this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2026
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cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/37134271

In this text I want to analyze the relationship of fascism and what is called “AI” these days. Is this “technology” that keeps being used to reshape the world around us (for better or worse but dominantly worse) in some way connected to fascism? Or is it just something fascists like to use? Is it neutral?

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[–] popcar2@programming.dev 6 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (2 children)

At the risk of eating downvotes I'm just going to say this article is really dumb, and it's a reactionary emotional piece with the same logic of a random twitter thread. Most of the argument boils down to "I hate companies" which is more of a problem with the system than AI, the technology.

Saying AI is fascist because "oh, fascists use them" can be applied to literally everything. My computer is fascist (it has an Nvidia GPU, a large company of whom I don't support). My supermarket is fascist (it advertises products to extract value from poor labor workers, this is big supermarket putting a boot on us).

The boring unfortunate reality that OP doesn't accept is that people use AI for simple reasons: it's good at what it does and is getting really decent at writing code. The article is just a giant wall of text justifying witch hunting anyone who uses it, even those using local models that keeps your data private because that too is fascist and anyone using them to, say, find critical security issues (of which AI is finding many) is just a MAGA right winger loser that wants to kill us all. We're right to attack them! Right? Right.

There's a lot to be said about ethics, AI safety, and how companies shouldn't be running rampant doing what they want. But if you're just going to label the whole argument as "oh, AI is just fascist and everyone using it is evil" then there isn't any discussion to be had.

[–] kibiz0r@midwest.social 4 points 26 minutes ago* (last edited 19 minutes ago)

That’s… not what it says though???

“AI” as we use the term today is build on fascist ideas. Is structurally supportive of fascist thinking.

That does not mean that every user of “AI” products is therefore a fascist. Some “AI”-users might even consider themselves antifascists. But by using these systems you are integrating inherently fascist logic into your thinking, into your mental apparatus. These systems force you to at least accept the fascist tendencies within “AI” systems as “normal” or “okay”.

I will grant though, it’s not very well-written and is mostly a safari through what a bunch of other people have written on the subject, with basically no structure underneath or connective tissue in-between.

But I do think there’s something there. Expediency, pragmatism, looking only at output and efficiency, acting like physical production is the only real thing and mental states or systemic social effects are just hippie nonsense… these are all values which are closely aligned with fascism. And whether or not you personally hold those as your values, when you use AI you are acting out those values. It can easily become second nature to apply that mindset elsewhere.

Edit: Or to stop thinking about what happens when you use it right where you intended to use it. Coding is never a mere logic puzzle, it’s always in pursuit of some human outcome in the real world. Moral questions do come up. They can be mundane ones, for sure, but that’s where discrimination starts, right? Look at the tremendous power of the concept of a gender binary. Nobody cares how anyone thinks of themselves, but they care which checkbox gets filled in, which group they’re placed in, which door they walk through. The little stuff is where it starts.

[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 2 points 33 minutes ago

"everything I don't like is fascist" is a thing. It's why I hate the use of the term, even when it's more appropriate.

[–] hamsamrich@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Couple weeks ago I learned Zionism IS antisemitism.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.social 1 points 2 hours ago

From a purely aesthetical pov alone I'd say yes. AI always tries to produce things along normalized rules of beauty, text structure, etc.

But even if you discount all such things as opinion-based, I keep coming back to its political, social and environmental impact, since most of it does come from fascist USA, runs on its datacenters.

(and incidentally, searching for an article that breaks down such impact for, say, one vibe-coded app, proved to be impossible - all search results are about the hidden cost your company pays after publishing 😡)

[–] ExtremeDullard@piefed.social -1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 20 minutes ago)

AI is a pure product of fascism.

AI is built on massive data theft and mass surveillance, which can only happen with gigantic monopolistic Big Data corporations that have the wherewithal to carry out the theft and buy themselves the right politicians to do so in total impunity, or make themselves the indispensable partners of the fascist regime.

That's the definition of fascism: state and private enterprise in cahoots.

And now AI is turning into a tool to repress the population and keep the regime in power.