The Thin Line: The New Masters of Fire and the Smokescreen of the Apocalypse

Abstract

The Thin Line: The New Masters of Fire and the Smokescreen of the Apocalypse interrogates the strategic deployment of existential panic surrounding artificial intelligence—not as a genuine warning, but as a calculated alibi for corporate techno-fascism. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s theory of power, Hans Jonas’s ethics of responsibility, and John Searle’s Chinese Room argument, the essay dismantles the myth of AI “intelligence,” revealing it as a semantic illusion masking advanced statistical processing devoid of consciousness, intention, or moral agency. The article contends that Silicon Valley elites—self-styled as “guardians” against AI doom—exploit apocalyptic narratives to justify monopolistic control over data, infrastructure, and governance, while deflecting scrutiny from their own undemocratic practices. Far from an autonomous threat, AI reflects the values, biases, and interests of its creators; the real danger lies not in machine rebellion, but in human abdication of ethical and civic responsibility. The piece calls for democratic, transparent, and participatory regulation that reclaims technological development from corporate capture and reorients it toward the preservation of genuine human life, not the fantasies of techno-oligarchs. In an age of digital shadows, the imperative is clear: to turn away from the wall, confront the fire, and reclaim agency before autonomy becomes another illusion sold back to us as freedom.