Its about time our government put a big pause on AI. Given the environmental costs- none of which are good, our current global warming crisis, AND the all the threats surrounding the control of all the negatives- the many things that can and will go wrong- not to mention the crisis it will create in our economy. It seems like something that seriously needs to be worked out on so many levels that we seriously are not at all prepared to deal with this- especially now! How about we take things a bit slower and work methodically rather than taking plunges and trying to deal with remediation. I'm thinking we should first solve our constitutional crisis while working on saving our planet. Lets stop creating more hazardous waste that we haven't figured out what to do with!
We don't have the public infrastructure in place to supply the electric cars we have sold and are continuing to manufacture. We have yet to come up with a solution to fuel heavy tractor trailers and construction equipment. States want dealers to stop selling new diesel trucks by next year and don't have an efficient or affordable alternative.
Big ideas and no follow through will only result more chaos. Lets stop the stupidity and take one small step at a time. Big ideas are worthless without properly following up on the projects.
You know it really is funny when you take some time to think about it because people are so worried about nuclear power plants and yet they just accept 40,000 automotive deaths a year in this country and they don’t even think for a moment about banning cars. The way people assess risk is very strange. Nobody thinks about the numerous premature deaths from pollution in marginalized communities down wind from coal fired power plants. We just don’t add all this stuff up in our heads very well.
I think that's key — concepts like risk, scale, etcetera are really hard to grasp and are hard to boil down to simple questions of numeracy vs. innumeracy. There's a lot of emotional stuff here too; the threats we worry the most about aren't necessarily the ones we need to think about at all, whereas the ones that are truly existential we tend to kick down the road.
When I was an elected official, I routinely campaigned on the future (leaving a better world for the next generation and my children). I drew upon the past, but when one talks about urgency of present crises, drawing upon the past loses some meaning. "We are still around, so what do have to worry about' is one response from GenZ, or in the other direction, "we have no hope for the future, social security will not be around and having a house and family is hard to envision".
I fear that discussion about apocalypse references reinforce pessimism, without constant referral to what society is doing right, or what we have within our means to correct current threats. We can do more than vote against a certain Presidential ticket. We can vote for down ballot candidates. And volunteer on the campaign trail.
I really struggle to understand with all the existential threats we face on this planet, that we would risk the health of everything so that Microsoft Word can write our term papers for us. Tech will not save us, it never has and it never will. If you are interested in why nuclear power is just a scam that takes our money and gives it away to energy corporations, on top of not solving our energy problems and leaving all future generations with VERY toxic waste that we have NO IDEA what to do with, then this book is a great place to start - https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3013-nuclear-is-not-the-solution?srsltid=AfmBOooQ2JKpWjjdShV8moTxOSj4b0ldcO8pE4rXFoMo8k1WvSidZw_5
Chernobyl as an unintended safe zone for wildlife to flourish may become a parable. The Savannah River Site in SC (nuclear weapons materials processing) was said to have similar effects by a contract geologist who worked there (in 1990's), especially given the early production years of very casual waste disposal practices.
I worry about American lack of discrimination about 'nukes' and attempts to update the industry. For a decade or more South Carolina leadership was enamored with MOX, a projected way to convert plutonium fractional waste from Savannah River Site into power reactor fuels. The current interest in that seems minimal or nonexistent, but that shiny object diverted attention from seeking more effective waste handling. Likewise, I am unconvinced that recent 'small modular' nuclear power proposals bring anything new to the table other than more dispersion to serve demand. On the (maybe) positive side, the research into fusion for power seems a much better opportunity. Yet that technology at best is quite a ways off--and we are heading into unplanned climate territory as I write.
After Three Mile Island, nukes in the US were headed to oblivion. At one time there were ten nukes planned for Ohio. Only two were built. Now nukes have become respectable again. They were not dissed in the Green New Deal, and there was even an article in Jacobin defending them. There are some explanations. The generation that put feet on the ground in the anti-nuke movement of the 1970s is dying off. Desperation is increasing among many who are concerned about climate change and they will grab at any straw for hope. But I don't think these factors even come close to telling the story. The story has to dive into the often behind closed door world that is the world of high end non-profits, industry public relations, and the priorities of deep pocketed philanthropies and think tanks. Taken altogether they have the ability to raise issues and policies from the dead. Someone out there with more resources than I have needs to write a book on the topic. One place they should start is with the iconoclastic environmentalists at the Breakthrough Institute who have been beating the drum for nuclear power for decades. The story has to follow the money, follow the key influencers, and draw some maps of power brokering that is behind this development. That will be a book I will stand in line for.
