{"id":3939,"date":"2026-10-02T09:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T09:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/persun.se\/?p=3939"},"modified":"2026-10-03T08:22:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T08:22:52","slug":"far-vi-se-lydfolk-under-alien-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/persun.se\/en\/2026\/10\/02\/far-vi-se-lydfolk-under-alien-intelligence\/","title":{"rendered":"Will we get vassal states under \nAlien Intelligence?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Om
AI's own image of AI-imperialism (Gemini)
<\/em>
AI-imperialism will transform independent countries into a vassal states. Like this: if the countries' entire economy and the military is powered by an AI-based infrastructure \u2013 possible for America or China to switch off \u2013 it is no longer independent.\u00a0

There are four options here.

<\/strong>The first is acceptance. The country\u2019s government agrees to the nation becoming a vassal state. If an American president asks the government to jump, it jumps. If the president wants Greenland to become American, it becomes American.\u00a0

Option two is to say no. The public chooses to remain independent and opts out. People appreciate the solving of medical mysteries and the increased efficiency of society, but their reservations outweigh their enthusiasm \u2014 due to the massive water and energy consumption, the digital sludge it generates on social media, and the prospect of mass unemployment among the highly educated. The price to pay is being outcompeted by nations with superior technology.

Option three is also a refusal to become a vassal state, opting instead to build a domestic AI infrastructure. The problem here is the cost: hundreds of billions of dollars, based on current investment levels in the US and China. This might be achieved by raising taxes, taking on massive loans, and give up necessary investments in healthcare, social welfare, education, transport, defense, climate adaptation, and more for several decades to come.

The thoughts regarding the alternatives are not my own, but rather a loose paraphrase of a conversation between the Israeli intellectual superstar Yuval Noah Harari and Rory Stewart, an author and former British minister. The conversation, which takes place on the podcast \"The Rest Is Politics UK\", focuses primarily on the UK\u2014a country Harari believes is one of the few outside the major powers that might be capable of building its own AI infrastructure.

It is more likely that the UK will rejoin the EU\u2014a possibility the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has just opened the door to at the time of writing. (Perhaps he heard the same podcast.)

For Sweden, the fourth option applies: sharing AI costs with other European countries under the leadership of the European Commission\u2019s AI Office. Eventually, perhaps in close cooperation with countries like Canada and others weary of the power ambitions of the US and China.

The problem here is that the EU lags far behind the US and China, both in terms of investment and technology. The EU protects its citizens through regulations; critics argue that this stifles development. Is Europe capable of even deeper cooperation involving a shared AI infrastructure?

My own question concerns why our politicians are not discussing the choices that need to be made and the stakes involved. Is there anything more important right now? Developments are moving at an incomprehensible pace and the societal impact promises to be more profound than anything else currently foreseeable within the nearest future? As citizens, we need to get involved.

Yuval Noah Harari, a professor of history, offers a possible answer to this question:

The politicians' hesitation stems from the fact that they find themselves in the same situation as the Aztecs when Hern\u00e1n Cort\u00e9s landed in present-day Mexico with a few hundred men. The Aztecs simply did not comprehend what they were seeing\u2014metal-clad creatures mounted on enormous beasts, wielding fire-spewing sticks. The Aztecs were paralyzed by these \"aliens\"\u2014whom they could easily have defeated with their 200,000 warriors.

\"\"
Yuval Noah Harari and Rory Steward in the pod:
The Rest is Politics UK<\/em>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

PERZUN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts on this can be sent to: ph.sundstroem@gmail.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It works like this: If a country\u2019s entire economy and military are driven by an AI infrastructure that Americans or Chinese can shut down at the push of a button, that country is no longer independent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are four options here. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[273,362,367,366,369,364,371,365,370,363],"class_list":["post-3939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noteringar","tag-ai","tag-ai-ai-imperialism-vasallstater","tag-eu","tag-imperialism","tag-kina","tag-robot","tag-storbritannien","tag-stormaktsvalde","tag-sverige","tag-vasallstater"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t