Ariana Dongus

Essay for UMBAU, magazine of University of Arts and Design Karlsruhe

„Technology is still presented in the mainstream imaginary as standing outside of social relations, as the big Other. It is interesting to see how technology can be redirected in many ways depending on the time and context: When we need it to be invisible, it is just a procedure, a mere tool, but when it is meant to mobilize attention and emotion, it is quickly anthropomorphized in the form of, say, feminized servant robots or apocalyptic Terminators.”

In this text, Ariana Dongus critiques the doomsday sentiment generated by recent popular discourses on AI. Drawing on the Future of Life Institute’s open letter calling for a pause on AI labs, she draws attention to the socio-political implications of such claims signed by tech „bigwigs“ like Elon Musk.