tech
March 21, 2026
The gen AI Kool-Aid tastes like eugenics
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TL;DR
- Valerie Veatch's documentary "Ghost in the Machine" explores the historical connections of generative AI to eugenics.
- The term "artificial intelligence" was coined by John McCarthy in 1956 as a marketing term to secure funding.
- The film traces AI's origins back to Francis Galton, a proponent of eugenics who believed in improving the human race through selective breeding.
- Galton's work on multidimensional modeling influenced Karl Pearson, who developed statistical tools like logistic regression, a component of modern machine learning.
- Veatch experienced racist and sexist outputs from OpenAI's Sora model, including whitewashing and sexualized imagery, which the company largely dismissed.
- The documentary features AI researchers, historians, and critical theorists who argue that AI has been profoundly influenced by discriminatory science.
- Veatch intentionally avoided direct interviews with AI company heads like Sam Altman, viewing it as potentially compromising and propagandistic.
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