Computational Tyranny (opens in new tab)

The problem is a function of alienation I think. We're alienating culpability and accountability through technological and legal indirection, and it's that engine of asymmetry through which to extract value and engage in a transaction that our economy optimizes for. The problem of accountability is there will be a massive screaming of bloody murder if you try doing anything to claw the mechanisms/guardrails of accountability transmission back. Too many legal fictions decoupling too much accountability for too many decisions resulting in a situation where callous decisions are made without a modicum of care.

It does remind me of the debate around other external costs that is borne by the individual with little leverage to change anything. Emissions, pollution, waste are cheap to produce and not priced in the overall cost of products.

A million times this. I wonder how to make them accountable though.

Good post, articulates what I've been feeling in regards to rising complexity but stagnating benefits. One point the author gets wrong though, is that it's not a critique of capitalism, but a critique of monopolies. All of the examples they provided are monopolies or oligopolies - utility company, government, big corporations. The government can get away with wasting lives precisely because they have no competition. You cannot subscribe to another tax authority, and therefore give feedback to your current one that it is misbehaving. In a free market, computational tyrrany is still a problem, but it's the company's problem, not the user's, because the user can switch to another provider of state services, electricity, and reduce revenue to the misbehaving company or state.

The only way to resolve these issues is to put a cost on misbehavior, and the only way to put a cost on misbehavior is a free market.

The EU knows somewhat, which is why I am way more sympathetic with anything it tries to do, much unlike the techbro "ACCELERATE" movement.

Death to $WHATEVER_UNFAIR_TYRANY, which the biggest today just so happens to be Mastercard/Visa, at least in the sphere that affects me.