Computer Says Maybe

Next time someone tells you that we can build data centres in space, show them this podcast episode — because it is literally impossible.
More like this: AI Safety’s Spiral of Urgency w/ Shazeda Ahmed

Or better yet, recommend that they buy More Everything Forever, Adam Becker’s latest book exploring all the fantasies and promises of coming out of Silicon Valley. This episode is the first in our Fantasy Factory series, where we explore how and why tech evangelists manufacture consent about AI’s boom, doom, and inevitability.
The futures that AI men want for us — e.g. a disembodied immortal life in AI utopia — are all scientifically impossible. Even the worse mass-extinction event on Earth would be more pleasant than trying to live on Mars. Yes, space is very cold, but it doesn’t mean we should put data centres out there! Adam explains where these narratives are coming from, who they benefit, and why they exist outside the laws of physics.
Further reading & resources:
More about Adam Becker
Buy More Everything Forever
For All Mankind (TV series)
Our video on the Iran war
**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!**
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

How does an oppressed workforce organise against Big Tech employers with even bigger lobbying muscle?
More like this: Worker Power & Big Tech Boss Men w/ David Seligman
This week’s episode is a recording of our livestream from Monday: a litigator, regulator, and activist share their work and perspectives on coordinating bottom-up fights against Big Tech power, worker suppression, and unfair consumer practices. Speakers are:
David Seligman, Executive Director of Towards Justice and Democratic candidate for Colorado Attorney General
Alvaro Bedoya, former Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission and founding director of the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown University Law Center
Elliott “El’Bo” Awatt, Driver Organizer with Colorado Independent Drivers United
Further reading & resources:
Alvaro Bedoya on how he became a populist
Drivers for Lyft and Uber are building a national movement — Colorado Newsline 2024
Uber Claims Transparency Law Complicates Rides and Takes Away Driver Perks – but Does It? — Westword, February 2025
An AMA on Reddit with David Seligman
**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!**

Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

This is the last of our series AI Lingo Bingo Series! We dig into four more co-opted concepts with four more all stars.
More like this: Last week’s episode with Meredith Whittaker, Audrey Tang, Abeba Birhane, and Usha Ramanathan

This week we’ll hear from Naomi Klein, who will discuss how ‘AI for Climate’ is very much not a thing; Nikhil Dey who shares all the ways powerful actors cosplay at having ‘accountability’; Timnit Gebru who explains that ‘frugal AI’ is something being made novel by the hype & scale of big tech business models; and finally Chinasa Okolo who will help us better understand the complexities of ‘multilateralism’.
Further reading & resources:
More on Nikhil Dey — social activist and a founding member of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)
More on Timnit Gebru — founder of the DAIR institute
More on Naomi Klein — author and professor of climate justice at the University of British Columbia
More on Chinasa Okolo — founder of Technecultura, a research institute focussing on AI governance for global majority countries
The Guardian’s profile on Nikhil — June 2013
More about MKSS involvement in the Campaign for the Right to Information in India
The Screen New Deal — by Naomi Klein, The Intercept, 2020
More on the cancellation of the Northern Gateway Pipeline
Ghana NLP
Watch this week’s interviews in full on Youtube
RSVP to **The People's Policy: Holding Big Tech Accountable [Livestreamed Conversation + Q&A]** — happening on March 2nd 5:30pm MT
**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!**
Post Production by Sarah Myles | Pre Production by Georgia Iacovou

Anthropic’s Claude was used in the military operation to kidnap president Maduro earlier this year. Why? Unclear. Was this legal? Absolutely not.
More like this: AI In Gaza: Live from Mexico City

Surprise, surprise: the DoD feels that they should able to use AI models however they want, as long as its lawful — but… was this lawful? They are now threatening to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk. What does this all mean?
For this short, Alix was joined by Amos Toh, senior counsel at the Brennan Centre for Justice, to help us understand why the US defence department and an AI company are arguing about how best to us AI models for dehumanising and unjust military purposes.
Further reading & resources:
Pentagon's use of Claude during Maduro raid sparks Anthropic feud — Axios, Feb 13
Anthropic on shaky ground with Pentagon amid feud after Maduro raid — The Hill, Feb 19
US used Anthropic's Claude during the Venezuela raid, WSJ reports — Reuters, Feb 16
Pentagon Used Anthropic’s Claude in Maduro Venezuela Raid — WSJ, Feb 15
Amos’s Bluesky thread sharing more thoughts on the story
Computer Says Maybe Shorts bring in experts to give their ten-minute take on recent news. If there’s ever a news story you think we should bring in expertise on for the show, please email [email protected]
Post Production by Sarah Myles | Pre Production by Georgia Iacovou

It’s our second week of playing AI lingo bingo. The summit in India is underway and the air is thick with vague terms that fail to describe the big problems.
More like this: Lingo Bingo at the India AI Summit w/ Karen Hao, Joan Kinyua, Chenai Chair, and Rafael Grohmann

With us this week to discuss co-opted terms is Meredith Whittaker on how ‘open source’ cannot meaninfully be applied to AI systems; Audrey Tang on ‘democratisation’, something which is both helped and harmed by AI; Abeba Birhane on everyone’s favourite slogan ‘AI for Good’; and Usha Ramanathan to discuss ‘AI and development’ in the context of the Aadhaar project in India.
Further reading & resources:
More on Usha Ramanathan — legal researcher and human rights activist
More on Abeba Birhane — principle investigator at the AI Accountability Lab at Trinity College Dublin
More on Meredith Whittaker — President of Signal
More on Audrey Tang — Taiwan’s first Digital Minister
Distributional AGI Safety — by Nenad Tomašev et al
Watch this week’s interviews in full on Youtube
**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!**
Pre Production by Georgia Iacovou | Post Production by Sarah Myles