# Civilization Is Converting Matter into Computation by Bryant McGill > “I do not infer the importance of AI from what CEOs say about AI. I infer it from the rate at which civilization is converting matter into computation. Money can lie, marketing can lie, politicians can lie, futurists can lie; gigawatts are considerably less philosophical.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile, September 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Author-supplied exact original:** “I do not infer the importance of AI from what CEOs say about AI. I infer it from the rate at which civilization is converting matter into computation. Money can lie, marketing can lie, politicians can lie, futurists can lie; gigawatts are considerably less philosophical.” — supplied directly by Bryant McGill for [[articles/The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile|The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile]]. - **Source article:** [[articles/The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile|The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile]] — Bryant McGill identifies this article as the originating publication for this Reminder. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers|AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile|The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile]] - **Article:** [[articles/STFU About AI and Water and Just Eat Your Burger|STFU About AI and Water and Just Eat Your Burger]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers|AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers|AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers]] - [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] - [[wiki/AI Safety|AI Safety]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “I do not infer the importance of AI from what CEOs say about AI. I infer it from the rate at which civilization is converting matter into computation. Money can lie, marketing can lie, politicians can lie, futurists can lie; gigawatts are considerably less philosophical.” — Bryant McGill, The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile, September 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-bryant-mcgill-civilization-is-converting-matter-into-computation ```