Laughing at Power: A Troublemaker’s Guide to Changing Tech

The status quo of tech today is untenable: we’re addicted to our
devices, we’ve become increasingly polarized, our mental health
is suffering and our personal data is sold to the highest bidder.
This situation feels entrenched, propped up by a system of broken
incentives beyond our control. So how do you shift an immovable
status quo? Our guest today, Srdja Popovic, has been working to
answer this question his whole life. 


As a young activist, Popovic helped overthrow Serbian dictator
Slobodan Milosevic by turning creative resistance into an art
form. His tactics didn't just challenge authority, they
transformed how people saw their own power to create change.
Since then, he's dedicated his life to supporting peaceful
movements around the globe, developing innovative strategies that
expose the fragility of seemingly untouchable systems. In this
episode, Popovic sits down with CHT's Executive Director Daniel
Barcay to explore how these same principles of creative
resistance might help us address the challenges we face with tech
today. 


Your Undivided Attention is produced by
the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on
Twitter: @HumaneTech_


We are hiring for a new Director of Philanthropy at CHT. Next
year will be an absolutely critical time for us to shape how AI
is going to get rolled out across our society. And our team is
working hard on public awareness, policy and technology and
design interventions. So we're looking for someone who can help
us grow to the scale of this challenge. If you're interested,
please apply. You can find the job posting at
humanetech.com/careers.


RECOMMENDED MEDIA


“Pranksters vs. Autocrats” by Srdja Popovic and Sophia A.
McClennen 


”Blueprint for Revolution” by Srdja Popovic


The Center for Applied Non-Violent Actions and Strategies,
Srjda’s organization promoting peaceful resistance around the
globe.


Tactics4Change, a database of global dilemma actions created by
CANVAS


The Power of Laughtivism, Srdja’s viral TEDx talk from 2013


Further reading on the dilemma action tactics used by Syrian
rebels


Further reading on the toy protest in Siberia


More info on The Yes Men and their activism toolkit Beautiful
Trouble 


”This is Not Propaganda” by Peter Pomerantsev”


Machines of Loving Grace,” the essay on AI by Anthropic CEO Dario
Amodei, which mentions creating an AI Srdja.

RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES


Future-proofing Democracy In the Age of AI with Audrey Tang

The AI ‘Race’: China vs. the US with Jeffrey Ding and Karen
Hao

The Tech We Need for 21st Century Democracy with Divya
Siddarth

The Race to Cooperation with David Sloan Wilson

CLARIFICATION: Srdja makes reference to Russian President
Vladimir Putin wanting to win an election in 2012 by 82%. Putin
did win that election but only by 63.6%. However, international
election observers concluded that "there was no real competition
and abuse of government resources ensured that the ultimate
winner of the election was never in doubt."