Computer Says Maybe

Alix Dunn
  • 5.0 (14)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Technology is changing fast. And it's changing our world even faster. Host Alix Dunn interviews visionaries, researchers, and technologists working in the public interest to help you keep up. Step outside the hype and explore the possibilities, problems, and politics of technology. We publish weekly.

  1. Computer Says Kill: Collapsing the Chain w/ with Matt Mahmoudi

    1D AGO

    Computer Says Kill: Collapsing the Chain w/ with Matt Mahmoudi

    How does a country wage war using LLMs? Oh and WHY? More like this: AI in Gaza: Live from Mexico City In Computer Says Kill Ep #1 we are joined by Matt Mahmoudi. The US Department of War is leaning heavily on AI technologies to attack Iran. Matt explains how the use of LLMs to identify ‘legitimate targets’ is collapsing the chain of decisions that lead to lethal force. We discuss what this means at a time when fascist governments are eager to demonstrate their strength on the global stage. From Israel field-testing AI weapons in Gaza, to the US using AI tools in horrifying new ways to perpetuate ever worse war crimes, we start to connect the dots between the technology, the people powering it, and the human costs. Further reading & resources: Automated Apartheid — Amnesty International 2023How Israel uses facial-recognition systems in Gaza and beyond — Matt’s interview in The Guardian about the reportCrimes of Dispassion: Autonomous Weapons and the Moral Challenge of Systematic Killing — Elke Schwartz, 2023Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted? — By Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz, The New York Times, April 2026“Big Brother” in Jerusalem’s Old City — Who Profits Research CentreWhat is Israel's secretive cyber warfare unit 8200? — Reuters 2024Genocide as Colonial Erasure — Francesca Albanese, October 2024Buy Resisting Borders and Technologies of Violence, edited by Mizue Aizeki, Matt Mahmoudi, and Coline SchupferBuy The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World by Anthony Loewesnsteincan we add Francesa Albanese reportMatt’s research (Automated Apartheid, and anything else on warfare to link to?)Palestine Laboratory**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!** Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

    49 min
  2. Computer Says Kill: New Series Trailer

    1D AGO

    Computer Says Kill: New Series Trailer

    This is Computer Says Kill, a new series on series focused on tracing the people, decisions, and systems that have recklessly ushered AI into the business of war. What we’re watching play out— from AI military chatbots to tech companies in bed with authoritarian governments— isn’t a new story. It's the latest chapter in a much older relationship between technology, military power, institutional systems, and capital— one that has always moved faster than accountability, and always found a way to make the next thing feel inevitable. We're not convinced this is inevitable. But we think it’s time to understand to understand exactly how we got here. The first episode in the series launches Friday, April 17th. Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

    1 min
  3. Fantasy Factory: Luddite Horror w/ Brian Merchant

    APR 10

    Fantasy Factory: Luddite Horror w/ Brian Merchant

    What better way than movies to help us process the world. Brian Merchant shares how our collective anxieties turn into cultural products. More like this: One Filmmaker’s Fight Against AI w/ Valerie Veatch Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine, joins us this week to discuss his favorite unsettling, horror and thriller picks that bring our fears about AI and tech to life on screen. Alix and Brian talk Terminator, Pluribus, and how even comedies about technology have a spectre of violence that helps us understand everything form labour exploitation to alienation to machine autonomy. All of this contributes to the role that film plays in helping us make sense of societal and technological change. Click here to vote for us for the Webbys! Further reading & resources: The best books, film, and TV about AI in 2025 — Brian Merchant, Dec 2025The Complete Guide to Luddite Horror Films — Brain Merchant, Oct 2024The Chair Company (TV show)Pluribus (TV show)The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas PynchonExhalation and *The Lifecycle of Software Objects* by Ted ChiangThe Most Aggressively Anti-AI Film of the ChatGPT Era — Brian Merchant on ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’, March 2026The Comeback (TV series staring Lisa Kudrow)Mrs Davis (TV series about a nun on a mission to destroy AI)Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

    35 min
  4. How to Scare a Fascist w/ Naomi Klein

    APR 3

    How to Scare a Fascist w/ Naomi Klein

    Naomi Klein has spent her career studying political movements — and she thinks progressives are doing better than we think. Because the fascists are scared. More like this: To be Seen and not Watched w/ Tawana Petty In her forthcoming book, End Times Fascism, Klein and co-author Astra Taylor take stock of the history of fascism and the collective power that has been brought to bear to fight it. This time is different. Tech titans accumulated tremendous power and wealth, and are firmly on the side of the fascists. And our information environment is flooded and disoriented. While that might portend a dark outcome, Klein has a different diagnosis. Fascist powers seem angrier and more aggressive than ever; but Klein thinks this is a sign that we are winning. Further reading & resources: The Rise of End Times Fascism by Astra Taylor & Naomi KleinOn Tyranny by Timothy SnyderMore about Naomi & Astra’s upcoming book End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World.In 2026, We Are Friction-Maxxing by Kathryn Jezzer-Morton, The Cut, Jan 2026Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis VaroufakisWalter Benjamin’s Concept of HistoryUN expert says world has given Israel ‘licence to torture Palestinians’ — Al Jazeera quoting Francesca Albanese, March 2026How The 'Free Helicopter Rides' Meme Went Viral — The Progressive Magazine, September 2023Safe or Just Surveilled?: Tawana Petty on the Fight Against Facial Recognition Surveillance — Logic(s) Magazine 2020**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!** Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

