Star Gate
Dear friend,
For the last couple of days, I’ve been working for extended periods on my laptop, and this morning I mistakenly allowed my posture to slump into turtle mode. Back rounded like a turtle shell, head following the chin—it puts so much pressure on the neck and spine and shoulders.
The mistake was to be so engrossed in the task as to forget about my body.
Some news sneaked in over my threshold in the last couple of days that caused a double take. You might have heard of Star Gate?
It’s a move to invest billions into AI infrastructure in the USA over the next four years.
Here’s something to be aware of, and I think this highlights a key concern with the way AI is being spoken of and thought about by people of significant influence in how Star Gate develops.
Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, has proposed using AI-powered surveillance to monitor police and citizens, aiming to reduce crime by ensuring constant recording and reporting.
If we assume good intent and give Larry the benefit of the doubt, it may be that his paradigm—the map of the world he lives in—is incomplete.
It feels like a fundamental misdirection of what AI’s potential could be. Using AI for surveillance treats symptoms, not causes. It assumes that monitoring people into submission will create a “better” society, but it doesn’t address why crime happens in the first place.
Inequality, poverty, trauma, and systemic neglect are at the root of so much harm, and they’re things that AI could meaningfully help to solve if we approached it with the right intention.
For example, AI could be used to analyze data on disparities in education, healthcare, or employment and then suggest targeted interventions. It could predict where mental health resources are most urgently needed or identify patterns that help policymakers invest in communities before crises escalate.
That’s transformative potential.
Democracy means that all voices are heard.
I just wanted to flag this specific point of view because it seems important. People are understandably nervous around the use of any powerful technology.
How open to conversation are people like Larry Ellison?
That remains to be seen.
Till tomorrow
Love
Mikey