Éric Sadin is a philosopher specializing in the criticism of digital technology and its world. His numerous works, including The Siliconization of the World (2016), The Age of the Tyrant Individual (2020) or Spectral Life (2023), address the consequences of the advent of new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (IA), on the organization of our societies.
Reporterre — Billionaire Elon Musk was appointed by Donald Trump to the ministry of “ government efficiency “. What does this reveal ?
Eric Sadin — Elon Musk embodies the myth of the visionary entrepreneur who has grasped the truth of the times. His face is reminiscent of that of John Galt, the hero of The Strikethe famous novel by Ayn Rand published in 1957, which has since become the major reference of the libertarian movement. John Galt is an engineer, characterized by his inventive power, who decides to organize a revolt of large entrepreneurs against the inertia of the State. Together, they threaten to cease their activity, asserting that the country will then end up bloodless. This is exactly what we are dealing with with Elon Musk: the image of a genius now seeming essential to the good economic health of the nation. Donald Trump recently said about him: « He’s a super genius, we need to protect them, we don’t have that many. »
What is the ideology behind this figure of “ the visionary entrepreneur » ?
This ideology, at work for around thirty years in Silicon Valley, is based on the postulate that God has not completed creation. The world is full of faults and humans being fundamentally imperfect, they are the primary vector of them. However, a miracle is now taking place: the so-called technologies of « the exponential »which are destined to redeem all our inadequacies. This is where artificial intelligence gives substance to this project, by carrying out an ever-expanding number of tasks infinitely faster, supposedly more reliably and at lower cost.
Human beings are then called upon to be evacuated from the matters that concern them, to be reduced to nothing more than a continually commercial target, assailed by automated and hyperpersonalized offers. Do we see radical antihumanism at work? ? The one seeking to establish a hygienist society, free from all defects, and an integral commodification of life.
How does this ideology advocated by Elon Musk and Silicon Valley resonate with Donald Trump? ?
Trump and Musk come together in a kind of radical and uninhibited iconoclasm. Their common point is the refusal of intermediaries, of central authorities, supposed to be factors of inertia. This is why Musk quickly became a fan of cryptocurrencies, aiming to get rid of all the links regulating value. On Trump’s side, the intermediaries are the federal state, Washington, the institutions, the so-called « Deep State »and the elites he intends to overthrow, in favor of a more direct link with the Americans. It is also the fantasy of perfect transparency.
« A freezing world, emptied of its bodies »
We’re talking about possible conflicts of interest, Elon Musk’s public contracts, his stock market price which has risen since Trump’s election… That’s not the most important thing. What matters is that they find in this alliance the certainty that their vision of the world will apply without any limits.
Concretely, what does Elon Musk intend to do in this position of “ government efficiency » ?
I would give another name to this position: that of « automation of public affairs ». Today, there are artificial intelligence systems capable of managing a large number of administrative and public files, to the point where we no longer need as many humans in these areas. Elon Musk risks going with the axe. And this will rely on a main lever: automation throughIA. Systems will replace humans.
The paradox is that by wanting to eradicate bureaucracy, we end up with effects of hyper bureaucracy, similar to Kafkaesque stories, where no one knows where the interlocutors are. We imagine that theIA will make things more fluid, in reality it’s the opposite ! It will be the reign of « algorithmic technocracy ». A freezing world, emptied of its bodies.
In an interview given to Monde in 2020, you declared: “ It is likely that a new kind of fascism will emerge in the post-coronavirus years. » Have we come to this ?
Dictators intend to consolidate their power by muzzling and controlling populations. This is not about that. It’s not « big brother » or the « social credit » Chinese. On the other hand, what is coming is the banishment of humans from matters that concern them. This is what I called in The Silicolonization of the world the « digital soft-totalitarianism »namely that algorithms prevail over humans in the organization of society. It’s the end of politics.
