# Big AI is accelerating the metacrisis: What can we do?

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24863 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.24863/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 19 of its 145 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 31 Dec 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 19 of 19)

- [Language (Technology) is Power: A Critical Survey of "Bias" in NLP](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.14050/) (2020)
- [Green AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.10597/) (2019)
- [The Values Encoded in Machine Learning Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.15590/) (2021)
- [Sociotechnical Harms of Algorithmic Systems: Scoping a Taxonomy for Harm Reduction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.05791/) (2022)
- [A Comprehensive Survey of Small Language Models in the Era of Large Language Models: Techniques, Enhancements, Applications, Collaboration with LLMs, and Trustworthiness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.03350/) (2024)
- [Decolonial AI: Decolonial Theory as Sociotechnical Foresight in Artificial Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.04068/) (2020)
- [Expressing stigma and inappropriate responses prevents LLMs from safely replacing mental health providers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.18412/) (2025)
- [Energy Considerations of Large Language Model Inference and Efficiency Optimizations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.17674/) (2025)
- [Accountability in an Algorithmic Society: Relationality, Responsibility, and Robustness in Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.05338/) (2022)
- [The Grey Hoodie Project: Big Tobacco, Big Tech, and the threat on academic integrity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.13676/) (2020)
- [AI and the Problem of Knowledge Collapse](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.03502/) (2024)
- [The Elephant in the Room: Analyzing the Presence of Big Tech in Natural Language Processing Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.02797/) (2023)
- [Value-laden Disciplinary Shifts in Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01172/) (2019)
- [Against Scale: Provocations and Resistances to Scale Thinking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.08850/) (2020)
- ["It's how you do things that matters": Attending to Process to Better Serve Indigenous Communities with Language Technologies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.02639/) (2024)
- [On Tables with Numbers, with Numbers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.06062/) (2024)
- [Designing Speech Technologies for Australian Aboriginal English: Opportunities, Risks and Participation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.03186/) (2025)
- [Anti-Regulatory AI: How "AI Safety" is Leveraged Against Regulatory Oversight](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.22872/) (2025)
- [Collaboration or Corporate Capture? Quantifying NLP's Reliance on Industry Artifacts and Contributions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.03912/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Templated or fully synthetic? Prompt construction as a confound in measuring LLM political stance beyond writing assistance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.11008/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The world is in the grip of ecological, meaning, and language crises that are converging into a metacrisis. Big AI is accelerating them all. LLM engineering sits at the core. Despite the public good motives of language engineers and the promise of LLMs, this work is being leveraged to create unprecedented wealth and power for a handful of individuals and corporations while causing existential harm to life on earth. As a profession, we urgently need to come together to explore alternatives and to design a life-affirming future for our field of natural language processing that is centered on human flourishing on a living planet.