Intelligence, Exploitation, and Displacement

The Technology Takeover of Humanity

If you’ve been following my Substack, I’ve been working through Peter Diamandis’s “Fork in the Road” post, which frames the future as a simple choice: fully embrace AI or basically be a Neanderthal. I’m going to discuss two more of his five forks—briefly Brain Computer Interface and then “launch” (pun intended) into Peter’s dreams for the moon that ultimately means mass exploitation of its resources. I’ll save the question of uploading our brains to the cloud for another post.

Brain–Computer Interface (BCI)

I’ve written about this before, and it plays a central role in my novel AI BABY. If there were any doubt that the Tech Bros plan to implant BCIs in themselves and their children, Diamandis makes it explicit. He cites Ray Kurzweil’s prediction that by the mid‑2030s, devices will connect the human brain directly to the cloud. Those who choose to become cyborgs will have the knowledge of the universe seamlessly integrated into their brain. Diamandis calls it an expansion of our mental bandwidth, one that makes today’s limits for intelligence seem silly.

His assertion is that there will be early adopters and at some point, we will all follow like we did with cell phones. What he doesn’t address is cost and choice. The hardware alone would likely be expensive, and I foresee a subscription model for access and processing power. Talk about a digital divide. Those who opt-in will gain the ultimate advantage as a more intelligent life form. The rest of us can be treated like sweet dumb pets or perhaps we will be relegated to separate colonies because our low IQs will be so annoying to the superintelligent beings.

The Moon

In Peter’s parlance: “For billions of years, it’s just been sitting there. No atmosphere. No life. No purpose beyond tugging on our tides and inspiring poets.”

In his “Forks” post, he recalls innocent childhood dreams of space travel, but in a more recent post, “The Moon Had It Coming,” he reveals the true Tech Bro plans for the moon—exploit the sh*t out of it. Mine it for materials, including helium‑3, which is seen as a potential energy source. Build factories to support a larger system of satellites and data infrastructure. Use it as a staging point for travel deeper into space. It is not just about exploration; it is about building an industrial base off Earth.

This image is from Peter Diamondis’s “The Moon Had it Coming” post

The people who live there will be in service to this massive industrialized economic engine. Diamandis encourages readers to think about how to take part in it, to find ways to profit from this new frontier. Missing from this vision is any discussion of how people will exist in a themed simulation. Will they recreate an artificial version of Earth like a cheesy Las Vegas hotel? Can people exist confined indoors without nature, and going outside will mean suiting up and bouncing around beautiful factories and mines?

There is also the question of funding. Much of this would rely on public money through government contracts, even as basic needs on Earth remain unresolved. Regulation will likely be nonexistent, and the framing is yet another race against China, but this time it’s not just world domination but includes all the planets and galaxies.

Science Non-Fiction

While many of us worry about the Tech Bros creating a new species of super intelligent humans and taking over this world, they already have plans for the worlds beyond our planet. Increasingly, the role of real humans is being diminished while power is concentrated with a few unelected, soulless individuals whose wealth allows them to act with impunity. A loss of agency looms large in my consciousness as we are expected to adapt to systems that reshape what it means to live, think, and work.

Please join me live with Cheyenne Domingues on June 26.