    45 min
  5. Fantasy Factory: One Filmmaker's Fight Against AI w/ Valerie Veatch

    MAR 27

    Fantasy Factory: One Filmmaker's Fight Against AI w/ Valerie Veatch

    The way artists make art matters. And some artists, like filmmaker Valerie Veatch, are exploring what role AI has in the craft of filmmaking. More like this: Fantasy Factory: AI Supervillains w/ Anat Shenker-Osorio Valerie Veatch is the director of Ghost in the Machine, a new film that explores the depths of the Silicon Valley fantasies around AI, and platforms all the people that challenge these fantasies. With this film, Valerie is working to change the culture of AI: it is not inevitable, in many way it’s not even possible, and therefore we have a right to refuse to engage with it. Valerie discusses why she made the film, what she learned, and what impact she’s hoping it will have. Ghost in the Machine will be available for rentals and screenings beginning March 27, via Kinema! Pre-sales are now available at open now (go to Kinema and slelect the "Watch" tab). Proceeds will go towards the production of the film. The film will also be available on PBS in fall 2026. Further reading & resources: Trailer for Ghost in the MachineResisting AI by Dan McQuillanOn the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots by Emily Bender et alThe TESCREAL Bundle by Timnit Gebru and Emile P. TorresKinema — where you can watch Ghost in the Machine**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!** Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

    50 min
  6. Short: Grand Theft Grammarly w/ Julia Angwin & Peter Romer-Friedman

    MAR 25

    Short: Grand Theft Grammarly w/ Julia Angwin & Peter Romer-Friedman

    Grammarly launched a feature that no one wanted and now they’re getting sued. They used the names of writers, journalists, and editors to pretend that AI versions of those people were making writing suggestions via the application. None of these ‘expert reviewers’ had any idea. Grammarly pissed off the wrong journalist. And now Julia Angwin is suing them. More like this: The Toxic Relationship Between AI & Journalism w/ Nic Dawes In this episode Julia (and her lawyer Peter) discuss what happened with Grammarly, why she’s suing, and how neither of them can believe that this tool made it through their legal team and into the public realm. Please email info@prf-law.com for more info, or if you would like your name to be searched in the list of experts that Grammarly used for their tool. Further reading & resources: Julia’s op ed in the New York TimesPre-order Julia’s new book On Courage: How to be a Dissident in an Age of FearCheck out The Markup, founded by JuliaGrammarly pulls AI author-impersonation tool after backlash — BBC 12th March 2026Shishir Mehrotra’s (CEO of Grammarly) apology on LinkedInGrammarly Is Offering ‘Expert’ AI Reviews From Your Favorite Authors—Dead or Alive — Wired 4th March 2026Grammarly is using our identities without permission — The Verge 6th March 2026Grammarly turned me into an AI editor against my will and I hate it — Casey Newton, Platformer 9th March 2026Details of the case, from PRF Law, Julia’s representative firm**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!** Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

    25 min
  7. Fantasy Factory: AI Supervillains w/ Anat Shenker-Osorio

    MAR 20

    Fantasy Factory: AI Supervillains w/ Anat Shenker-Osorio

    The left has a messaging problem. Silicon Valley elites are literally making up impossible fantasies and their narratives are winning out. Why? More like this: The Stories we Tell Ourselves About AI This week in our second episode leading to the AI Doc, we are joined by Anat Shenker-Osorio, a progressive campaign strategist who hosts the Words To Win By podcast. Anat tries to focus on the positives: if you don’t think people should join the AI party, throw a better party. She gives us some quick lessons on messaging: how to paint tech CEOs as actual villains, how to flip the script and convince AI men that actually, it’s okay to die — and how to avoid what Anat refers to as ‘Mar-a-lago face’ Further reading & resources: Listen to Anat’s podcast Words to Win byPre-Suasion and Influence by Robert CialdiniMessaging This Moment — a critical handbook for progressive comms **Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!** Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

    52 min
  8. Fantasy Factory: AGI is Scientifically Impossible w/ Adam Becker

    MAR 13

    Fantasy Factory: AGI is Scientifically Impossible w/ Adam Becker

    Next time someone tells you that we can build data centres in space, show them this podcast episode — because it is literally impossible. More like this: AI Safety’s Spiral of Urgency w/ Shazeda Ahmed Or better yet, recommend that they buy More Everything Forever, Adam Becker’s latest book exploring all the fantasies and promises of coming out of Silicon Valley. This episode is the first in our Fantasy Factory series, where we explore how and why tech evangelists manufacture consent about AI’s boom, doom, and inevitability. The futures that AI men want for us — e.g. a disembodied immortal life in AI utopia — are all scientifically impossible. Even the worse mass-extinction event on Earth would be more pleasant than trying to live on Mars. Yes, space is very cold, but it doesn’t mean we should put data centres out there! Adam explains where these narratives are coming from, who they benefit, and why they exist outside the laws of physics. Further reading & resources: More about Adam BeckerBuy More Everything ForeverFor All Mankind (TV series)Our video on the Iran war**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!** Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

    51 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

Technology is changing fast. And it's changing our world even faster. Host Alix Dunn interviews visionaries, researchers, and technologists working in the public interest to help you keep up. Step outside the hype and explore the possibilities, problems, and politics of technology. We publish weekly.

Information

  • Creator
    Alix Dunn
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    115
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024
  • Show Website
    Computer Says Maybe

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