AI CEOs have a hilarious PR problem...

I have been a bit obsessed with the business news of late - as anyone watching in Instagram Stories can sadly attest, but there are two pieces of news that I cannot get out of my head. The burning of warehouses and the threats on OpenAI's CEO. These activities are related.

For years now, AI CEOs especially have been hyping their product - not just as a money make but as a literal threat. Some have taken the "this is such a dangerous, monstrous creature it could destroy us all," approach. Others have been more vague with their sinister prognostications.

But what is more striking to me is that apart from the science fiction-like threats, what these guys have actually been promising (and is materialising, at least to some degree) is that these systems will cost people their jobs. Which in a system that requires us basically to pay for the privilege of being alive...has implications.

In other words, our captains of industry have spent a couple of years threatening us. So when is it "rational" for individuals to behave accordingly?

Join me for an unscripted rant about how AI CEO's have created a unique PR problem for themselves: people believe them. I'm going to try to thread a few needles here about labour movements, history, the uncomfortable realities of the role of different kinds of political violence , and why I need to believe in democracy. The alternatives are dangerous.