The Sundance documentary Ghost in the machine boldly states that the pursuit of artificial intelligence, and Silicon Valley itself, is rooted in eugenics.
Director Valerie Veatch argues that the rise of techno-fascism from Elon Musk and Peter Thiel is a feature, not a bug. This may seem hyperbolic, but Ghost in the machinewhich is structured around interviews with philosophers, AI researchers, historians and computer scientists, leaves little room for doubt.
If you’ve been following the meteoric rise of AI, or Silicon Valley in general, Veatch’s methodical deconstruction of the technology doesn’t really reveal anything new. The film begins with the total failure of Microsoft’s Tay chatbotwho didn’t waste time becoming a Hitler-loving white supremacist. He retreads the environmental impacts of AI data centersas well as how tech companies have depended on low-wage African workers and elsewhere to improve their algorithms.
But even I was surprised to learn that the impact of eugenics in technology dates back to Karl Pearson, the mathematician who pioneered the field of statistics and who also spent his life trying to quantify the differences between races. (Guess who he thought was superior.) His legacy was continued by William Shockleyco-creator of the transistor, an avowed white supremacist who spent his later years espousing (now debunked) theories around IQ and racial differences.
One of the first robot toys. (Valérie Veatch for “Ghost in the Machine”)
As an engineering professor at Stanford, Shockley fostered a culture prioritizing white men over women and minorities, which ultimately shaped the way Silicon Valley looks today. His line of thinking may have had an influence on John McCarthy, the Stanford researcher who coined the term “artificial intelligence” in 1955,
With roots like these, Elon Musk – known for sectarian beak, fostering an apparently racist work environment at Tesla And throw a few Nazi salutes from time to time – looks less like an anomaly and more like part of a pattern. Ghost in the machine asks a simple question: how can we trust men like these (and they are almost always men who look like Musk) with our future?
Through his numerous interviews, which include AI researcher Dr Emily Bender, historian Becca Lewis and media theorist Douglass Rushkoff, Ghost in the machine describes the rise of AI as a fascist project to demean humans and establish the techno-elite as our de facto rulers. Given how much our lives are already dominated by gadgets and social media from companies pioneering addictive commitment to user safety, it’s easy to imagine history repeating itself with AI.
Ghost in the machine leaves no room for considering the potential benefits linked to AI, which could lead supporters of this technology to consider it a success. But we’re currently at the peak of the AI hype cycle, after big tech has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the technology and spent years shoveling it down our throats without proving why it’s actually useful to many people. The AI should be able to withstand some criticism.
Ghost in the Machine is available on the site Sundance Film Festival Website and Streaming Apps from today until the end of Sunday February 1st.