Its about time our government put a big pause on AI. Given the environmental costs- none of which are good, our current global warming crisis, AND the all the threats surrounding the control of all the negatives- the many things that can and will go wrong- not to mention the crisis it will create in our economy. It seems like something that seriously needs to be worked out on so many levels that we seriously are not at all prepared to deal with this- especially now! How about we take things a bit slower and work methodically rather than taking plunges and trying to deal with remediation. I'm thinking we should first solve our constitutional crisis while working on saving our planet. Lets stop creating more hazardous waste that we haven't figured out what to do with!
We don't have the public infrastructure in place to supply the electric cars we have sold and are continuing to manufacture. We have yet to come up with a solution to fuel heavy tractor trailers and construction equipment. States want dealers to stop selling new diesel trucks by next year and don't have an efficient or affordable alternative.
Big ideas and no follow through will only result more chaos. Lets stop the stupidity and take one small step at a time. Big ideas are worthless without properly following up on the projects.
You know it really is funny when you take some time to think about it because people are so worried about nuclear power plants and yet they just accept 40,000 automotive deaths a year in this country and they don’t even think for a moment about banning cars. The way people assess risk is very strange. Nobody thinks about the numerous premature deaths from pollution in marginalized communities down wind from coal fired power plants. We just don’t add all this stuff up in our heads very well.
I think that's key — concepts like risk, scale, etcetera are really hard to grasp and are hard to boil down to simple questions of numeracy vs. innumeracy. There's a lot of emotional stuff here too; the threats we worry the most about aren't necessarily the ones we need to think about at all, whereas the ones that are truly existential we tend to kick down the road.
When I was an elected official, I routinely campaigned on the future (leaving a better world for the next generation and my children). I drew upon the past, but when one talks about urgency of present crises, drawing upon the past loses some meaning. "We are still around, so what do have to worry about' is one response from GenZ, or in the other direction, "we have no hope for the future, social security will not be around and having a house and family is hard to envision".
I fear that discussion about apocalypse references reinforce pessimism, without constant referral to what society is doing right, or what we have within our means to correct current threats. We can do more than vote against a certain Presidential ticket. We can vote for down ballot candidates. And volunteer on the campaign trail.
Thank-you for providing context.
I really struggle to understand with all the existential threats we face on this planet, that we would risk the health of everything so that Microsoft Word can write our term papers for us. Tech will not save us, it never has and it never will. If you are interested in why nuclear power is just a scam that takes our money and gives it away to energy corporations, on top of not solving our energy problems and leaving all future generations with VERY toxic waste that we have NO IDEA what to do with, then this book is a great place to start - https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3013-nuclear-is-not-the-solution?srsltid=AfmBOooQ2JKpWjjdShV8moTxOSj4b0ldcO8pE4rXFoMo8k1WvSidZw_5
Chernobyl as an unintended safe zone for wildlife to flourish may become a parable. The Savannah River Site in SC (nuclear weapons materials processing) was said to have similar effects by a contract geologist who worked there (in 1990's), especially given the early production years of very casual waste disposal practices.
I worry about American lack of discrimination about 'nukes' and attempts to update the industry. For a decade or more South Carolina leadership was enamored with MOX, a projected way to convert plutonium fractional waste from Savannah River Site into power reactor fuels. The current interest in that seems minimal or nonexistent, but that shiny object diverted attention from seeking more effective waste handling. Likewise, I am unconvinced that recent 'small modular' nuclear power proposals bring anything new to the table other than more dispersion to serve demand. On the (maybe) positive side, the research into fusion for power seems a much better opportunity. Yet that technology at best is quite a ways off--and we are heading into unplanned climate territory as I write.
After Three Mile Island, nukes in the US were headed to oblivion. At one time there were ten nukes planned for Ohio. Only two were built. Now nukes have become respectable again. They were not dissed in the Green New Deal, and there was even an article in Jacobin defending them. There are some explanations. The generation that put feet on the ground in the anti-nuke movement of the 1970s is dying off. Desperation is increasing among many who are concerned about climate change and they will grab at any straw for hope. But I don't think these factors even come close to telling the story. The story has to dive into the often behind closed door world that is the world of high end non-profits, industry public relations, and the priorities of deep pocketed philanthropies and think tanks. Taken altogether they have the ability to raise issues and policies from the dead. Someone out there with more resources than I have needs to write a book on the topic. One place they should start is with the iconoclastic environmentalists at the Breakthrough Institute who have been beating the drum for nuclear power for decades. The story has to follow the money, follow the key influencers, and draw some maps of power brokering that is behind this development. That will be a book I will stand in line for.
Touché… like yesterday… let’s put our heads back in our nuclear waste caverns.
I remember it well.