We are seeing a fascist takeover in the US – where AI will be used for deeply unethical and even criminal purposes. While the actual capabilities of AI are of course disputed, few would dispute that the reach of these technologies, no matter how efficacious they really are, is extensive. This is not to say that AI is by definition an evil technology – it can be used for a lot of good things – but forces of evil are now at the helm and that does not bode well. Many of these reflections came to me after reading this testimony from a previous Palantir worker: https://zigguratmag.substack.com/p/the-guernica-of-ai-c4b When tech optimists speak – even those of the sensible and generally humanistic variety, such as Paul Graham – their statements are occurring in parallel with the outright fascist, yes, even Nazi (MAGA) contingent of tech optimism, as this contingent is now the current governor of US tech policy. Therefore, one has to be extremely vigilant about which arguments in the overall tech debate that are to be deemed sensible, ethical, and generally viable. Many of the claims currently made are truly based in myth, as we live in an age of AI boosterism and meliorist jargon.