Thinking On Paper Empire of AI: Power, Control, and Consequence │ Karen Hao, Book Review (Part 2)
Empire of AI explores what happens when algorithms become the ruling class. From data farms to global labor networks, the story of AI is no longer about intelligence itself but about the empires built to scale it.
The systems we call “autonomous” are sustained by unseen human hands. Millions of workers labeling data, moderating content, and maintaining the illusion of automation.
Behind every model is a hierarchy of code, capital, and compliance.At the top sit the new emperors of technology, CEOs and policymakers navigating a system that no single person can command or fully comprehend. And one man sits at the top of the empire: Sam Altman.
In part two of our Empire of AI book summary, we examine how AI’s power consolidates, how human judgment gets abstracted into metrics, and what accountability looks like when decisions are made at machine scale.
What begins as innovation becomes empire.
The question now is: who governs the boss?
Please enjoy the show.
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🕰️ TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Trailer
(02:00) Introduction to Empire of AI & Karen Hao
(03:41)Shifting power dynamics in Silicon Valley
(03:59) Karen Hao’s warnings in Empire of AI
(04:56) Humanity V the relentless race for scale
(06:32) The environmental impact of AI systems
(07:38) Stochastic parrots: Silencing Critics
(09:48) Sam Altman Loves A Military Quote
(10:53) What Cost Humanity?
(15:14) The global race for AI advancement
(18:32) The hidden labor behind ChatGPT
(25:07) The ethical dilemma at the heart of AI development