as always, comes to mind), the next great technological advancement, beyond 'AI,' will be: how to keep Data Centers and other banks of heavy electrical demand cool, just like your laptop; and who has the natural resources or ability to synthetically create not only cooling, but power generation. And by whom, and how, will it all be paid for?
Sorry to interrupt this important topic, but I'd love to get further comments from you on prediction markets (PMs). Please see my comments on your April 24 column and/or email Jonathan@MediaAndDemocracyProject. (P.S. I presume there is a way to DM in this platform but I couldn't figure it out. But I'm also happy to hear others' comments on PMs.
Now we return to your regularly scheduled program.
Agree
As I recall, one issue with the first half of Brand's words was, did he mean free as "gratis" or free as "libre"? You'll wrestle with him if you don't figure that out. I think he meant libre, as in "free to fly about the country" when Southworst still let your bags fly free. But, you still have to pay for that.
The question then, is, how much is information worth?
AP story? Everybody runs it. Unless investigative or a real scoop, not that much. But, paywalling local journalism? Absolutely, and yes, newspapers were way behind the curve on that. Isn't that the story of newspaper journalism online the past 25 years?
The AI gravy train is sustainable as long as:
1. The gummint has contracts with some of these people. (I find abhorrent the degree to which intelligence-related items are privatized)
2. They find suckers for things like their individual, bespoke, cryptocurrency.
I don't think the political backlash is all that. In most states both "red" and "blue" county governments have little statutory power, state governments are "on the take" in both non-revolution colors, and will rein in city governments if they want to, until people vote "THEIR" rascals out.
There is one key element of a future with AI that seems to be increasingly overlooked in all the predictions of job replacement: the strain and demand on resources.
I'm not just talking about 'rare earths,' and the global battle between 'superpowers' to obtain them (just as street thieves have discovered them existing in catalytic converters).
I'm talking about energy. Specifically, electricity.
Just as access to whale blubber, then coal, then crude oil determined who-was-who in terms of industrial development, so, now, is not only access, but generation capabilities of any country trying to keep up.
Cellphones and the internet virtually skipped a generation of infrastructure building in so-called 'developing' countries like India and China.
In the early days of 'cable,' upon which the early days of 'the internet' was developed, private companies were obtaining rights-of-way and permits to put in their own infrastructure, separate and apart from what first was a monopoly - Bell Telephone - and then a group of separate businesses. And also separate and apart from what now is referred to as 'analog' - free, because it used the nation's/peoples' air waves - broadcast.
Streaming, and bluetooth, are somewhat past cable, being essentially radio, requiring actual purchase of bands on the spectrum of radio waves, which also requires power to generate (in your cellphone, batteries; but in your cellphone tower, generated power from a power plant).
At one time also (as you suggested, could be fun to look up!), when electricity did not reach every home or farm in America, the government sponsored/funded the Rural Electrification Program. There has been talk - though visibly little progress - of a sort of 'Rural Internet Program.' And that's only, so far as I have heard, in the US.
Sure, AI is great at searching. But it can only search along systems that have either bluetooth or other wifi access, just as Google doesn't work without internet access.
And ALL '21st Century' technology depends on electricity.
Until fusion generators become possible and available, as with the continuing need for print newspapers, there will be pockets of the world without the infrastructure or reliable energy (India, as always, comes to mind), the next great technological advancement, beyond 'AI,' will be: how to keep Data Centers and other banks of heavy electrical demand cool, just like your laptop; and who has the natural resources or ability to synthetically create not only cooling, but power generation. And by whom, and how, will it all be paid for?
Sorry to interrupt this important topic, but I'd love to get further comments from you on prediction markets (PMs). Please see my comments on your April 24 column and/or email Jonathan@MediaAndDemocracyProject. (P.S. I presume there is a way to DM in this platform but I couldn't figure it out. But I'm also happy to hear others' comments on PMs.
Now we return to your regularly scheduled program.