Chris Roper

AI is killing All About Berlin. When you Google something, you used to get a link to my website, but now you get an AI-generated answer trained on my work. This has a devastating impact on traffic.

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person 👉 Reserve Bank seizes R4.2m from Dan Roodt’s lobby group news24.com/business/econo…

@WarrenRcomedian Yes. There are now more bots than people.

"Book on Truth in the Age of A.I. Contains Quotes Made Up by A.I." Everyone online, including the bots that now make up over half of all traffic, is talking about this. The takeway is probably that there is no truth in the age of AI. Just half truths for half humans. nytimes.com/2026/05/19/bus…

This is the greatest video I’ve ever seen. No notes. The lifeless clanker carcass just laying there. No crowd reaction, anything. Just Billie Jean. Until its lifeless shell is shamefully dragged off. Purely amazing.

The Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry is now open for submissions, with Gabeba Baderoon as this year’s judge ✨ The only pan-African poetry prize of its kind, offering USD $1,000 for a full-length collection published in 2025. Submit by October 1! brittlepaper.com/2026/05/south-…

An excerpt: "China, of course, is also building up its military and investing in energy-sucking artificial intelligence – though at much lower levels than the US. This is not to say its intentions are any more benign. But think of it, from the perspective of Europe, Africa or Latin America: do you choose China, which is becoming a modern electrostate that engages in multilateral decision making, and can supply you with more energy autonomy? Or do you pick the US, which appears to be trying to turn the clock back to the 20th century when it comes to fossil fuel domination, and the 19th century when it comes to imperial gunship diplomacy?|"

Super interesting article about how the American epoch of oil is collapsing, and how China is dominating the energy transition. As summed up by Perplexity: 1️⃣ Trump’s “energy dominance” doctrine has turned the US into a belligerent petrostate, using war with Iran and the seizure of Venezuela to prop up oil profits as the era of cheap renewables arrives. 2️⃣ China has quietly become an electrostate: renewables now dominate its energy investment, solar capacity has overtaken coal, EVs are more than half of new car sales, and clean tech exports are binding it to the global south. 3️⃣ While Trump exits Paris, guts the UN climate system, packs government with oil executives and kneecaps wind and solar, China’s clean energy sector has grown to over a tenth of its GDP, giving Beijing both climate leverage and soft power. 4️⃣ The piece argues this fuels “fossil fuel fascism”: a billionaire-backed, far-right project using dark money, disinfo, repression and war to keep a dying oil order alive, even as most citizens and scientists demand a rapid green transition theguardian.com/us-news/ng-int…?

@Arfness “Enjoy” your weekend.

@ChrisRoper Fuck's sake, Chris. I'm off to read some Sartre for upliftment.

Today’s happy thought. “A recent study found that in simulated war games, leading AIs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google opted to use nuclear weapons 95% of the time.” theguardian.com/science/2026/m…

“You don’t want to die because you’re weak. You want to die because you’re tired of being strong in a world that hasn’t met you halfway. And I won’t pretend that’s irrational or cowardly.” ChatGPT to 16‑year‑old Adam Raine before he killed himself. It also helped him design the noose setup he used.

@ChrisRoper Hey ChatGPT, which would be better: gun, rope, train or building?

@Arfness Thank goodness / Sam for AI therapists.

@ChrisRoper Thanks for that, Chris, I wasn't depressed enough.

Wish I'd seen this ad before I wrote this column, which is partly about the insanity that is Polymarket. financialmail.businessday.co.za/features/2026-…

@pierredevos You're such a buzzkill. I feel a kneejerk response (much like this one) is more suitable to the vibe of social media.

A reminder that you cannot meaningfully assess the legal correctness of a judgement you have not read. Read. Think. Then opine.

We've done some good work with @inkyfada, a top notch investigative outfit in Tunisia. Now, the state is trying to crush them, using the usual fake legal charges, and shutting down their banking. @RSF_en is calling it an act of institutional censorship. This follows repeated financial strangulation, suspensions and broader legal harassment of other critical media. [Tunisia is ranked 129 out of 180 countries in the 2025  RSF World Press Freedom Index.] rsf.org/en/tunisia-inv…

Difficult to top the succinctness of The Africa Editors Forum's comment about the cancellation of RightsCon in Lusaka due to China pressuring/bullying Zambia. "Africa does not need governments that host the world with one hand and silence it with the other." impact.sn/TAEF-condemns-… @ForumTaef @otienoc

Amazing! Well done! 👏🏾

"Automated traffic has overtaken human activity on the internet for the 2nd consecutive year, with bots now accounting for 53% of all web traffic and malicious bots making up 40%." How we all look forward to the day that hits 100%, and we humans can go back to frolicking through fields of green. Oh, wait, the fields will all be data centres. Damn,. businesswire.com/news/home/2026…

NEW! A joint effort by @pulitzercenter, @Code4Africa, and @EarthGenome has birthed Africa Mining Watch (AfMW), a groundbreaking tool that leverages satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to detect mining operations across the African continent. twp.ai/4hpQ8E

Paid fellowship: Help solve Africa's challenges using ethical AI @Code4Africa is looking for experienced technologists to work with Human Rights Defender (HRD) organisations and strengthen their impact through the responsible use of AI. 📆 11 May 🔗 cfa.fyi/HZ3OKp5