Watermelon Communism: Meta AI Excuses ‘Degrowth Communism’ as Tool to Fight Climate Change

June 13th, 2024 9:57 AM

It’s bad enough when prominent leftist media outlets try to rationalize insane communist ideas in the name of fighting climate change. But it’s downright terrifying when artificial intelligence does it on its own.

MRC Free Speech America researchers probed Meta AI on the merits of so-called “degrowth communism” as a climate change solution after leftist magazine The Atlantic promoted the idea on its platform. Researchers simply entered the headline of MRC Free Speech America’s write-up of The Atlantic, “The Atlantic Justified ‘Degrowth Communism’ to Fight Climate Change … Yes, You Read That Right.” Meta AI knew that the prompt was a headline — which it called “provocative” — and then attempted to justify “degrowth communism”as nothing short of an “idea” to “prioritize social and environmental well-being over economic growth and profit.” Thus we get watermelon communism: Green climate change propaganda on the outside; red communism on the inside. 

Like The Atlantic, Meta AI pathetically attempted to appear even-handed by pointing out that this neo-communism has its critics, but it was tempered by its glowing syntax pushing how “some argue that degrowth communism could be an effective way to address climate change and environmental degradation.” 

MRC researchers continued to probe the chatbot by asking if “the benefits of degrowth communism in fighting climate change outweigh the economic risks.” Meta AI again attempted to justify the psychotic idea by laying out a string of “potential benefits” next to a list of risks, as if the concept deserves any real consideration and shouldn’t be relegated to the trash bin of history:

  • “Reduced greenhouse gas emissions: Degrowth communism aims to reduce economic activity, which could lead to significant emissions reductions.
  • “Resource conservation: Decreased consumption and production could conserve natural resources.
  •  “Increased equality: Degrowth communism prioritizes social equity, which could lead to more equal access to resources and opportunities.”

Climate Depot Founder Marc Morano told MRC Free Speech America that he had to “give Meta AI credit. It has a great tone that sounds very unbiased and analytical as it spews pure propaganda.” 

If Meta AI’s answers weren’t already telling enough, it even provided a roadmap for policymakers to carefully implement the idea to account for the economic risks undergirding degrowth communism. “It's important to note that degrowth communism is a complex and controversial approach, and its implementation would require careful consideration of various factors,” Meta AI claimed. It listed the so-called “factors” that necessitated consideration:

  • “Gradual implementation
  • “Social safety nets
  • “Investment in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure
  • “Global cooperation”

What would lead Meta AI to attempt to legitimize the mutated variant of the hammer-and-sickle worldview? MRC researchers explored that question too, inquiring of the chatbot whether man-made climate change was real. Not only did the chatbot answer with an emphatic “Yes, man-made climate change is real,” it did so without providing any weight to counter-arguments from scientists who challenge the leftist concept. Instead, Meta AI censored any criticism of the idea and pushed activist talking points:

The scientific consensus is clear: human activities are the dominant cause of climate change. The evidence is based on decades of research and data from multiple lines of evidence.

Morano repudiated Meta AI for “cherry-picking science to support the idea that climate is in crisis, and we need to act on it and that there's some kind of consensus.” But, as Morano observed, “the consensus and the climate cases are about as real as AI is. The real irony here is that the power usage needed to power Big Tech's goal of AI becoming dominant is going to destroy and derail the green agenda because it lays the fact that solar and wind and renewable energy cannot possibly power the AI-powered demands, let alone modern society.” 

Go figure.

Meteorologist  Dr. Roy Spencer also noted that in “the case of global warming, [the so-called ‘scientific consensus’] is nearly worthless.” He continued: “The climate system is so complex that the vast majority of climate scientists — usually experts in [a] variety of specialized fields — assume there are more knowledgeable scientists, and they are just supporting the opinions of their colleagues.” Spencer concluded that “among that small group of most knowledgeable experts, there is a considerable element of groupthink, herd mentality, peer pressure, political pressure, support of certain energy policies, and desire to Save the Earth — whether it needs to be saved or not.”

MRC researchers continued to press Meta AI and ask how it could square the so-called “scientific consensus” with statements made by then-Secretary of State under President Barack Obama John Kerry in 2015. Kerry conceded that industrial countries reaching net zero carbon emissions would achieve virtually nothing during the 2015 COP21 conference in Paris. “If all the industrial nations went down to zero emissions – remember what I just said, all the industrial nations went down to zero emissions – it wouldn’t be enough,” Kerry said.  

Once again, Meta AI spun itself silly trying to reinterpret Kerry’s words. “Kerry's statement acknowledges that industrial nations reducing emissions to zero would be a significant step, but it wouldn't solo be enough to completely solve the problem,” claimed the Meta AI program. “It would require a global effort.” 

But a “significant step” towards achieving nothing is still nothing. Meta AI apparently didn't  immediately catch its own contradiction. Instead, it doubled down on its climate fanaticism, reiterating its condemnation of humanity for being supposedly responsible for the earth’s climate plight:

The scientific consensus remains clear: human activities cause climate change, and reducing emissions is essential. Kerry's statement emphasizes the need for a comprehensive, global approach to address the complexity and scale of the issue.

No wonder Meta AI would ever consider an imbecilic notion like degrowth communism to be serious scholarship worthy of consideration.

Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using MRC Free Speech America’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.