You may not have noticed, but the U.S. stock market – which you’re likely invested in – is dominated by big tech companies.
In fact, the markets wouldn’t be doing so well – given lackluster employment growth, tariffs and inflation – if not for something called artificial intelligence. Have you heard of it?
The AI hype is so intense that one tech company owner increased his net worth by $90 billion a couple weeks ago to become (don’t tell Elon Musk) the second richest man in the world. Larry Ellison, a sprite 81-year-old, chose wisely to invest in data centres that support AI and is now worth almost $350 billion. Musk need not worry – he’s worth almost $500 billion, still on track to become the first trillionaire.
I know, it’s ridiculous. Tech-related companies now make up nearly half of the net worth of America’s largest companies. Eight of the 10 richest men in the world are tech founders. Clearly, they know how to increase their wealth and that of their shareholders. But... when it comes to their views on the future, they’re a little – how can I put this nicely – uh, cuckoo?
Sure, it’s not all of them. I give a free pass to Bill Gates who’s invested millions in practical solutions to help the world’s poorest. But I was surprised, after reading Adam Becker’s book, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity, how out of touch so many of the richest men on Earth have become.
You likely know a little about Musk. Even before he became Donald Trump's toady, he came across as eccentric and strange. He uses the hallucinogen ketamine regularly and enjoys jumping up and down in front of large crowds. He also believes that the time will soon come for humans to leave this Earth and go to – where else? – Mars.
Some of the theories described in Becker’s book are so ridiculous that I nearly stopped reading. There's the belief, for example, that we will one day have the technology to “consume” the universe for energy. Why should a science journalist who has a PhD in astrophysics have to refute this? Even to disprove why Mars – with its toxic atmosphere and soil – is inherently inhabitable and unfathomably costly to colonize seems unnecessary and obvious. But when some of the richest and influential people in the world says it's inevitable, the time and effort must be made to disprove it. Because, like it or not, these titans of tech have a following.
Occupying Mars is only the beginning. For some, it’s about colonizing (not just consuming) the entire universe. Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos – whom I thought to be somewhat rationale – foresees trillions of humans one day living in space, floating from one uninhabitable planet to another, I suppose. This from the guy who used to sell books!
How will this seemingly impossible dream become possible? Through AI of course. As I’m quickly learning, anything and everything is possible with AI.
I have no doubt AI will solve all kinds of problems, and create all kinds of new ones, but to most sane, science-minded people, colonizing space on a mass scale is magical thinking. It’s also harmful because, at some point, the Earth becomes disposable.
Why worry about ecological disasters or human suffering today when technology will fix everything tomorrow? In their view, we shouldn’t hold back while veering toward the cliff of potential disaster but instead go faster. Unfettered growth, for these technocrats, is the key to a brighter future. In fact, it’s necessary, as AI data centres consume so much energy that they will match the energy use of India by 2030.
Prominent tech investor Marc Andreesen goes so far to say that slowing down progress on AI is “a form of murder.” He believes earth is “dramatically underpopulated” and that it could easily support over 50 billion people. The answer is to use more energy than ever before. A techno-optimist, if ever there was one, Andreesen says that “since human wants and needs are infinite, economic demand is infinite, and job growth can continue forever.”
Growth at all costs is the new mantra. More people, more energy, more waste. If we can’t figure out how to use that waste for more energy, AI will!
In their minds, there are no limits. And I haven’t even talked about their plans to live forever.
Let’s leave that for the future.
