AI Discovers New Threat: Thinking Muslim
We're told AI is neutral, merely reflecting its training data. Apparently, that data includes a comprehensive syllabus on 'perpetual foreign enemy' studies, perfected since the 9/11 'War on Terror.' Think tanks like the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), which received over $16 million from anonymous donors in 2021 alone, have spent years crafting narratives that conflate criticism of
Israeli policy with antisemitism, and Muslim identity with extremism. It's almost as if the algorithms are simply doing what their human designers and their well-funded ideological architects programmed them to do: surveil, stereotype, and subtly (or not so subtly) criminalize Muslim communities. Who knew 'machine learning' meant 'learning exactly how to profile from human bigots'? So, when AI
flags innocuous online activity from Muslims as 'suspicious,' or generates biased imagery, it's not a glitch; it's a feature. The system isn't 'learning' Islamophobia; it's simply executing existing government and media doctrine. One might ask if the 'algorithmic gaze' is truly about technology, or just a convenient digital scapegoat for staring down communities through a lens of fear manufactured
right here in Washington.