Voting dogs, harmless socialists, and the limits of AI

1. “Make Peace with the Communist Lunatics” – NYT

by Evan Milenko, writer

Last week, the Democratic Socialists of America released their new platform under the slogan “Workers Deserve More!” So, dear downtrodden worker, let me introduce you to a few of their humble policy proposals: abolishing ICE and the Senate, defunding the police and the Department of War, and allowing prisoners and noncitizens to vote.

Thirty-five(!!!) DSA-endorsed candidates won their primaries this cycle, all while the organization gloats about “transforming society” and “drafting a new constitution.” OK. I’m no expert, but defunding the Department of War while rewriting America’s founding principles sounds like a blatant coup.

Unsurprisingly, on Sunday, the New York Times published an op-ed arguing that Democrats shouldn’t cull the DSA from their ranks, as doing so would be to engage in silly “feuds over abstractions” like the “merits of capitalism and socialism.” In that case, DSA members, may I introduce you to the “abstraction” of a catapult flinging you across the border?

2. We can’t literally automate everything

by Blake Dodge, writer

The AI investor Sarah Guo is… bearish on AI. The way Guo — who predicted the AI boom and made a killing — sees it, the big AI labs used to be satisfied with leasing out their models to other companies, so that those other companies could use the models to build cool stuff (apps, businesses, etc). But now they’re trying to do it all. They want to build everything, even healthcare and legal businesses.

Guo is betting they can’t, favoring instead the niche startups in the trenches (healthcare AI companies, lawyer AI companies), the ones winning the trust (and revenue) of the actual industries in question. And I mean… healthcare is hard! Regulations are hard! Unions are hard! People are hard! Very little of literally everything you do, at the end of the day, reduces down to the best technology, or the prediction of words on a page. Unless you code. Lol.

3. Hey, MAGA — get your paws off our democracy

by Riley Nork, writer

Republicans continue to freak out because one little dog voted in California, and really, they should just stop barking about it. That’s according to the SF Chronicle, which just published a helpful fact-check about the canine voting scandal, a popular talking point for Republicans like Steve Hilton. These Republicans point to the incident, in which an Orange County woman successfully registered her furry friend as a voter in the state, as evidence for why California needs stricter voting laws (crazy, I know).

But per The Chronicle, since the woman was ultimately caught and prosecuted, “the system worked as intended” and further fraud precautions like Voter ID are unnecessary. Phew! Except this woman was only caught… AFTER HER DOG’S VOTE WAS LITERALLY COUNTED IN AN ELECTION. Don’t worry, Californians — 50 Nithya Raman votes may mysteriously emerge from the local Humane Society, but rest assured the perpetrators will be caught eventually (after electing your next mayor).

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