The Sundance documentary Ghost in the Machine boldly asserts that the pursuit of artificial intelligence, and Silicon Valley itself, is rooted in eugenics.

Director Valerie Veatch makes the case that the rise of techno-fascism from the likes of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel is a feature, not a bug. That might be hyperbolic, but Ghost in the Machinebuilt around interviews with philosophers, AI researchers, historians and computer scientists, leaves little room for doubt.

If you’ve been following the meteoric rise of AI, or Silicon Valley in general, Veatch’s method of deconstructing technology isn’t really finding anything new. The film begins with a complete failure of Microsoft’s chatbotwithout wasting time on became a white supremacist who loved Hitler. It repeats the environmental impacts of AI data centersas well as the ways that technology companies have dependent on low-wage workers from Africa and everywhere else to improve their algorithms.

But even I was surprised to learn that we can trace the impact of eugenics on tech back to Karl Pearson, the mathematician who pioneered the field of statistics, and who also spent his life trying to quantify the differences between races. (Guess who he believes is superior.) His legacy is continued by William Shockleya co-creator of the transistor, an outspoken white supremacist who spent his later years espousing (now debunked) theories around IQ and racial differences.

As an engineering professor at Stanford, Shockley fostered a culture of prioritizing white men over women and minorities, which ultimately shaped what Silicon Valley looks like today. His line of thought may have had the influence of John McCarthy, the Stanford researcher who coined the term “artificial intelligence” in 1955,

With roots like that, Elon Musk – known for unleash bigotry online, highlights a reportedly racist work environment at Tesla and throw in the occasional Nazi salute — looks less like an anomaly than part of a pattern. Ghost in the Machine asks a simple question: How can we trust guys like this (and it’s almost always guys like Musk) in our future?

Through its many interviews, which include the likes of AI researcher Dr. Emily Bender, historian Becca Lewis and media theorist Douglass Rushkoff, Ghost in the Machine painting the rise of AI as a fascist project aimed at humiliating humans and establishing the techno-elite as our de facto rulers. Given how much of our lives are already dominated by gadgets and social networks from companies that pioneered addictive user safety engagement, it’s easy to imagine history repeating itself with AI.

Ghost in the Machine doesn’t leave any room for considering potential benefits around AI, which may cause technology advocates to dismiss it as a hit-job. But we’re now at the peak of the AI ​​hype cycle, after Big Tech has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in this technology, and after spending years shoving it down our throats without proving why it’s useful to so many people. AI should be able to withstand a little criticism.

Ghost in the Machine can be found in The Sundance Film Festival website and streaming apps from now until the end of Sunday, February 1.