So yeah , it was weird .
IE : What was your take on Artificial Intelligence , then , as opposed to now ? AJ : Well , it ’ s just like the dawn of the age of the fucking Internet . It was supposed to lead us into the age of information , and instead , it became an age of DISinformation . And it ’ s the same with AI – there ’ s a lot of incredible aspects to it , especially with anything medical or with climate change . It can be a useful tool , and we ’ re still discovering how to use it . So it could be really useful . But the powers that be – and the people themselves – have been using it for more malevolent reasons .
IE : How do you view the unreal rise of strong-arm autocrats , here and globally , and the public ’ s almost blind acceptance of them ? And voting against your own self-interest ? None of it makes sense . AJ : I don ’ t understand what people are so surprised about because history is cyclical , and in can say all sorts of crazy stuff , and people will like you for that , until all of a sudden , you obtain power , and then it ’ s like everything else on social media . That ’ s why these kids are wishing there WAS fentanyl in their coke or heroin – they just want to die . They want out of the hamster wheel that we ’ ve created with social media . And . ou think THIS is bad ? Wait ’ til AI rears its ugly head , and the right people start using it in an even more malevolent fashion .
IE : What do you foresee for our own crucial 2024 election ? AJ : Well , I don ’ t see a path of victory for Trump . Uh , or the Unnamed One , as we decided . He ’ s not going to gain anything new – he ’ s lost all the independent voters in the suburbs , so I just don ’ t see it . And the Republican House of Representatives will not win , although , unfortunately , I think people are still stupid enough to vote in a Republican Senate . But here we go – we ’ re gonna have a stalled
the 1930s , we had this same thing . They had the exact same PR people , and Goebbels might as well be still alive right now . Because they ’ re just regurgitating the same us-against-them tropes , the downtrodden – or the lower class – versus the bourgeois , or the super-rich , and this is all cyclical , and this is how world wars start . And this is why we make fun of it in HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES , and just by quoting that title , we ’ re distorting a Marx quote . Because it ’ s happening AGAIN . So it ’ s not surprising . It ’ s disappointing . It ’ s frustrating . But it ’ s not surprising . We ’ re basically in the 1930s again , and it ’ s ridiculous . And it is , once again , just populist culture . But sometimes , populism works well . Look at Ukraine , look at Zelensky . Zelensky was basically a man of the people , and he ’ s not insane – he comes from a Jon Stewart mold , and he was a comedian . So sometimes that kind of populism sweeps just like a celebrity in there , and this guy will have some good ideas . And I do understand all this in the sense that social media has made it so the person who ’ s going to win ( an election ) has the most Likes or followers . And then you
Congress again and an old man running stuff . So it ’ s all going nowhere – we ’ re on that hamster wheel again . But the thing is , it doesn ’ t matter because Trump is baked into the cake – it ’ s either you like him or you don ’ t , and enough people don ’ t like him that he ’ s not gonna be able to retain power . So he can stall and delay all of his indictments all he wants because , at some point , he ’ s gonna have to face the music , As will Orban in Hungary , as will China with its collapsing economy . All these things are coming to a head , and the world is like a giant boil that ’ s about to be lanced .
IE : Final question : Will you ever employ AI technology to create music ? AJ : No . What ’ s the point ? I ’ ll let other people do that and go , “ Alexa ! I wanna sound like Ministry ! Write me a song !” So , who am I gonna sound like ? I sound like Ministry already , so there ’ s really no point in it for me .
Appearing 3 / 14 at Aragon Ballroom , Chicago . march 2024 illinoisentertainer . com 23