A New Gilded Age with a Technological Twist
In the wake of some of the wealthiest tech company leaders standing directly behind the new President during his inauguration we pause for thought on the implications of this image. America is all about business as has been said. Yet this blatant show of force implies an even greater co-option of government by the elites reminding us of the days of Henry George who argued against such excesses during the Gilded Age of the 19th century. This blog post considers how these two periods mirror each other and what makes our current experience different from legal support to technology influence to a leadership mentality at odds with democratic principles.
AI Point/Counterpoint Position Statement
A debate was held on the topic of AI and its impact on humanity. The interactive conversation between James Cusick and Tom Rossman, both Board Trustees at the Henry George School of Social Science, took on pressing issues related to artificial intelligence, technology, employment, society, and the risks and promises of the future of recent developments in this fast-changing field. The position argued by James was that AI was not a threat to humanity. The focus of this viewpoint was on the impact of AI and other technologies on equity as opposed to all factors driving equity.
AI Social Risk? Real or Imagined by AI?
The development of AI has been centuries in the making. We notice it’s seeming instantaneous emergence in recent years as if it landed in a flash of light. Yet this lightning strike has been glowing within the computing world for over 75 years and much longer with philosophers and mathematicians. In most cases with the emergence of new technologies there have been some growing pains. However, science, engineering, and policy have acted to improve the solutions at each step. In this blog entry we will turn our attention to the history of AI, some of its key building blocks, and how its maturation may impact the types of social interests which Henry George discussed at length.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Cusick is an interdisciplinary applied researcher specializing in Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, History of Science, and Political Economy…read more
