https://znetwork.org/category/topic/science/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Sun, 21 Dec 2025 12:18:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/category/topic/science/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-germans-think-about-ai/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-germans-think-about-ai/#respond Sun, 21 Dec 2025 12:17:54 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292582 In a recent AI study (November 2025), slightly more than 1,000 Germans were asked about artificial intelligence (AI), online security, deepfakes and democracy. Overall, there is a strong increase in the uptake of AI in Germany. Roughly two out of three Germans use AI (65%) in one way or another. Given that ChatGPT started to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-germans-think-about-ai/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/i-do-not-think-therefore-i-am/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/i-do-not-think-therefore-i-am/#respond Wed, 17 Dec 2025 19:15:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292456 Descartes’ famous phrase “I think, therefore I am” (cogito, ergo sum) has been the subject of immense discussion in modern and contemporary philosophy. Is it an inference or a performance (Hintikka)? Was it a central phrase in his philosophy or did he only use it in a didactic context (Cassirer)? Is it an original idea [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/i-do-not-think-therefore-i-am/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-long-can-palantirs-monopoly-last/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-long-can-palantirs-monopoly-last/#respond Wed, 17 Dec 2025 18:44:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292467 Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s description of the company’s quarterly earnings in August 2025 as “once in a generation” wasn’t far-fetched. It surpassed $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time, after only turning profitable in 2022. Its surge has made it an outlier: still too small by revenue to crack the Fortune 500, its roughly $400 billion market value [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-long-can-palantirs-monopoly-last/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-us-economy-is-becoming-highly-dependent-on-a-new-and-untested-ai-industry/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-us-economy-is-becoming-highly-dependent-on-a-new-and-untested-ai-industry/#respond Tue, 16 Dec 2025 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292439 Over the last few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become extremely popular in Silicon Valley and is widely regarded as the most transformative technology in the 21st century. In fact, it is already reshaping sectors like education, transportation, finance, health care, media, and telecommunications. Indeed, it is estimated that about 60 percent of jobs in advanced economies may [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-us-economy-is-becoming-highly-dependent-on-a-new-and-untested-ai-industry/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-the-pro-palestine-movement-is-outsmarting-the-algorithms/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-the-pro-palestine-movement-is-outsmarting-the-algorithms/#respond Sun, 07 Dec 2025 16:25:57 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292125 For Nour Omar, a student in Cairo with 5,000 Instagram followers, reposting news about the genocide in Gaza is the smallest thing she can do that still feels like something. Usually, her posts draw hundreds of views an hour.  On a Tuesday night in November 2023, a few weeks after an Israeli airstrike on Al-Ahli [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-the-pro-palestine-movement-is-outsmarting-the-algorithms/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/intimate-advertising-the-next-frontier-in-ai-manipulation/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/intimate-advertising-the-next-frontier-in-ai-manipulation/#respond Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:03:00 +0000 OpenAI has announced that ChatGPT will soon allow erotic and sexually explicit interactions for adult users. As millions already use AI to simulate friendship and even romance, this move will likely increase the number of people in personal, emotionally significant relationships with AI companions. Erotic features aren’t just another product update; they deepen emotional dependency and encourage people to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/intimate-advertising-the-next-frontier-in-ai-manipulation/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-hot-tub-of-death/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-hot-tub-of-death/#respond Mon, 24 Nov 2025 18:03:07 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1291622 In late October, Hurricane Melissa (that should have been called “Godzilla”) battered western Jamaica with 185-mile-an-hour winds. It tossed the roofs of buildings about like splintering javelins, demolished municipal buildings and hospitals, snapped telephone poles like matchsticks, flattened crops, and dumped torrential floodwaters everywhere, leaving $8 billion in damage. That Category 5 storm’s unprecedented ferocity was driven by an [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-hot-tub-of-death/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-is-attracting-investment-to-the-us-but-at-a-huge-cost-to-workers-and-the-environment/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-is-attracting-investment-to-the-us-but-at-a-huge-cost-to-workers-and-the-environment/#respond Mon, 24 Nov 2025 17:25:43 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1291614 Early in his second