Welcome to A.I. turning the net into an infernal machine bent on erasing meaning, culture and History – and sowing deep intellectual confusion. Exactly like Techno-Feudalism wants it.
A.I. is rapidly spreading like an uncontrollable contagion across the entire internet landscape. This outcome was foreseeable given that Big Tech’s approach to A.I. follows a techno-feudalism model that prioritizes profit and control over minds and societies, rather than fostering knowledge-sharing and improving conditions for an informed public.
In numerous ways, A.I. stands opposed to civitas. Even before the surge in A.I., segments of the internet had already become toxic zones filled with hazards. Controlled by Big Tech, A.I. had already revealed itself as largely fraudulent. Now, it functions as a weapon.
Multiple YouTube channels harness A.I. to imitate the faces and voices of independent political commentators, including myself and others such as John Mearsheimer, Larry Johnson, Richard Wolff, Glenn Diesen, Yanis Varoufakis, and economist Paulo Nogueira Batista.
It’s no coincidence that all the targeted individuals are independent geopolitical and geoeconomic analysts, most of whom know each other personally and frequently appear on similar podcasts.
For my part, there are counterfeit channels in English, Portuguese, and even Spanish — a language I rarely use in podcasts, making the voice a clear forgery. English versions roughly mimic my voice, while Portuguese versions feature an accent I do not possess. Several of these channels attract a large viewer base, which predominantly consists of bots.
From our perspective as those targeted, these channels are entirely fabricated. To stress it once more: all these channels are fake. Some may have been created by “fans,” likely motivated by monetization opportunities.
Alternatively, this entire deception could be part of a far more disturbing plan aimed at discrediting and destabilizing the reputation of multiple independent thinkers among their substantial audiences.
It’s no surprise that many viewers have become confused, frequently asking, “Is this really you, or A.I.?” Although numerous fake channels have been reported, YouTube has taken no effective action, allowing algorithms to continue promoting them widely.
The most practical way to counter this fraud involves filing complaints with YouTube. In reality, however, this proves largely ineffective. YouTube’s management appears more focused on occasionally removing channels that offer critical insight and analysis.
Decoding the fraud
Quantum Bird, an expert in physics and High Performance Computing formerly affiliated with CERN in Geneva, has unraveled the nature of this scam:
“The proliferation of agents of deep learning digital neural networks capable of emulating writing, voice and video of human beings was inevitable, and their impact on scientific research, production of knowledge and art in general has a negative potential that has not been yet fully analyzed.”
He further explains: “While writers and academics are noting the emergence of texts attributed to them that imitate their style and viewpoints to a certain degree, the latest trend is the rise of entire YouTube channels and other major Big Tech platforms featuring videos of popular content creators, communicating in their native or other languages. Often, the quality of these synthetic productions is high enough to fool average viewers at first glance. Within the political analysis community, the consequences are clear: revisionist history, reputation damage, and distortion of news and commentary.”
Quantum Bird outlines the critical technical factor behind this:
“Synthesizing this type of content demands vast collections of sample data and enormous computing power, far beyond what individual users can access. The widespread popularity of YouTube victims supplies the former, while the latter indicates involvement by large-scale state or corporate entities, since advanced deep learning models must be trained on massive volumes, in terms of “disk space,” of audio and video files. Revenue generated by the content does not cover these costs. Ironically, it is the ease of access and extensive online exposure of voice and video that enable these attacks.”
There it is. A.I. has transformed the internet into a hellish engine designed to wipe out meaning, culture, and History—while fostering profound intellectual disarray. This is precisely what Techno-Feudalism intends.
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