‘Extinction is on the table’: Jaron Lanier warns of tech’s existential threat to humanity - The Guardian

Jaron Lanier, the eminent American machine scientist, composer and artist, is nary alien to skepticism astir societal media, but his existent interpretations of its effects are becoming darker and his warnings much trenchant.

Lanier, a dreadlocked free-thinker credited with coining the word “virtual reality”, has agelong sounded dire sirens astir the dangers of a satellite over-reliant connected the net and astatine the expanding mercy of tech lords, their societal media platforms and those who enactment for them.

Nothing astir the past fewer weeks – of chaos connected Twitter and the ever-increasing dispersed of conspiracy mentation and disinformation – has changed that. The existent authorities of the tech manufacture is ripe with information and poses an existential threat, helium believes.

“People past by passing accusation betwixt themselves,” Lanier, 61, told the Guardian successful an interview. “We’re putting that cardinal prime of humanness done a process with an inherent inducement for corruption and degradation. The cardinal play of this play is whether we tin fig retired however to past decently with those elements oregon not.”

The exaggerated absorption connected Twitter successful caller months aft its chaotic instrumentality implicit by billionaire Elon Musk follows longstanding concerns astir Facebook and others, including authorities actors. He mentions “psychological operatives” moving for Vladimir Putin and the Chinese communist authorities apparatus. All of them are filtering oregon promoting accusation for their ain gains. In short, the web is not a escaped marketplace of accusation arsenic primitively envisioned. It is simply a gamed strategy being rampantly abused.

“There are each benignant of intermediaries. They mightiness beryllium the radical who ain a platform, precocious Elon Musk, oregon 3rd parties who are bully astatine sneaking successful influence. The interveners tin beryllium varied. Some are official, immoderate are revealed, others hidden. Some are competent, immoderate incompetent. Some are random, similar an algorithm that idiosyncratic made but didn’t understand.”

The stakes are high. “I inactive deliberation extinction is connected the array arsenic an outcome. Not necessarily, but it’s a cardinal drama. If we tin coordinate ourselves to lick the clime situation it’s a cardinal motion we haven’t go wholly dysfunctional,” helium said

Throughout his career, Lanier’s absorption has lain extracurricular the ones and zeros of machine code. He helped make modern ideologies – Web 2.0 futurism, integer utopianism, among them. But Lanier is nary longer a instrumentality of however the integer utopia is coming along. He’s called it “digital Maoism” and accused tech giants similar Facebook and Google of being “spy agencies”. And he’s been brutally wide astir what helium sees arsenic the consequences of over-dependence connected societal media: successful essence, you’ll get some fashionable feline videos and civilian war.

In his 2010 book, You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto , helium warned of the dangers of web ideologies and the “hive mind” that could pb to “social catastrophe”. But present his bid of thought has launched off, if anything, successful a much worrisome direction.

In his latest reasoning Lanier draws attraction to Harvard scientist BF Skinner’s theories of “operant conditioning”, oregon behaviour controlled by its consequences, different known arsenic behaviour modification, a word coined successful 1937.

In Skinner’s studies, laboratory rats were subjected alternately to electrical shocks and treats to execute a alteration successful response. On societal media, helium says, we acquisition thing similar. “I judge I spot that radical who are taxable to operant conditioning online, meaning subjected to pleasant oregon unpleasant experiences.”

Approval, disapproval oregon being ignored, specified techniques tin beryllium manipulated online arsenic portion of what is euphemistically called “engagement” and the instauration of addictive patterns for individuals and past – by proxy – yet full societies.

“As we participate an epoch wherever thing means thing due to the fact that it’s each conscionable astir power, intermediation and influence, it’s precise hard to enactment ideas retired and precise casual for them to travel crossed not arsenic intended,” helium said.

In a caller New York Times opinion piece, Lanier wrote that he’d “observed a change, oregon truly a narrowing, successful the nationalist behaviour of radical who usage Twitter oregon different societal media a lot”. He singled retired radical who person precocious been successful the news: Elon Musk, Donald Trump and Ye (Kanye West).

Once chiseled personalities, helium wrote, each had “veered into being bratty small boys” successful their nationalist behaviour – a effect possibly of being “Twitter poisoned”, a much modern word for operant conditioning.

“I person noticed that each these radical converge connected a akin property benignant that wasn’t contiguous before. If that has thing to bash with societal media addictions, oregon Twitter poisoning, what is that?” helium wrote.

Coming from idiosyncratic who has implicit the years described himself arsenic “worried optimist”, his interpretations travel with weight.

“People person been beauteous atrocious passim history, truthful it’s hard to marque a causal nexus to our existent dysfunction. The astir profound occupation present is, tin we beryllium sane capable to pass and coordinate for our survival”.

“That’s much important than whether we go assholes oregon not, due to the fact that assholes tin perchance survive. Peoples with an inability to pass successful a straight-forward mode cannot,” helium adds.

“Even radical who are consenting to cooperate whitethorn not beryllium capable to due to the fact that they’re not operating successful an situation wherever they’re heard successful the ways they imagine. Right present we person nary assurance that what we accidental volition beryllium heard correctly,” helium says.

That similar goes for Lanier’s ain thoughts too. Though, helium fervently hopes helium is proved wrong.

“If you marque a dismal prediction and it comes true, it means you’ve failed to person utility. I don’t assertion to person each the answers but I bash judge that our endurance depends connected modifying the net – to make a operation that is friendlier to quality cognition and to the ways radical truly are.”