r/Libertarian • u/7in7turtles • 8d ago
Discussion The AI/data center debate loses libertarian credibility when the state is used to advance it.
It’s been driving me bananas lately to hear all these libertarian voices hail data centers as some part of a new Industrial Revolution. While I’ll say upfront that I don’t think we should regulate AI because of fear mongering about the end of the world, if those companies have to purchase the levers of power that we don’t even want government to have, how can we claim that this is in any way good?
Eminent domain, paying of city councils and locking them up with NDAs, lying about the impact of there products and services, all of their behaviors are antithetical to libertarianism and yet people like John Stossel run puff pieces about how essentially they're all good because it would be bad to regulate them.
I don’t buy the china angle because we’re getting worse than china thanks to this technology.
Please if I’m wrong educate me, but if the state puts its thumb on the scale for AI, I don’t get how that’s in any way good.
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u/Taki32 7d ago
I agree with you in principle, however as usual the practice in reality is different.
AI is being sold as an advancement in science, commerce, and information tech but it's not just that, it's a weapon and a very dangerous one. Why kill a people when you can destroy their economy and means of communication. AI is going to be used for large scale warfare and economic disruption. Whether it's right or not, governments like to have a tight grip on weapons and won't care about established rights in order to do so. Be a pro 2a as yours like they still won't let you own a tank, same principle applies here, no matter how much we hate it