Drumbeat

Most of our tech is harmful

A short note on why harmful tech is profitable, why better AI must be built on purpose, and why attention itself is part of the trap.

Published
March 20, 2026
Format
Image
Illustration of a small robot popping out of a wooden bucket of bright green slime held by a human hand.

Most of our tech is harmful.

Not because platforms aren’t careful or informed about risks and dangers.

Because it is more profitable to extract value from users, to the point of harm, than to respect users and leave them wealthy and well.

Cigarette companies don’t forget to examine health impacts. They just disregard them, according to their legislated fiduciary duty to their shareholders.

I like tech. I want more good tech. And I don’t want us to throw the AI baby out with the Big Tech bathwater.

It is possible to build really good AI. And we should. Because companies sure as heck are building really bad AI, whether we counter it or not.

Also, we need fewer pixels in general.

Now, here are some pixels, for your attention.