Tech Won't Save Us

As tech companies race to build hyperscale data centers, communities are coming together to push back. Saul Levin joins Paris Marx to discuss how rising opposition to data center construction is uniting people across party lines and prompting broader conversations around what infrastructure people want instead. 
Saul Levin is community organizer and host of The Hum.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.
Also mentioned in this episode:
You can now pre-order Paris’s new book, Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech's Data Empires.
Saul wrote a piece with Astra Taylor about the bigger picture of data center organizing.
The Seminole Nation in Oklahoma passed a ban on AI data centers on their lands.
Sam Altman and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer posing together at the site of a new data center drew wide criticism.
Support the show

The Canadian government is going all in on AI, without understanding the real effects of the technology. Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood joins Paris Marx to discuss Mark Carney’s push for large-scale investment in AI, despite being unable to describe how adoption will work, how Canadians will benefit, and what policies will be implemented to mitigate growing risks and harms. 
Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood senior researcher and political economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Hadrian wrote about the Canadian government’s new AI strategy.
Paris wrote about the AI strategy and the new social media policy.
The Canada Revenue Agency chatbot is expensive and giving incorrect information.
The Canadian Immigration Department is using AI that hallucinates when reviewing applications.
AI tools intended for Ontario doctors are providing incorrect information.
Here’s an overview of the federal AI strategy, “AI for All.”
Support the show

The Uber model is finally coming for healthcare. Katie J. Wells joins Paris Marx to discuss how much the healthcare gig apps resemble Uber’s rollout, why they aren’t being properly regulated, and the effects they’re having on staff and patients alike.
Katie J. Wells is a Senior Fellow at AI Now Institute and a co-author of Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Paris asked listeners to fill out a survey. It will only take a few minutes!
Here is Katie’s most recent work examining the gig model for healthcare.
Ontario’s auditor general found serious flaws in the transcripts of AI scribes.
Support the show

SpaceX is finally going public, and it’s bad news for anyone who wants to rein in Elon Musk. Sean O’Kane joins Paris Marx to discuss the flimsy sci-fi ideas Elon Musk is using to justify the company’s massive valuation and the way corporate governance rules are shifting to give him even more power.
Sean O’Kane is a senior reporter at TechCrunch.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Paris asked listeners to fill out a survey. It will only take a few minutes!
Sean wrote about the SpaceX IPO and the worrying ways it will increase Elon Musk’s power.
After recording, Sean also wrote about how SpaceX is getting a major boost from the Trump administration.
SpaceX has made a deal with Anthropic.
Musk has a poor environmental regulation record.
OpenAI bought a tech podcast.
Support the show

Generative AI is making its way into many parts of society, and schools are no different. Tom Mullaney joins Paris Marx to discuss how generative AI has been adopted in K-12 education and the many concerns it presents for students and teachers.
Tom Mullaney is a high school social studies teacher in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Here is the New Yorker article on AI in schools.
For those looking for a refresher on Weizenbaum and ELIZA.
Here is the paper “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big”.
For those curious about the Canvas breach.
Students have been booing pro-AI speeches and AI presence in graduation ceremonies.
xAI is facing a lawsuit for polluting Black neighborhoods.
Support the show