Much attention has been given to the ways that AI threatens to supersede human intellectual processes and functions. AI, however, is driven by large language models and very real material resources. Almost every resource on the planet is fueling the AI juggernaut, with consequences for the power grid, nuclear energy, political structures, the production, trade, and trash of physical devices, human labor, and financial systems. The fast pace of AI’s technological advancement appears not so much to be leaving the materially tied world behind but feasting upon it. Panelists in this session will discuss such questions as: What is the reality behind the rhetoric of AI? What are the current and potential political and economic solutions to ameliorating AI’s role in the global system? What is the role of the media, diplomats, corporations, and activists in these decisions?

• Fieke Jansen, Head of the Critical Infrastructures Lab, University of Amsterdam
• Sandra Makumbirofa, Senior Researcher, Research ICT Africa
• Viola Schiaffonati, Professor, Politecnico di Milano
• Thomas Schneider, Director of International Affairs, Swiss Federal Office of Communications

Moderator: Kevin Blasiak, Postdoctoral Researcher, Vienna University of Technology

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