Like Giving a Loaded, Prompted Gun to a Cybernetic Child: Limits and Game Changers in Today’s Hyperreal Geopolitics p.3-34

Abstract

It is an obvious fact that the arrival of artificial neural networks, machine learning models or—following humanity’s tendency to exaggerate its own creations—Artificial Intelligence, has changed certain aspects of the world. From the quasi-magical creation of what, for some, is art and, for others, imposture; to financial calculations operating in non-human timeframes (HFT), and the socio-political changes triggered by new technologies (from blockchain to fake news), these developments have forced us to rethink our relationship with these cutting-edge technologies. Their portability and global reach have reshaped the geopolitical landscape, allowing misinformation-promoting influencers to reach the European Parliament or even a president to entangle an entire state in a crypto pyramid scheme. What considerations should we take into account when facing a hyperreal bull in a china shop? First, we must understand how communication has changed, both in its form and content. Information has become increasingly fragmented, transmitted in intervals that transform individual cognition. Paradoxically, the content of information is increasingly impoverished: hoaxes, contextless images, conspiracy theories, alarmism, fatalism, and sensationalism. That said, how should we engage with new technologies? The chaotic nature of algorithmically processed information may push us toward an oracular relationship with Artificial Intelligence, as Yuval Harari suggests. The laws governing geopolitics have also changed, reaching the landscapes described by theory-fiction or the cyberpunk philosophy of CCRU, where hyperstition opened the portal to a reality-fictional world. What cannot be ignored is the material reality of all this—the fact that these technologies have a direct impact on ecosystems within the context of a catastrophic ecological and resource crisis. Moreover, these technologies have once again been built upon the plundering of intellectual property and the general intellect of workers without their consent. Which should be the new episteme that should rule the relationship with these new technologies?