Are you worried about the rapid rise of AI and its implications for the real world, especially for our liberties and our democracy?

In this special episode of ‘Unshocked,’ Naomi is joined by tech analyst, journalist, and author Paris Marx to break down the dangers behind Silicon Valley’s push for an AI-centered world, including for the environment, education, and democracy.

In this fascinating and revealing conversation, the two explain how this push for AI-adoption plays into tech billionaire Elon Musk’s operations at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where leaders are pursuing an “AI-first” strategy.

“All those federal workers getting sent home with zero notice? All those researchers who lost their federal funding? All those aid workers? To the extent that there is a plan, it seems to be to replace them with chatbots,” Naomi says to Paris.

“I think you can see very clearly…this increasing relationship between Silicon Valley and say the Heritage Foundation and these really right-wing groups that have a desire to remake the American government, to really gut a lot of the social spending and those aspects of the U.S. government,” Paris says to Naomi.

The two also discuss how the Trump administration has reportedly been using AI to assist with the deportation of pro-Palestine students, and how Silicon Valley is increasingly looking towards the US military-industrial complex as an opportunity for profit.

“They’re moving more and more into openly being an arm of the defense or security state,” Naomi says to Paris.

“There’s a clear desire to reframe how the United States sees national security in this moment, and to make sure that it is linked up to what Silicon Valley is doing,” Paris says to Naomi.

Watch the full conversation above to hear Naomi and Paris discuss the environmental impacts of AI, how its adoption in the government could impact people who rely on government benefits, and why it’s undermining democracy.

Free subscribers can watch a 12-minute preview. To watch the full conversation, consider upgrading to a paid subscription.

To hear more from Paris Marx, check out his Substack page, “Disconnect.”

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‘Unshocked’ is a monthly conversation with acclaimed author and activist Naomi Klein, where she and Mehdi pull viewers ‘out of shock’ through analysis, facts, and history.