Moreover, by encouraging the automation of human affairs, the political world is sawing off the branch on which it is sitting. ! The United States is a harbinger of a situation that will ultimately become global.
Where are we in France? ?
This automation has been in force for around ten years in France. The fact that the Minister of Public Service Guillaume Kasbarian welcomed the appointment of Elon Musk is not insignificant. The project led by Emmanuel Macron is exactly the same as that of Musk and Trump, but in the French way, that is to say a notch below. He tweeted to rejoice at the establishment of an office in Paris of the giant ofIA generative, OpenAI.
Macron is a follower of technopositivism, which has inertia as its enemy, and must lead towards a world designed like a perfectly regulated clock. He also shames intermediary bodies, which supposedly prevent the speed and effectiveness of action…
« You just have to open the hood of your Tesla to see that it’s total BS »
This ideology is already at work in most liberal democracies, with the distinction that it is not yet radical. With Trump and Musk, this project will take shape in a completely uninhibited way.
What effects will this have on the environment ?
Digital technologies, even more artificial intelligence and IA generative, lead to gigantic energy consequences. The need for electricity is such that Amazon and other Big Tech intend to power their servers with small nuclear reactors. There is a form of troubling cognitive dissonance on the one hand, with the increasingly present ecological question and, on the other, the ever-extensive use of digital systems by billions of individuals.
Is Elon Musk also in this cognitive dissonance? ?
Yes, like all digital gurus. Take his supposedly climate-friendly electric car. You just have to open the hood of your Tesla to see that it’s total BS ! In reality, its vehicles are the antithesis of ecology. They will encourage transport, and battery recycling is not yet possible. Ecological pragmatism would simply consist of not designing a car or a rocket, but of working on other forms of organization – truly virtuous and ecological – in common.
« Let’s interview employees in Amazon warehouses »
A few years ago, the big bosses of Silicon Valley said they were concerned about the climate issue, and instead supported the Democratic camp…
We are naive. We pay way too much attention to what these people say. Look at the place they have in the press, these entrepreneurs and digital engineers: it is outrageously important ! It is not their speeches that we must listen to, we must observe the consequences of their systems. It is not them who should be questioned in the media: but those who suffer the consequences of what they do.
Let’s go interview employees in Amazon’s warehouses, whereIA establish unworthy managerial methods, reducing humans to flesh and blood robots. Let’s go and interview the teachers in public schools who are bearing the brunt of the effects of forced digitalization. Let’s go see in the public hospital the implementation of the systemsIA which cost a fortune and are of no use, whereas we realized during Covid that it was notIA that we needed, but basic personnel and equipment, respirators, etc. By doing this, we would have a completely different understanding of phenomena, and society would be more transparent to itself.
Today, Elon Musk’s speech flirts with climate skepticism. How to explain this turnaround ?
According to him, those who work on environmental issues get lost in endless negotiations, leading to draft agreements, such as those of the COPwhich would not advance anything. All this can give the impression of being laborious and above all elitist. For Musk, it’s a windfall ! This allows him to say: « We are going to do real ecology. Systems will solve the climate crisis. » In other words, the solution will come from technology: no more discussions, contradiction, plurality of points of view, all of which is just a waste of time and unnecessary expense.
What alternatives to Elon Musk’s vision can we propose ?
The solution is to be involved in the matters that concern us. It is a social project: that everyone has the chance to live in other, more virtuous ways of existence, if they wish. With more equitable relationships between beings, and the use of materials that do not violate the biosphere.
We should be able to experiment with methods of organization — via the establishment of collectives — in care, education, crafts, architecture… For the moment, these experiences are marginal, almost heroic. Public authorities should support these projects, so that they can spread ! This is what I call the « spring of collectives ».
I see no other solution than to defend living things. That of the elements, but also that which is within us and which only asks to flourish. Let’s call it a powerful and joyful desire for life ; against the death drive which, today, seems to have become our all too common currency.
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