presidency, Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs was met with widespread scepticism. Critics warned of economic decline and a global backlash. Yet the current landscape for the United States paints a more complex picture. Less than a year into his second term in office, the White House claims that Trump is bringing manufacturing back to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-is-attracting-investment-to-the-us-but-at-a-huge-cost-to-workers-and-the-environment/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tech-capitalists-dont-care-about-humans-literally/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tech-capitalists-dont-care-about-humans-literally/#respond Sun, 16 Nov 2025 16:54:25 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1291334 Watching tech moguls throw caution to the wind in the AI arms race or equivocate on whether humanity ought to continue, it’s natural to wonder whether they care about human lives. The earnest, in-depth answer to this question is just as bleak as the glib one. As moral philosopher Émile Torres argues, many Silicon Valley leaders embrace a vision of a [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tech-capitalists-dont-care-about-humans-literally/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-the-right-wing-has-used-ai-and-influencers-to-make-up-an-anti-government-movement-in-mexico/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-the-right-wing-has-used-ai-and-influencers-to-make-up-an-anti-government-movement-in-mexico/#comments Sun, 16 Nov 2025 16:36:31 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1291331 “Down with communism,” they chanted while also waving the One Piece pirate flag, meant to be a symbol of resistance to elitist excess, corruption, and inequality. The right-wing march was also meant to be a Generation Z protest, but most of the people I could see among the 1,000 or so marching through the center [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-the-right-wing-has-used-ai-and-influencers-to-make-up-an-anti-government-movement-in-mexico/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/work-in-2050-three-german-scenarios/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/work-in-2050-three-german-scenarios/#respond Wed, 12 Nov 2025 18:05:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1291141 Ever since feudal peasants were converted into factory workers, academics have tried to figure out not just what “work” under the often rather inhumane conditions of capitalism means, but also what the future of work might look like. There has been plenty of speculation about that future.  From steam to electricity to computers, and now [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/work-in-2050-three-german-scenarios/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/data-centers-are-fueling-the-lobbying-industry-not-just-the-growth-of-ai/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/data-centers-are-fueling-the-lobbying-industry-not-just-the-growth-of-ai/#respond Fri, 07 Nov 2025 17:30:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1290977 From the farmlands of Northern Virginia to the industrial parks of New Jersey, massive new data centers are popping up across the country to power America’s artificial intelligence revolution. The energy needed to power these data centers is driving national energy usage to record levels, and these costs are falling on American households as soaring electricity consumption has translated into [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/data-centers-are-fueling-the-lobbying-industry-not-just-the-growth-of-ai/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-digital-lending-feels-like-financial-colonialism/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-digital-lending-feels-like-financial-colonialism/#respond Mon, 20 Oct 2025 16:32:17 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1290211 Hustlerfund, a mobile lending application in Kenya advances a 20-year-old woman named Khamba to stock up her fruit stall in Nakura. In another seven days, it has almost doubled. In a case where she is a day and a day late in paying, the platform starts sending messages to her entire contact list labelling her [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-digital-lending-feels-like-financial-colonialism/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/enshittification-cory-doctorow-on-why-big-tech-sucks-keeps-getting-worse-what-to-do-about-it/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/enshittification-cory-doctorow-on-why-big-tech-sucks-keeps-getting-worse-what-to-do-about-it/#respond Sat, 11 Oct 2025 15:10:10 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1289798 Writer Cory Doctorow returns to Democracy Now! to discuss his new book Enshittification, which explores the term he coined in 2022 to describe how online platforms like Facebook degrade over time as companies seek to maximize profit at the expense of their users, and it has since become shorthand for describing a pervasive sense of dropping standards across [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/enshittification-cory-doctorow-on-why-big-tech-sucks-keeps-getting-worse-what-to-do-about-it/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gazas-children-face-genetic-harm-for-generations-to-come-from-israels-genocide/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gazas-children-face-genetic-harm-for-generations-to-come-from-israels-genocide/#respond Wed, 08 Oct 2025 18:14:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1289651 Rice is the only nutritious food Mohamed Aldreini can afford to feed his 22-month-old daughter, Rewan.  The Palestinian toddler has never tasted her mother’s milk since being born in November 2023, a month after the Israeli genocide in Gaza began.  