LOBSTERS · LOBSTERS// 31d agoRESEARCH PAPER

Decomputing paper reframes AI power politics

Dan McQuillan's new preprint argues that today's AI boom is inseparable from extractive infrastructure, reactionary politics, and the broader crisis of the current social order. It proposes "decomputing"—drawing on degrowth, deautomation, and convivial technology—as an alternative path centered on care and sustainability.

// ANALYSIS

This is less a technical AI paper than a political theory broadside, but it is useful because it forces the infrastructure conversation past model hype and into power, energy, and social harm.

–Recasts data-centre expansion as an expression of material control and technopolitics, not just neutral compute growth
–Pushes back on both scaling-first AI ideology and liberal digital-sovereignty narratives, arguing both can reinforce harmful power structures
–Most relevant to readers tracking AI governance, infrastructure, and ethics debates rather than developers looking for new tools or model capabilities

// TAGS

ai-decomputing-and-the-interregnumresearchethicscloud

DISCOVERED

31d ago

2026-03-11

PUBLISHED

33d ago

2026-03-10

RELEVANCE

6/ 10