As in many countries in the Czech Republic, arts and humanities academics say they barely make a living wage. Yet the support for AI and fintech startups is increasing.
This is quite outrageous since many startups’ business model is being a startup (compulsory SouthPark reference: episode 1, season 18 in Youtube). Very often there is no credible business model, which yields an economic value of zero.
Fair enough, studying the gender of angels in late Medieval painting has also economic value of zero, so let’s call that a tie, right?
Not so fast. Many AI and Fintech startups actively harm users in many ways: from convoluted pyramid schemes and fake medical tests to the good old monetize your data and kidnap your attention.
Attention kidnapping has a nasty side effect of content bubbles and polarization, which is the defining problem of our time. Yet we happily allow the government to spend public money on education, research and investment in those companies. Because STEM.
Let’s stop this nonsense and show solidarity with the arts and humanities. They make our lives a little bit better.