This CEO warns that Democratic voters are most at risk from automation

## Summary
As well as talking about how America’s “lethal capabilities” make it very special, Karp stressed the extent to which AI is going to shift the political landscape. “The one thing that I think that even now is underestimated by all actors in industry … is how disruptive these technologies are,” Karp said . “If you are going to disrupt the economic and therefore political power significantly of one party’s base – highly educated, often female voters who vote mostly Democrat, and military and working-class people who do not feel supported – and you believe that that’s going to work out politically, you’re in an insane asylum.” He added: “Like … this technology disrupts humanities-trained – largely Democratic – voters, and makes their economic power less. Once you get beyond all the disruptive disruptions, it seems that what Karp is saying is that AI is eventually going to hurt the economic position of Democrats in general, and highly educated female voters in particular – and that will have knock-on effects politically. Karp’s message is clear, Malcolm Ferguson writes: “My technology will take political capital away from one of your greatest enemies – liberal women with degrees – and give one of your favorite demographics to patronize – working-class men – more political power to transfer to you.” This certainly seems to track with the political positions of Karp and his fellow Palantir founder, Peter Thiel. A chance, to echo Karp, to reduce the “economic power” of the “highly-educated female voters” they seem to loathe.

## Article Content
‘Increasingly, it seems like the idea of an ‘AI democracy’ is an oxymoron.’
Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
View image in fullscreen
‘Increasingly, it seems like the idea of an ‘AI democracy’ is an oxymoron.’
Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
This CEO warns that Democratic voters are most at risk from automation
Arwa Mahdawi
Palantir’s CEO says the platforms will have a vast effect on the electoral landscape … especially women. Is it a warning or a sales pitch?
D
on’t you just love AI? It has inundated the internet with slop,
destabilized
the concept of truth, and made it much easier to
bomb people
. And that’s just the beginning. As we look towards the future of our brave new world, AI might also disrupt all those pesky highly-educated female voters who keep casting a ballot for Democrats.
To be clear: that assessment isn’t coming from me, a highly exhausted female who wishes the Democrats would work a little harder for people’s votes. Rather, it’s coming from one of the key architects of our glorious AI-driven economy: Alex Karp, the co-founder and CEO of tech firm
Palantir
.
On Thursday Karp sat down with
CNBC
to chat about Palantir’s AI-driven Maven Smart System, which the US military is
using to visualize
potential targets and “
nominate
” them to be bombed. As well as talking about how America’s “lethal capabilities” make it very special, Karp stressed the extent to which AI is going to shift the political landscape.
“The one thing that I think that even now is underestimated by all actors in industry … is how disruptive these technologies are,”
Karp said
. “If you are going to disrupt the economic and therefore political power significantly of one party’s base – highly educated, often female voters who vote mostly Democrat, and military and working-class people who do not feel supported – and you believe that that’s going to work out politically, you’re in an insane asylum.”
He added: “Like … this technology disrupts humanities-trained – largely Democratic – voters, and makes their economic power less. And increases the economic power of vocationally trained, working-class, often male, working-class voters. These disruptions are going to disrupt every aspect of our society.”
Got that everyone? Disruption, disruption, disruption. And in case you didn’t catch it: disruption.
Once you get beyond all the disruptive disruptions, it seems that what Karp is saying is that AI is eventually going to hurt the economic position of Democrats in general, and highly educated female voters in particular – and that will have knock-on effects politically. Meanwhile working-class male voters will emerge as the winners of our reshaped economy.
The extent to which this is accurate is debatable; blue-collar jobs may be less vulnerable to AI in the short-term, but technology is coming for those occupations too. However, I think the really interesting question here is this: was Karp’s assessment a warning or was it a sales pitch?
Many people have interpreted it as the latter. The
New Republic
, for example, interpreted this as a “a direct, long-term pitch to the GOP from a CEO whose tech firm already has numerous government contracts and is deeply embedded in the Pentagon”. Karp’s message is clear, Malcolm Ferguson writes: “My technology will take political capital away from one of your greatest enemies – liberal women with degrees – and give one of your favorite demographics to patronize – working-class men – more political power to transfer to you.”
This certainly seems to track with the political positions of Karp and his fellow Palantir founder, Peter Thiel. Karp has declared that Palantir is “
completely anti-woke
” and, as we all know, feminism and women’s rights are very woke-coded. Meanwhile Thiel has strongly suggested that giving women the vote was an error. In 2009 he
published an essay lamenting
how female suffrage had impacted libertarianism, writing: “Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women – two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians – have rendered the notion of ‘capitalist democracy’ into an oxymoron.”
I don’t know about that but, increasingly, it seems like the idea of an “AI democracy” is an
oxymoron
. There’s a reason that the Trump administration, and Donald Trump himself,
love AI so much
: it is an autocrat’s dream. It makes disseminating
propaganda
much easier. It makes manufacturing consent for wars easier and killing people in those wars faster. And when you bomb a school full of little girls in those wars, then “whoops, the AI was responsible” is a
very useful excuse
. And, as AI
disrupts
the economy and the political landscape, it gives oligarchs an unprecedented opportunity to reshape the world to their liking. A chance, to echo Karp, to reduce the “economic power” of the “highly-educated female voters” they seem to loathe. Trump’s presidency is one long revenge tour, and AI is ushering in the next chapter.
Marco

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- ‘Increasingly, it seems like the idea of an ‘AI democracy’ is an oxymoron.’ Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images View image in fullscreen ‘Increasingly, it seems like the idea of an ‘AI democracy’ is an oxymoron.’ Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images This CEO warns that Democratic voters are most at risk from automation Arwa Mahdawi Palantir’s CEO says the platforms will have a vast effect on the electoral landscape … especially women.
- Australian designer wins Katie Perry v Katy Perry dispute After a legal battle lasting almost 17 years , Australia’s high court found that a Sydney fashion designer behind the Katie Perry label did not breach trademark laws and her brand was not likely to cause confusion with the US pop star.

### Implications
- ‘Increasingly, it seems like the idea of an ‘AI democracy’ is an oxymoron.’ Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images View image in fullscreen ‘Increasingly, it seems like the idea of an ‘AI democracy’ is an oxymoron.’ Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images This CEO warns that Democratic voters are most at risk from automation Arwa Mahdawi Palantir’s CEO says the platforms will have a vast effect on the electoral landscape … especially women.
- As we look towards the future of our brave new world, AI might also disrupt all those pesky highly-educated female voters who keep casting a ballot for Democrats.
- Once you get beyond all the disruptive disruptions, it seems that what Karp is saying is that AI is eventually going to hurt the economic position of Democrats in general, and highly educated female voters in particular – and that will have knock-on effects politically.
- Meanwhile working-class male voters will emerge as the winners of our reshaped economy.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers women, karp, voters topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1380.