Open Banking Is Dead, TechnoOptimists Want A War
This week on the podcast, we look at governments that fail to deliver on their promises to innovate for the benefit of their citizens, and the technologists who believe that governments shouldn't make those decisions. Fasten your seat belt.
"What happens when technocrats decide what they do is more important than government and don't want to play by the rules?"
Open banking now seems to have collapsed. While not technically dead, the dream of financial innovation and competition in open banking is out in the cold. Minister Freeland has announced new commitments to make banking more accessible, but this commitment will not be necessary if key commitments on structural changes are met. Is the banking ombudsman half-sized or a big white flag? Unfortunately, it seems the #FreeBoswell group is starting to win hearts and minds.
For stylistic appeal, a16z general partner Marc Andreessen created a tech-optimistic manifesto. It is bad in many ways, and many well-intentioned critics point out its failings more thoughtfully than my undergraduate philosophy.
But as a caller to our podcast, you know that we encourage honest reading about complex topics that lead to better conversation and understanding. My biggest problem with the Techno Optimist Manifesto is not the fault of the document, but its purpose: to provide a shortcut that is history-based and requires no deep perspective, but a tool-driven binary.
I'm not trying to be political, just pointing out the dire implications behind the whole document. "Be our partner in the pursuit of technology, abundance and life" sounds like a warm hug, but it is based on the belief that any obstacle to the pursuit of technology is an enemy (the list of enemies in the manifesto is impressive).
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Not coincidentally, the announcement came just weeks before US President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at regulating artificial intelligence. In this podcast, we've talked about AI regulation issues, and I don't want to pretend that these measures are well thought out, but I do want to highlight the responses of the manifesto authors. As in the image above (again from Andreessen's Twitter), it doesn't inspire optimism. He seems to use optimism as a weapon.
Before you make the "I'm doing this for memory" argument, let me remind you of the concept of propaganda over the last 15 years of the internet.
So is this tech podcast anti-tech or anti-tech? No! We simply want to balance our enthusiasm for technology with a healthy skepticism that technology itself is the end.
But we are open to discussions. Want to join us?
For more information, visit https://startwell.co.
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The Beta Kit Podcast is hosted by Douglas Soltis and Rob Kennedy. Produced by Katy Laure, edited by Katy Laure and Poncho Navarro. Sponsored by Flaat and SAAS North (use code 'betakit25' to get tickets). Photo courtesy of Marc Andreessen.
