Even AI Chatbots Hate Us: The Rise of the New Luddites, with Brian Merchant
04/02/25 • 69 min
Who knew that the breakthrough moment of AI sentience would come from interacting with an annoying neo-Luddite?
After failing to raise a single dollar for PCI’s newest initiative — the $350 billion Transdisciplinary Institute for Phalse Prophet Studies and Education (TIPPSE) — Jason, Rob, and Asher devise the only profitable pitch for raising capital: using AI technology to cure the loneliness that technology itself causes. The only problem is that AI chatbots won’t talk to us, as evidenced by Asher’s experience of being blocked by an AI “friend.” So Asher turns to the flesh-and-blood author of Blood in the Machine, Brian Merchant, to discuss the rise of the neo-Luddite movement — the only people who might be able to stand your humble Crazy Town hosts.
Brian Merchant is a writer, reporter, and author. He is currently reporter in residence at the AI Now Institute and publishes his own newsletter, Blood in the Machine, which has the same title as his 2023 book. Previously, Brian was the technology columnist at the Los Angeles Times and a senior editor at Motherboard.
Originally recorded on 1/3/25 (warm-up conversation) and 3/24/25 (interview with Brian).
Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- Press Release announcing closure of TIPPSE
- Funding for Friend
- Screenshot of Asher’s conversation with Friend’s bot, Faith
- Lyrics to “Not Going to Mars” by Pyrrhon
- Brian Merchant’s Substack, Blood in the Machine
- Brian’s book, Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech
- New York Times article on the Luddite Club: “‘Luddite’ Teens Don’t Want Your Likes”
- Crazy Town Episode 72: Sucking CO2 and Electrifying Everything: The Climate Movement’s Desperate Dependence on Tenuous Technologies
- Brian’s essay in The Atlantic, “The New Luddites Aren’t Backing Down”
Who knew that the breakthrough moment of AI sentience would come from interacting with an annoying neo-Luddite?
After failing to raise a single dollar for PCI’s newest initiative — the $350 billion Transdisciplinary Institute for Phalse Prophet Studies and Education (TIPPSE) — Jason, Rob, and Asher devise the only profitable pitch for raising capital: using AI technology to cure the loneliness that technology itself causes. The only problem is that AI chatbots won’t talk to us, as evidenced by Asher’s experience of being blocked by an AI “friend.” So Asher turns to the flesh-and-blood author of Blood in the Machine, Brian Merchant, to discuss the rise of the neo-Luddite movement — the only people who might be able to stand your humble Crazy Town hosts.
Brian Merchant is a writer, reporter, and author. He is currently reporter in residence at the AI Now Institute and publishes his own newsletter, Blood in the Machine, which has the same title as his 2023 book. Previously, Brian was the technology columnist at the Los Angeles Times and a senior editor at Motherboard.
Originally recorded on 1/3/25 (warm-up conversation) and 3/24/25 (interview with Brian).
Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- Press Release announcing closure of TIPPSE
- Funding for Friend
- Screenshot of Asher’s conversation with Friend’s bot, Faith
- Lyrics to “Not Going to Mars” by Pyrrhon
- Brian Merchant’s Substack, Blood in the Machine
- Brian’s book, Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech
- New York Times article on the Luddite Club: “‘Luddite’ Teens Don’t Want Your Likes”
- Crazy Town Episode 72: Sucking CO2 and Electrifying Everything: The Climate Movement’s Desperate Dependence on Tenuous Technologies
- Brian’s essay in The Atlantic, “The New Luddites Aren’t Backing Down”
Previous Episode
A Temporary Techno Stunt: Tom Murphy on Falling out of Love with Modernity
Recovering technology booster Tom Murphy visits Crazy Town to discuss his journey from shooting lasers at the moon, to trying to "solve" the energy predicament, to falling out of love with modernity itself. Asher, Jason, Rob, and Tom discuss the roots and short-lived nature of modernity, which has not only shaped the world we inhabit but conquered our very imaginations. They reminisce about aspects of hi-tech society that have already fallen away in its hubristic march towards mastering (or should we say undermining?) nature. They close by contemplating what it means to detach from humanocentric delusions of grandeur and make peace with living with one foot in and one foot out of the modern world. Originally recorded on 3/4/25.
Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.
Sources/Links/Notes:
- "Acceptance and Agency at the End of Modernity," a live online Resilience event on April 1, 2025 featuring Vanessa Andreotti and Dougald Hine
- Tom Murphy's Do the Math
Crazy Town - Even AI Chatbots Hate Us: The Rise of the New Luddites, with Brian Merchant
Transcript
Rob Dietz
Hi, I'm Rob Dietz.
Jason Bradford
I'm Jason Bradford.
Asher Miller
And I'm Asher Miller. Welcome to Crazy Town where not even AI friendbots can stand to interact with Luddite losers like us.
Melody Allison
Hi, this is producer Melody Allison. Thanks for joining us in Crazy Town where Jason, Rob, and Asher tackle crazy-making topics like climate change, overshoot, runaway capitalism, and why we're all deluding ourselves. Here's a quick warning: sometimes this
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