NewsThoughts: AI and Screwworms
Google DeepMind CEO Says we don’t have much time to prepare for the ‘new human era’
Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, is calling on students and Americans to 'lean in' on AI, which he claims is an inevitability of the future. There is some genuine advice here: mechanization and digitization did drastically change how we work, live, and operate. And I won't discount how AI may have its application to modern society.
There is, however, a big disconnect between what the corporatists want and what the average American wants. Gallup finds that as people use it more, optimism toward AI has decreased even among Gen Z.
As an aside, for the past two or three years, school districts have been pushing AI. Even if current AI tools can't do my job as well as I can, even if it wasn't destructive for the environment and crippling to poor rural communities, it is a disservice to expect my students to pour their labor and their brain power into my work, and not meet them with my own humanity. It undermines academics.
But coming back around to Hassabis. To his credit, he does warn in that same fireside chat about the unregulated frontier of development. The tech industry is extremely aggressive and cutthroat - remember Meta’s strategy of moving fast and breaking things. Demis argues that the development in the for-profit marketplace is ultimately damaging for the AI industry and explains why they cannot be trusted to self-regulate:
”The problem is we’re in a kind of prisoner’s dilemma… By definition if you take more time to release something or make something safer, that’s harder than just putting it out there and letting it see what happens. So a defector has some advantage… and we’ve got to change that somehow, and I think urgently. And I think part of that is some form of government involvement.”
And he goes on to argue for dynamic regulation. We must, however, not forget that this information comes from a CEO of Google. You should always question the words of people who will personally and financially benefit from you trusting them.
In Texas cattle country, ranchers question if USDA can contain flesh-eating screwworm
The spread of the New World screwworm (NWS) presents another heavy blow to Texas cattle ranchers. The blame game is already in full swing with some outlets blaming Elon Musk's DOGE, cartels, or even Biden. So, talking heads being useless as ever.
However, I feel we need to treat the federal government's approach with skepticism. While the information about how to monitor the development may make sense on the surface, it is a difficult and costly prospect.
The main tool for eradicating the NWS is through the use of sterile flies, which mate and produce dead eggs, effectively culling the population. What's interesting about NWS is that its eradication in the US proved that the sterile fly method was successful. You will need a lot of flies, of course, and it seems like we just don't have enough flies. But, it's a method that works and the science is there. It will just require more money than the federal or state government are likely inclined to throw at it.
Some Texas ranchers seem like they’re not holding their breath, either.
Texas county rescinds its data center moratorium after $100 million lawsuit from developer
Just south of Fort Worth, Hill County managed to halt the construction of a data center after concerns arose about how it may impact the quality of life. However, this was just rescinded after the county was sued for $100 million in damages.
Energy costs are on the rise across Texas and, while there are many other factors, the energy demands of AI data centers is a huge culprit. Texas does need an infrastructure update, admittedly, but these costs are largely being passed onto the customers.
Data centers are projected to keep popping up in Texas, partly because of the tax breaks afforded, the relatively cheap cost of land especially in the unincorporated areas of Texas. Much of Texas is regulated by county, not city, governments which are less empowered to stand up to developers. Data center companies argue construction will benefit Texans, but those construction jobs are not permanent additions to the employment rate of the community and, while data centers do add some permanent new jobs to the local economy, these are usually modest and inconsistent.
It is a tragedy that the remote, open lands of Texas are threatened by data center developers and that rural communities risk destruction by uncaring, profit-driven companies. I think Texans need only look at the de-industrialized Rust Belt to gauge how much capitalists care once their wallets are filled.
Thank you for reading.