History

In 1991, The Tech at MIT published an interview with Joseph Weizenbaum, the computer scientist best known for creating ELIZA and later becoming one of the field’s sharpest internal critics. Speaking with Diana ben‑Aaron, he dissected the role of computers in education, their entanglement with the military, and the ethical evasions of scientists. Three decades later, his words are less a time capsule and more a mirror — the issues he named have not only persisted but mutated into modern forms, from AI hype cycles to tech‑military partnerships dressed up in start‑up chic. This post is a “then/now” rendering of that interview: his points in their original spirit, and how they look in the world of 2025. ...

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), far from being an unfortunate bureaucratic misstep, represents a meticulous continuation of state-sanctioned racial subjugation. The organisation does not merely enforce immigration law; it embodies the operational logic of a system built—quite literally—on unpaid labour, racial hierarchy, and legally sanctioned cruelty. This article serves as a follow-up to ICE: The shadow of unchecked power, moving beyond symptoms and into the structural bones of the matter. We shall trace three interlocking chains: the legal codification of slavery via the 13th Amendment, the evolution of concentration camp logic in immigration enforcement, and the ideological inheritance ICE receives from the American South’s slavery economy. ...