Book Review: "Supremacy" by Parmy Olson

I am really embarrassed to say that I have had this book since the paperback came out (that was over a year ago) and again, it got lost in the bottom of piles and then went into a drawer and that's where it stayed until recently. I was literally just rumagging around and found it and it was still in great condition. It's probably a book that is more timely than ever though because it deals with something that we ourselves have had to deal with in our changing world: artificial intelligence. But it's not just about the AI itself, it's about the figures all racing to get to the top of the game. It's about theses pretty awful people, these horrid billionaires who are a ruthlessly evil group of narcissists - each believing that they are the greatest beings in the universe.

The first question the author answers is regarding the development of AI and the growth of these bad actors like Sam Altman. The battle for dominance between companies is an obvious huge theme and yet, the bad actors in question are not just not paying attention to the risks it poses to humanity, they are actively encouraging these bad things to happen so that they themselves can generate a bigger income. Speed and money in the market overtakes the caution that was required when it came to putting out these tools and thus, we work our way into things like AI psychosis and the suicide crisis that AI is dealing with at the moment as well. It all feels like we're just now continuing the story the author of this book was telling.

The next thing the author addresses is the absolute power required for these machines and the damage they are doing. The whole fact that there are levels of ungodly computational power required connects right on to the end of the fact that there are a few ultra-wealthy companies who are able to do it. Someone needs to fund this gigantic models and massive data centres which basically drain water and destroy the environment. The public awareness of AI changed overnight when ChatGPT launched and yet, there were still massive companies that wanted to throw everything at the wall. Google was willing to get there at any cost and so, we can only imagine the devastation to the environment which was managed by a company that basically has unlimited funds.

Concerns about misinformation and surveillance also litter the book. The fact that AI could become more difficult to control is a huge question today as well. Whilst companies seem to be scared about falling behind, punching AI into absolutely everything and everywhere they can - the average person seems to be quite frightened of what this means for our own security and the intellectual development of children (which was on the decline before AI but let's face it, children can't even read anymore and it's not even by their own doing). The author pays this weird amount of attention to the boardroom conversations of the companies involved and shows us that power is so concentrated that usually there isn't anyone in the know who gets a say. Instead, we are left with the bad actors who will put everyone else's reality on the brink so that they can make more money.

And that's the thing, this is why I refer to them as bad actors: it's because they are constantly trying to convince the planet that they are doing good things for us. Elon Musk tried his hand at that and it backfired spectacularly. I always take this rule as something to believe in: if a billionaire has to try to desperately convince you that they are trying to change the world for the better, usually it is because they know damn well they're doing the exact opposite. When you're monthly income could make a dent in world hunger but you choose to build environmental disasters in the countries that need help in order to drain what little resources are left there - you aren't doing anything good at all and you couldn't convince anyone that you are. That's who these people are.

All in all, this book was pretty eye-opening because even though we are thinking of AI in terms of what it means for job security, the market etc. the billionaires are trying to find new ways to make us use it, to make us need it, to make us rely on it.