AI as a Political Project
Episode 27 of the Half the Answer podcast, hosted by Liberal Currents, titled "AI as a Political Project" was published on August 14, 2025 and runs 82 minutes.
August 14, 2025 ·82m · Half the Answer
Summary
Caitlin and Trent check in with Hagen Blix about the ways we talk about AI, the most prominent angle its critics take, and the angle that’s often missing. When AI is advertised as a tool for generating journalism or research, what is the social and political order that use would entail? When the press hypes AI weapons dealers as the new vanguards of technology, what does it mean in terms of a vision for the world to come?Resources:Palmer Luckey speaks to Taiwan students https://www.thefp.com/p/palmer-luckey-i-saw-the-future-of-war-taiwanAnduril gets big US contracts https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/startup-anduril-becomes-third-us-srm-supplier-amid-rising-defense-demand-2025-08-05/ Peter Thiel and tech fascism https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk Grok makes nonconsensual nudes https://gizmodo.com/groks-spicy-mode-makes-nsfw-celebrity-deepfakes-of-women-but-not-men-2000639308 American Historical Association https://www.historians.org/resource/guiding-principles-for-artificial-intelligence-in-history-education/ British MP launches bot of himself https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5pr3q6lrpoAutomating Inequality https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250074317/automatinginequality/Mutually Assured AI Malfunction https://dev.ua/en/news/eksholova-google-zasterihaie-proty-agi
Episode Description
Caitlin and Trent check in with Hagen Blix about the ways we talk about AI, the most prominent angle its critics take, and the angle that’s often missing. When AI is advertised as a tool for generating journalism or research, what is the social and political order that use would entail? When the press hypes AI weapons dealers as the new vanguards of technology, what does it mean in terms of a vision for the world to come?
Resources:
Palmer Luckey speaks to Taiwan students https://www.thefp.com/p/palmer-luckey-i-saw-the-future-of-war-taiwan
Anduril gets big US contracts https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/startup-anduril-becomes-third-us-srm-supplier-amid-rising-defense-demand-2025-08-05/
Peter Thiel and tech fascism https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk
Grok makes nonconsensual nudes https://gizmodo.com/groks-spicy-mode-makes-nsfw-celebrity-deepfakes-of-women-but-not-men-2000639308
American Historical Association https://www.historians.org/resource/guiding-principles-for-artificial-intelligence-in-history-education/
British MP launches bot of himself https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5pr3q6lrpo
Automating Inequality https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250074317/automatinginequality/
Mutually Assured AI Malfunction https://dev.ua/en/news/eksholova-google-zasterihaie-proty-agi
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