Rewan’s mother, now caring for four children, is battling depression.  Her body stopped producing milk [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gazas-children-face-genetic-harm-for-generations-to-come-from-israels-genocide/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-and-education-the-kids-are-in-danger/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-and-education-the-kids-are-in-danger/#comments Sun, 05 Oct 2025 14:54:35 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1289548 Big tech, ever on the hunt for new markets for their generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems, are pushing hard to get them into public schools as well as colleges and universities. Their interest goes beyond short-term profits – it is also about “grooming” a new generation to accept, if not embrace, the world big tech [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-and-education-the-kids-are-in-danger/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-capitalist-vision-of-artificial-intelligence-profit-power-and-control/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-capitalist-vision-of-artificial-intelligence-profit-power-and-control/#respond Wed, 01 Oct 2025 18:13:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1289105 Introduction Artificial intelligence is one of the most prominent innovations of the modern digital revolution. It has provided tremendous possibilities for enhancing productivity, advancing science and public services, and contributing to solving many of the challenges facing humanity. It has brought about fundamental transformations across various fields, making it a cornerstone of the development of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-capitalist-vision-of-artificial-intelligence-profit-power-and-control/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trade-unions-need-to-fight-against-algorithmic-exploitation/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trade-unions-need-to-fight-against-algorithmic-exploitation/#respond Sat, 27 Sep 2025 15:40:20 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1289149 From the bartender who is always having their hours scheduled in the most erratic and unhelpful way possible by an app called “Harvest” or “ZoomShift,” to the nurse harangued by a platform for supposedly spending too long with one patient, workers are increasingly banging their heads against digital tools doing the job that supervisors once did. While these systems [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trade-unions-need-to-fight-against-algorithmic-exploitation/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-leftist-alternative-to-artificial-intelligence/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-leftist-alternative-to-artificial-intelligence/#respond Wed, 10 Sep 2025 18:22:17 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288376 The recent developments in artificial intelligence have opened up vast possibilities for its applications across various fields. However, they have also sparked concerns about how this technology is being directed. From the perspective of digital leftism, AI can be a revolutionary tool that contributes to restructuring society toward greater justice and equality. This vision aims [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-leftist-alternative-to-artificial-intelligence/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-much-carbon-can-we-safely-store-underground-much-less-than-previously-thought/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-much-carbon-can-we-safely-store-underground-much-less-than-previously-thought/#respond Mon, 08 Sep 2025 17:07:22 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288286 Drawing down carbon from the air and stashing it in underground rock formations has been framed as an essential way to slow and reverse global warming. But new research published Wednesday in the journal Nature finds there are far fewer suitable places to do this than previously thought. After screening out “risky” areas, like those [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-much-carbon-can-we-safely-store-underground-much-less-than-previously-thought/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/soft-surveillance-and-control/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/soft-surveillance-and-control/#respond Sat, 06 Sep 2025 14:35:15 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288224 Digital corporations, in cooperation with major states, monitor the movements of individuals through smart devices and various means of communication. All digital activities, including supposedly secure closed meetings, are subject to constant surveillance and analysis. In practice, there is almost no fully protected digital space; data is systematically collected and then used to assess and [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/soft-surveillance-and-control/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-and-the-urgent-need-for-a-politics-of-altruism/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-and-the-urgent-need-for-a-politics-of-altruism/#respond Sat, 06 Sep 2025 14:15:50 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288214 Humans are naturally cooperative creatures. The ability of people to dominate other life forms on the planet, to produce a built environment structured to their needs, to ensure food and water supply, to develop complex civilisations and produce all kinds of structures and objects designed to enhance interest and comfort, and to interact on a [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-and-the-urgent-need-for-a-politics-of-altruism/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-role-of-information-in-building-a-new-world/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-role-of-information-in-building-a-new-world/#comments