Severin Matusek

Lately, I’ve been thinking about my use of AI as a kind of spatial relationship. Where do I stand in relation to the machine—above it, beside it, under it? Each position carries a different kind of power dynamic. To be above is to steer, beside is to collaborate, below is to serve.

This is an answer to the individualism of the creator economy.

But at least one thing has always felt clear to us: If you want to try and do something fun, strange and special on the internet, it helps to owe nothing to anyone but your readers.

Access. The token gives me access to a Discord server where I receive information, learn and can connect with other founding members.

As awful as all this is, the workarounds themselves are often delightful and clever, testaments to the wit and grace of marginalized communities. For example, sex-workers call themselves "accountants." Homophobia is called "cornucopia" and "LGBTQ" becomes "Leg Booty."

This creativity isn't limited to people I admire or agree with: anti-vaxers have a... See more

It’s 6:52AM, coffee is brewing, we’re on page 666, Jon Baskin is reading, it’s a sunny day, we’ll be here at EARTH for the next 12 hours or so, everyone’s welcome: 49 Orchard/ https://youtube.com/@earth_net49/streams…

Right now, it’s really easy for us to just constantly say AI will make you better. AI will give you superpowers. AI will do the grunt work in your day-to-day job to free you up for higher-order thinking. We’ve become evangelical about it. In our rush to augment everybody, we’re pushing out Copilot licenses like they’re going out of fashion. We’re... See more

Where do we find the much-needed alternative? While researching my latest podcast, A Sense of Rebellion, I stumbled on a series of debates that took place in the 1970s and pointed in the right direction. Back then, a small group of hippy radicals were advocating for “ecological technology” and “counter-technology”. They weren’t satisfied with... See more

Over the past 13 years, Swift has perfected the pop culture feedback loop: Sheshares updates about her life and drops hints about new music, which fans thengobble up and re-promote with their own theories, which Swift then re-shares on herTumblr or incorporates into future clues. [...] "I've trained them to be that way," shesays of her fans' astute... See more