Silicon Valley mainstay Kumail Nanjiani has penned a pretty dire warning about developments in the actual Silicon Valley, saying the rate of technological progress far outpaces its ethical ramifications.
Considering the insane levels of research that go into making the show as accurate as possible, the tech world oughta pay attention.
Nanjiani, who has played coder Dinesh Chugtai across the satire’s four (very funny) seasons, took to Twitter to verbalise something “I can’t get out of my head“: the fact an industry capable of altering society as we know it seemingly has no care for the damage it could case.
https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/925829070658531329
https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/925829691776237568
https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/925832461153476609
Referencing recent criticisms of platforms like Twitter and Facebook for their handling of threatening posts, or even content that has the ability to sway elections, Nanjiani says we simply haven’t built a framework to deal with technology’s impact on society.
https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/925832631320584192
https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/925832826091479040
Nanjiani – a fella who has primarily processed the world of Silicon Valley as a comedian – went as far to say these unchecked developments have “the capacity to destroy us.”
https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/925833150348926976
At this point, we reckon it’s worthwhile reiterating just how much research goes into the show, and why it may be worthwhile paying attention to the perception of an educated outsider like Nanjiani.
A 2016 New Yorker investigation into the exhaustive lengths Silicon Valley‘s production staff takes to ensure accuracy revealed that lead technical consultant Jonathan Dotan oversees nearly 200 well-placed sources, including former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo.
“The first part of the job is making sure we get the specifics right, because our audience won’t tolerate any mistakes,” Dotan said.
In the same piece, tech investor Roger McNamee said “some of us actually, as naïve as it sounds, came here to make the world a better place. And we did not succeed.
“We made some things better, we made some things worse, and in the meantime the libertarians took over, and they do not give a damn about right or wrong. They are here to make money.”
So, that’s chill. Everything is fine. Just fine.
