The past few months have seen a series of bold proclamations from the most powerful people in tech.
In September, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta had developed “the most advanced glasses the world had ever seen.” That same day, Open AI CEO Sam Altman predicted we could have artificial super intelligence within a couple of years. Elon Musk has said he’ll land rockets on Mars by 2026.
We appear to be living through the kinds of technological leaps we used to only dream about. But whose dreams were those, exactly?
In her latest book, Imagination: A Manifesto, Ruha Benjamin argues that our collective imagination has been monopolized by the Zuckerbergs and Musks of the world. But, she says, it doesn’t need to be that way.
Mentioned:
“Imagination: A Manifesto,” by Ruha Benjamin
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), directed by Questlove
“The Black Woman: An Anthology,” by Toni Cade Bambara
“The New Artificial Intelligentsia,” by Ruha Benjamin
“Race After Technology,” by Ruha Benjamin
Breonna's Garden, with Ju'Niyah Palmer
“Viral Justice,” by Ruha Benjamin
The Parable Series, by Octavia Butler
Further Reading:
“AI could make health care fairer—by helping us believe what patients say,” by Karen Hao
“How an Attempt at Correcting Bias in Tech Goes Wrong,” by Sidney Fussell
“Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines,’” by Joy Buolamwini
“The TESCREAL bundle: Eugenics and the promise of utopia through artificial general intelligence,” by Timnit Gebru and Émile P. Torres
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.