The AI Raj

Faculty Associate Allison Stanger argues that technology firms (particularly AI companies) are demonstrating an accelerated replication of past colonization. She draws a parallel between the British East India Company's gradual colonization of the subcontinent and DOGE's rapid integration into American public life. "The transformation before us is likely to proceed through three variants—algorithmic capture of information systems, weaponization of critical infrastructure, and cryptocurrency’s escape from public accountability. Absent immediate intervention, democratic societies risk permanent subordination to unelected digital sovereigns."

Read more from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, where Stanger offers a stark admonition: that digital sovereigns' attempts at remaking the world may threaten democracy itself.