Comedian Matt Rife appeared on Theo Von’s podcast ‘This Past Weekend’, and the two spent part of their conversation discussing a topic that clearly unsettled both men: artificial intelligence, mass surveillance, and the rapid expansion of data centers across the United States.
The discussion began when Theo brought up data centers. Rife revealed that he had recently helped oppose plans to build one near his home in Rhode Island.
“I just had to help stop them from putting in one in Rhode Island where I’m at,” Rife said. “They had to have a whole town hall meeting and everything like that.”
Although he couldn’t attend the meeting himself, Rife said he sent a representative to speak on his behalf. His biggest concern wasn’t necessarily the technology itself, but the impact it would have on his daily life.
“The most prominent thing that stood out to me, because it wasn’t going to be that far from my house, was there was going to be a non-stop humming coming from the building,” he explained. “I love the birds outside, dude.”
The conversation soon turned toward what all of that growing data storage capacity might ultimately be used for. Rife suggested that the infrastructure seemed to be pointing toward something larger.
“Unless we’re going to go into a surveillance state,” Theo said, “which is what it feels like a lot of times.”
Matt agreed with the sentiment.
“It feels like they already are,” he replied.
At that point, Theo pulled up a clip of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison discussing AI-powered surveillance. In the footage, Ellison said, “Citizens will be on their best behavior because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.”
Both men reacted with immediate discomfort.
“What the f**k, man?” Rife said.
Rife questioned whether that level of monitoring was necessary.
“Do we have to be watched all the time?” he asked. “I understand they’re pushing the agenda of safety, but how much safer is it going to get? Is it just going to be for accountability?”
The discussion then shifted to footage about Flock cameras. According to the segment, the cameras function as license plate readers while also creating profiles of individuals using factors such as gender, clothing, behavior, and biometric data. The report claimed that information gathered by the cameras feeds into platforms already used by federal immigration enforcement agencies.
Theo noted how widespread the technology had already become. He compared the technology to the infamous haunted doll Annabelle, a paranormal artifact he has frequently discussed in public.
“That’s the new Annabelle, dude,” Theo said, before adding, “and she’s out of the box.”
As the conversation wrapped up, Rife summed up his broader concerns about the direction technology appears to be heading.
“It’s too futuristic. It’s too invasive,” he said. “I don’t even want to live in this time, to be honest.”
