“I am committing myself to going harder on systems, on institutions, on outdated norms, and being as soft as possible with the individual humans I interact with and speak about,” Dr. Avriel Epps wrote in an Instagram post. Dr. Epps is a Harvard-educated AI and human development researcher as well as the cofounder of AI 4 Abolition. “We are in a cycle of escalation right now and we contribute to it by isolating ourselves and alienating those we disagree with in real life, only to take out our frustrations on them online,” Dr. Epps encouraged. On social media, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez reiterated a similar sentiment. “This is why I say that we should be signing up to knock on doors and be on the phones,” AOC said, affirming the need to talk to real people without depending on surrogates to reach them via mass media and expensive campaign rallies.
