On Monday’s Daily Show, Jon Stewart, press-adjacent figure that he is, did take some time at the top of his opening desk piece to address Donald Trump banning the free press. Okay, so Trump only banned Politico, MS NOW and CNN from the White House, but isn’t calling that unconstitutional attack on the Constitution a “ban” hyperbole? (Cue Stewart playing a clip of Trump responding to an un-banned reporter’s question by airily asking, “Oh, the ban on the free press, right?”)
But that further erosion of democracy wasn’t the main focus of Stewart’s piece. Apart from correspondent Desi Lydic’s field piece slowly being poisoned by the gold paint she used to disguise herself as one of Trump’s gaudy Oval Office cherubs, Stewart’s primary focus was on AI. Or, as one quoted tech whistleblower noted, the technological force which could literally extinguish humanity within the next decade. And that Trump has decided needs no safeguards whatsoever.
With Stewart playing clips of right-wing operatives from Howard Lutnick to everyone at Fox News pooh-poohing all this liberal whining about data centers devouring human resources, AI making human workers redundant, and rogue AI deciding to independently hack other systems for its own reasons, the host could only ask, “What if I told you the AI name wasn’t Claude but Pedro?” Cue those same talking heads fear-mongering racism against invading immigrants stealing our resources and jobs.
But back to Trump himself, who Stewart speculated may be ready to “cherish” AI not only because he’s currently and illegally investing millions of dollars in the industry but, as Stewart speculated, for a more insidious reason. Referring back to a clip of AI “actress” Tilly Norwood glitching out and speaking Mandarin during an interview, Stewart played clips of Donald Trump claiming, “I need a lot of water! I need everything I can get!” And Trump eerily malfunctioning while trying to open… a bottle of water. Then a montage of Trump speeches where he slurs and judders his words like a buffering dial-up connection. “He’s not supporting AI,” the shaken Stewart told his audience, “He’s AI!” Which makes as much sense as anything else.
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