Historian Jill Lepore says Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy
Historian Jill Lepore argues that Silicon Valley leaders are misinterpreting science fiction to justify replacing democratic government functions with corporate-controlled algorithms. She warns that this 'artificial state' undermines liberal democracy.
Why it matters
This critique highlights the growing tension between the influence of private tech corporations and the traditional structures of democratic governance.
In her upcoming book “The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State,” Jill Lepore warns that tech companies are increasingly replacing the functions of democratic government. This shift, she said, marks “a return to tyranny and mystification in the form of rule by algorithms, corporations, machines.”
On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast , I spoke to Lepore — a Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer who recently won a Pulitzer Prize for her history of the U.S. Constitution — about the development of what she described as “the idea that we should live under an artificial state or government by machines.”
“I’m not anti-technologist,” Lepore insisted. Instead, she said, “My beef is the ways in which private corporations have increasingly taken on the functions of the state.”
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in