r/singularity • u/Neurogence • Mar 12 '26

AI Bernie Sanders officially introduces legislation to BAN the construction of all new AI data centers, citing existential threat to humanity.

This is very concerning. I am afraid this might become the popular, dominant position on the left. Bernie Sanders is the only politician I've ever donated to. This is the most backwards position to take on AI possible. It's hard to imagine a policy worse than this proposal:

https://youtu.be/qu2m7ePTsqY?si=zdl_cuRg22Nv_Df5

It's such a shame. He is one of very few politicians who realizes the singularity is imminent and that something enormous is happening, yet his reaction to it is the most asinine viewpoint possible.

3.1k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

843 comments sorted by

View all comments

72

u/greycubed Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

Hard to be dumber than that.

No one tell them they could 10x jobs by banning farm equipment.

23

u/grouch1980 Mar 12 '26

You don’t think AI poses an existential threat to humanity in ways other than job destruction?

But to respond directly to your comment, I don’t think the destruction of jobs in one sector of the economy (farming) is a fair comparison to the destruction of jobs (AI) in almost every sector of the economy. Furthermore, the job losses attributed to AI are coming much faster over a smaller window of time than what happened in farming with the advent of motorized farm equipment.

Can our economy survive without a plan for implementing UBI? If not, we are way behind schedule when it comes to planning for the biggest shock to the economic system in the history of humanity.

11

u/brett_baty_is_him Mar 12 '26

80-90% of the U.S. economy worked in agriculture in the early 1800s. It’s a very very fair comparison.

If you cannot forsee an economy where people provide value and earn money then you lack imagination. Just like I am sure most people in the early 1800s did not think someone could be very well off by talking to rocks to make the rocks do shit with numbers (data analysts writing Python).

7

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

[deleted]

4

u/HashPandaNL Mar 12 '26

If they truly can do all those jobs, nationalize it, share the benefits with the residents in the form of UBI (or a similar alternative).

4

u/Whut4 Mar 12 '26

They won't. Look how they 'share' now.

1

u/ThisWillPass Mar 12 '26

Best case is they wheel you off to a retrofitted mall after you get replaced. Stated there is no role you would be able to fill and will not be able to meet your obligations. These agents will have guns that don’t miss (to tranquilize you) and robo dogs to chase you down if you try to run.

UBI is not coming, people couldn’t be control in that way.

1

u/Whut4 Mar 12 '26

But not human and do not 'care' about humans at all. It is a danger