AI and Irontown

The author reflects on Princess Mononoke, comparing Lady Eboshi's Irontown—which gives outcasts work and dignity while destroying the surrounding forest—to today's AI, which is genuinely empowering but carries costs borne by those who don't benefit. They note that Ashitaka, who seeks to "see with eyes unclouded by hate" and refuses to take sides, models the nuance they want in AI debates. The piece closes by asking not whether there will be iron, but what kind of Irontown we build with it.