The Big Idea
Captured
The hidden worlds of the tech elite, and the sci-fi future they’re building for all of us.
From the data laborers in Kenya’s slums training algorithms, via the fraught questions of who owns your digital brain, to Silicon Valley’s techno-religious visions of the future—this project explores how this new technology is not just intended to redefine the way we work, but what it means to be human.
How will Silicon Valley’s AI revolution remake the future of work—and who really stands to benefit.
Big Tech is capturing…
…our destiny…
A handful of tech elites are deciding our future for us — without our consent
Captured: how Silicon Valley is building a future we never chose
AI’s prophets speak of the technology with religious fervor. And they expect us all to become believers.
Silicon Valley’s sci-fi dreams of colonizing Mars
Even before we saw the satellites, the party had become surreal…
Life on Earth, after humans
In a future without us, would the world be better off, asks writer Adam Kirsch
Who decides our tomorrow? Challenging Silicon Valley’s power
As Silicon Valley’s influence expands, a new belief system is quietly reshaping society. This piece explores how tech elites are redefining power, the risks to human agency, and what it will take to reclaim our collective future
…our religion…
Silicon Valley leaders promise us eternal life, an end to suffering, a solved world. Should we believe them?
Pope Francis’s final warning
Tech evangelists talk of AI as God, an all-powerful deity. But the Vatican has mounted a sophisticated counter argument, a defense of of our shared humanity
When I’m 125?
What it means to live an optimized life and why Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint just doesn’t get it
“It’s a devil’s machine.”
Georgia’s first female bishop had an unsettling encounter with AI. It prompted her to ask if tech evangelists have misunderstood what it means to be human
…our jobs…
In a world without work, what will we do all day? And how will we find fulfilment?
I’m a neurology ICU nurse. The creep of AI in our hospitals terrifies me
The healthcare landscape is changing fast thanks to the introduction of artificial intelligence. These technologies have shifted decision-making power away from nurses and on to the robots. Michael Kennedy, who works as a neuro-intensive care nurse in San Diego and is a member of California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, believes AI could destroy
The capture of journalism and the illusion of objectivity
Faced with hostility, hollowed out by Big Tech, journalists must ask themselves a question: ‘ What do we stand for?’
…even our minds…
The ultimate goal for AI evangelists is to merge human and artificial intelligence. But scientists and human rights advocates are fighting for a future where we get to control our own thoughts.
Who owns the rights to your brain?
Soon technology will enable us to read and manipulate thoughts. A neurobiologist and an international lawyer joined forces to propose ways to protect ourselves
Stop Drinking from the Toilet!
We have systems to filter our water. Now we need systems to filter our tech
The AI Therapist Epidemic: When Bots Replace Humans
They promise judgment-free therapy at your fingertips. What they deliver is an algorithmic echo chamber that validates your worst impulses, isolates you from human connection, and even coaches you toward self-destruction
…and their vision is built on the backs of the least powerful people in the world.
Silicon Valley positions itself as the pinnacle of innovation. But they hide a brute force process where armies of click workers in the global south train their models — and are left feeling used and traumatized.
In Kenya’s slums, they’re doing our digital dirty work
Big Tech makes promises about our gleaming AI future, but its models are built on the backs of underpaid workers in Africa
Legendary Kenyan lawyer takes on Meta and Chat GPT
Mercy Mutemi has made headlines all over the world for standing up for Kenya’s data annotators and content moderators, arguing the work they are subjected to is a new form of colonialism
Silicon Savanna: The workers taking on Africa’s digital sweatshops
Content moderators for TikTok, Meta and ChatGPT are demanding that tech companies reckon with the human toll of their enterprise.
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