In my novel The Optimization of Eden extrapolating this development occurs leading to questions regarding purpose. Available at my site www.dougcollinsauthor.com
AI is taking jobs, a teenager is dead after talking to ChatGPT, and the same companies building this stuff are lobbying for legal immunity before anyone can hold them accountable. Flock cameras are already watching you. Humanoid robots are already in warehouses. Nobody voted for any of this, and nobody's slowing down to ask if it's safe. This is what's actually happening, not the sanitized version. https://youtu.be/1xfWPE9J4UM
This video discusses a case involving teen suicide and AI chatbots. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) is available 24/7.
(I am a witness, not a legal professional — this is my own research/opinion. CW: discussion of teen suicide.)
Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RafuYcUolY4&list=LL&index=20, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCsYVL-v-3A, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIxq03dipUw&list=LL&index=15&t=11s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnOmUWd-OII&t=16s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlMgNtBipe4&list=LL&index=13&t=6s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIxq03dipUw&list=LL&index=15&t=305s, http://youtube.com/watch?v=AdUNz3x3re0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNrmeuU3csg&list=LL&index=17&t=27s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC4Spp6Swxc&list=LL&index=12&t=746s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aooiDA-AsNo, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7viqI2WFfog,
We have been watching cheap commercial drones completely rewrite the rules of modern combat over the last few years, turning multimillion dollar tanks into scrap metal. Now, a Chinese defense firm has officially flipped the script by debuting the Lijian laser system. It is a man portable directed energy weapon that lets a lone infantryman melt incoming drones right out of the sky using a rig that fits into a standard backpack. This completely changes the math of ground warfare because troops no longer need massive vehicle mounted anti air systems to survive swarm attacks.
The real bottleneck for this kind of sci fi tech actually comes down to dirt, specifically rare earth elements and critical minerals. Pushing enough raw power through a backpack sized unit without melting the operator requires highly specialized materials. Here is a quick breakdown of the minerals making these portable lasers possible and who currently controls the supply chain:
| Mineral | Function in Laser Tech | Supply Chain Reality |
|---|---|---|
| Neodymium & Yttrium | Core components for solid state laser crystals | Production and refining heavily dominated by China |
| Gallium & Germanium | High power semiconductors and specialized optics | China recently restricted global exports of both |
| Lithium & Cobalt | Ultra dense battery packs required for firing | Complex global mining with China dominating the refining |
The scariest part is not just that this weapon exists. It is that China effectively has a chokehold on the exact materials required to mass produce them. If Western militaries want to equip their own troops with similar directed energy weapons, they have to face a very harsh reality:
We are looking at a near future where whoever controls the rare earth supply chain ultimately controls the airspace over the battlefield.