Ugo

Generative AI is a Psy-op to Keep the Poor Dumb The growing mass reliance on Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not accidental. It is a deliberate effort driven by a few wealthy Silicon Valley capitalists to commoditise “intelligence” and convince people to adopt it in exchange for their real-life problem-solving abilities, critical thinking and cultural authenticity. The ultimate goal as always, is to enrich this already super-wealthy tech elite at the expense of everyone else. Tellingly, while these billionaire tech oligarchs spend billions to convince consumers to adopt and become dependent on “AI” solutions, they are also doubling down on the primacy of human intelligence in their elite bubbles. This was illustrated by luxury car brand Porsche, which recently released an advert whose messaging conspicuously signalled that it used exclusively human-created content. This is a clear sign of a sharp divide between the wealthy and everyday people on the question of AI adoption. While the working classes are heavily influenced to buy into the idea that generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Suno, and VEO-3 represent the future of work, research, and art, luxury brands meant for the elite are concurrently reassuring their market that human craftsmanship, critical thinking, and genuine creativity remains central to their vision. “AI for thee, not for me” appears to be the message. Across Africa, multiple Western state and NGO actors are pushing for this so-called “AI revolution” to take a central place in African educational systems. Even in some parts of the continent where basic access to electricity remains a challenge, governments are being feverishly lobbied to adopt “AI strategies” for their under-resourced educational systems. At the very same time, it has been reported that Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and other Silicon Valley billionaires who are pushing AI adoption, not only enroll their children in Montessori schools but also restrict their exposure and access to the very same technology that their lobbyists are trying to push into African classrooms. The obvious danger in opening African education systems up to the so-called “AI Revolution” is that the next generation of Africans could end up devoid of the exact reading, writing, critical reasoning and creative skills that Africa needs to fully take its place in the world - instead trained from an early age to be reliant on ChatGPT, Grok, Suno, Nano Banana, and VEO-3 to do their thinking and expression for them. At a time when high-level human thinking is needed more than ever on the continent, it is no accident that Western lobbyists are heavily pushing the normalisation of generative AI as a core pillar of African education. If Africa is to be maintained as a colonial resource plantation and a market for excess overseas production, young Africans must be made to read, write and think less, and consume more. In Africa and elsewhere, the constant global dynamic is that the poor and underprivileged are encouraged to outsource their intellectual processes to AI in order to “stay competitive," while the wealthy quietly protect the disciplines that actually sharpen the mind: reading, writing, artistry, and critical thinking. Africans must see the “AI Revolution” for what it is. Far from just benign or neutral technological advancement, it is yet another manifestation of power consolidation by Western racial-capitalists. This class of people understands very well that literacy, philosophy, and art produce power, while delegation of thought only produces ignorance and compliance. Despite whatever message they put out, the reality remains that thinking for yourself will in fact, never be “disrupted.”

Where Gen Z's are today was where my generation was 30 years ago. In our 20s, stuck in IMF SAPs, an AIDS pandemic, and a clueless political class gatekeeping a new generation out of adulthood. We need a discussion about reconstructing Kenya to avoid these 30 year cycles.

Fix this or we don't have a country