READING AND RESOURCES

The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want, by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna, is both accessible and technical, encouraging us to look past all the promises to better understand how AI is built, who profits from it, and who gets hurt.

Two of the sharpest takeaways for the social sector are:

  • a warning not to let the convenience of AI agents tempt us to “fob off anyone who might be dependent on the social safety net onto automated facsimiles of the services that society owes them.”

  • a reality check against FOMO, reminding nonprofit and movement leaders that “text synthesis machines can’t fill holes in the social fabric. We need people, political will, and resources.”

The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy, by Gil Durán, is still on my library request list (hold 39 of 42!), but attending the August 24 Marguerite Casey Foundation Book Club panel with the author in dialog with Jacinta González (MediaJustice) and Dr. Safiya Noble (UCLA) was a harrowing confirmation that all my tin hat, paranoid sh*t talk with friends about the depravity of the Big Tech bros is true—and then some! If you think Trumpism is thriving because of Red State conservatives, think again. It’s being bankrolled by California’s Silicon Valley. Tune into Democracy Now! for a 30-minute (un)appetizer for this nauseating story.

Being released as I type this is Timnit Gebru’s Deep Unlearning: The Rise of AI and the Radicalization of a Tech Idealist.

Shameless Plug

For the past 20 years, I’ve been a killer app, running in the background as a consultant specializing in research and writing to support strategy and learning. I learned the craft at a small firm, went in(ter)dependent in 2018, and today partner as a subcontractor to other consultants and firms.

I’m looking for opportunities to contribute my time and talents!

Not only am I immediately available for research, writing, and consulting on a contract basis, I’m also on the lookout for traditional employment—ideally in an administrative and/or program support role for a nonprofit or foundation in Santa Cruz County or remote/hybrid in the greater San Francisco or Monterey Bay Areas. Leads appreciated.

Protection Spell

And for anyone of a witchy persuasion, I recommend Michelle C. Johnson’s newsletter, which offers inspiration and a window to her writing and healing work. Her timely message for fall is to “protect our energy to stay steady,” and she offers a new book and supportive ritual practices for doing so.

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