Technophobia

Who is creating whom?

Technophobia is an independent publication on artificial intelligence, superintelligence and the rest of us. Curious, skeptical, never hype.

Move toward the gap between the fingers. Click to make them touch.

Latest writing

  1. A Field Guide to Being Afraid of MachinesFear of new technology is usually treated as a malfunction in the person who feels it. What if it is a reading of the situation, and a fairly accurate one?TP-006AI & Society10 October 20262 min
  2. The Quiet Automation of JudgmentThe loudest debates are about machines taking jobs. The quieter change is machines taking decisions, one recommendation at a time.TP-004AI & Society3 October 20261 min
  3. What We Mean When We Say SuperintelligenceA word that does a lot of work and very little defining. A short glossary for a long argument.TP-002Superintelligence26 September 20261 min
  4. Shelter Drills for a Mind We Cannot PictureCivil defence was never about predicting the disaster. It was about rehearsing for it while there was still time to think.TP-001Superintelligence12 September 20261 min

The Wire

Open the wire

Live AI news from public sources, refreshed every 30 minutes. Summaries are written by an AI model; every story links to the original.

Signals

News from the field, read slowly. Short dispatches and commentary on what actually changed this week.

All signals
  1. How to Read a Benchmark HeadlineA model beats humans at something. Before you believe it, check four things.
  2. Model Cards Are the New Terms of ServiceThe document that tells you what a system cannot do is the one almost nobody reads.

Three ways in

Six rules for reading about AI

  1. Do not panic. Panic is a product, and somebody is always selling it.
  2. Do not believe the brochure either. Read past the press release to the paper, past the demo to the deployment.
  3. Ask who benefits, who pays, and who was not asked. The answer is rarely the same person.
  4. Keep a record. Today’s impossible is next year’s default. Write down what you thought before it arrived.
  5. Stay curious. Fear is information. It is not a plan.
  6. Check on your neighbours. The people with the least say over these systems tend to feel them first.