Published, last updated Apr. 22, 2025.
April 22, 2025, 20:04  Carole Cadwalladr delivering her TED Talk in Vancouver, Canada, 7 April 2025. Photograph: Jason Redmond/TED. | The Need to Stop the Tech BroligarchyCarole Cadwalladr on her 2025 TED Talk: “The big difference between Ted of six years ago and Ted in 2025 is AI. It dominates almost every conversation. The scale and pace of advancement in the technology is mind-blowing in the true sense of the word. AI’s domination of Ted is just a snapshot of its domination of every coming aspect of our lives.” In an article in the Guardian, Carole Cadwalladr reflects on her recent TED talk and the difference between now on when she gave a TED talk in 2019. The big difference is in AI dominating the conversation.
She opened her presentation with the statement “It's a coup'” She stated “The internet we’ve created, captured by big corporations and built on data tracking, was not inevitable. Nor is what’s coming next. ... AI is in the hands of a small group of reckless, careless men who seem to have no understanding of society. To them, it’s just a race; a winner-takes-all competition. All while the world still looks much the same – same streets, same houses, same politicians talking on the same TVs. It’s why it’s so hard to get your head around it.”
She ends her summary with an important action statement: “We are not powerless. There are things we can do collectively. I learned that when 30,000 Observer readers rose up to support me in my legal case. Last week’s talk is dedicated to them, because without them I don’t know where I’d be now. But together, we were able to hold power to account. And in the darkness that’s falling, I believe that rebuilding our information system – together – is the first step to getting out of this mess.”
Watch Carole Cadwalladr’s 2025 Ted Talk “This Is What a Digital Coup Looks Like&rdqio; on YouTube. |
