人工智能的强烈反对可能会变得丑陋

Steve Bannon and Bernie Sanders don’t agree on much. But both think that AI is a disaster for the working class. The Vermont senator recently wrote that “AI oligarchs do not want to just replace specific jobs. They want to replace workers.” Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, made similar comments last week: Silicon Valley does “not care about the little guy,” he said in a podcast episode titled “Stopping the AI Oligarchs From Stealing Humanity.” This emergent “Bernie-to-Bannon” coalition points to the growing bipartisan anxiety over AI. In polls, the United States ranks among the countries most concerned about AI. America is both the world’s foremost developer of AI and its chief hater. Recently, Maine passed the country’s first statewide data-center moratorium (though the bill was vetoed by the governor). Nationally, a record number of proposed projects were canceled in the first quarter of this year following local pushback. Meanwhile, in extreme cases, concerns about AI appear to be tipping into violence. In April, someone shot 13 rounds at an Indianapolis councilman’s house and left a note under his doormat: “NO DATA CENTERS,” it read. Days later, a man threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s home before heading to OpenAI’s headquarters, where he allegedly threatened to burn down the building and kill anyone inside. (The man has since pleaded not guilty to several charges, including attempted murder.) Social-media posts applauding the attack racked up thousands of likes: “I hope that Molotov is okay!” wrote one commenter. All of this may be only the start. The AI industry has spent recent years warning of a jobless future. So far, narratives about labor displacement have been largely speculation. While a smattering of tech executives have attributed job cuts to AI, many analysts have accused these CEOs of “AI-washing” —essentially, using the technology as a scapegoat for roles they would have eliminated regardless. If anything, AI has mostly been a financial boon for the country, buoying the stock ma rket and driving growth. But that could all change, of course. Imagine the uproar if jobs across the economy truly start disappearing en masse. Even absent any uptick in AI-induced layoffs, the anti-AI sentiment is likely to keep growing. With the midterms approaching, political operatives are tapping into Americans’ fears over the technology. Blue Rose Research, a progressive polling firm, has found that messaging that addresses the AI threat in “bold, populist terms” is particularly effective at increasing support for Democrats. (If corporations are left unchecked, they will “fire everyone, keep all the profits, and leave you with nothing,” reads the transcript of one sample video the group tested.) Politicians on the right have made similar statements. “I have no doubt that these companies are going to get filthy rich, but is it going to be good for children?” Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said earlier this year. “Is it going to be go