Tue, 02 Sep 2025 16:30:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288041 I have spent the bulk of my career — on and off since the late Carter Administration — following the money that drives war and repression. What I have finally learned after so many decades of doing research on the war machine is that while research is critical, it must be in the service of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-role-of-information-in-building-a-new-world/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-work-resistance/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-work-resistance/#respond Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:40:44 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1287973 Among the many questions about artificial intelligence (AI), one of the more common has been: how big are the dangers? So far, much of the future of work with AI debate has been led by neoliberal – or worse: mainstream –economists and adjacent “experts” and business prophets. Historically, following the false predictions of mass unemployment [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-work-resistance/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/zencity-israels-spy-agency-is-exporting-occupation-tech-to-america/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/zencity-israels-spy-agency-is-exporting-occupation-tech-to-america/#respond Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:01:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1287915 Five years on from George Floyd’s death, Minneapolis residents are pushing back against the city’s contract with Zencity, a tech company founded and headed by veterans of the Israeli spying organization, Unit 8200. ZenCity has signed a three-year contract with the city of Minneapolis, enabling it to gather information about residents’ attitudes towards the police. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/zencity-israels-spy-agency-is-exporting-occupation-tech-to-america/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-surveillance-for-germanys-palantir-police/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-surveillance-for-germanys-palantir-police/#comments Mon, 25 Aug 2025 16:22:25 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1287722 The surveillance empire of Germany’s police is rapidly moving towards artificial intelligence (AI). Worse, it is set to become dependent on Hitler salute showing Elon Musk’s South African White Power off-sider Peter Thiel and his Uber-surveillance software supplied by Palantir. This will substantially expand the surveillance capability of Germany’s police by combining facial recognition software [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-surveillance-for-germanys-palantir-police/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-i-and-i-thou/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-i-and-i-thou/#respond Sat, 23 Aug 2025 16:33:44 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1287653 A.I. is asking us to reexamine our humanity.  It pops this question every time we sit down to write – whether we’re a high school student writing an English essay, a manager penning a business memo, or a screenwriter composing a script for an action film. It asks: who is writing? Who is the writer? [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-i-and-i-thou/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/data-centers-consume-massive-amounts-of-water-companies-rarely-tell-the-public-exactly-how-much/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/data-centers-consume-massive-amounts-of-water-companies-rarely-tell-the-public-exactly-how-much/#respond Wed, 20 Aug 2025 18:18:36 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1287567 As demand for artificial intelligence technology boosts construction and proposed construction of data centers around the world, those computers require not just electricity and land, but also a significant amount of water. Data centers use water directly, with cooling water pumped through pipes in and around the computer equipment. They also use water indirectly, through [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/data-centers-consume-massive-amounts-of-water-companies-rarely-tell-the-public-exactly-how-much/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-and-european-labor-law/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-and-european-labor-law/#respond Tue, 19 Aug 2025 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1287492 Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven systems are becoming increasingly central to modern workplaces across virtually every sector of the economy. This has profound implications for trade unions, workers, and labor relations. The rise of AI, alongside broader digitalization and the platformization of work, is transforming how workplaces function. It reshapes how work is organized and how individual [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ai-and-european-labor-law/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/private-equity-is-coming-for-public-utilities/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/private-equity-is-coming-for-public-utilities/#respond Mon, 18 Aug 2025 18:23:12 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1287440 As the AI boom promises soaring electricity demand, private equity giant BlackRock is waging a scorched-earth campaign — with the help of suspiciously timed advocacy from labor allies and ostensible clean-energy groups — to acquire an electric supplier and get a slice of newfound energy profits. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has its tentacles [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/private-equity-is-coming-for-public-utilities/feed/ 0