Artificial intelligence has become one of the most significant technological developments in the modern world. Many see it as a scientific revolution that will fundamentally transform human life, while others fear it as a threat to jobs, privacy, and even humanity itself.
Alienated intelligence
This section critiques the capitalist application of AI, highlighting its use for profit maximization at the expense of workers. It cites examples like job displacement for writers and designers due to generative AI, the replacement of journalists with algorithms, and algorithmic management in warehouses leading to increased surveillance and reduced wages. The article connects this to Marx's concept of alienation, where humans adapt to machines rather than controlling them, fostering intellectual laziness and cognitive dependence to serve the interests of a wealthy minority.
AI conquers the world
This part delves into the environmental and geopolitical impact of modern AI. It points out the immense consumption of electricity and water by data centers, and the extraction of rare minerals like cobalt and lithium needed for electronic chips. The article details how approximately 70% of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, often involving child labor, and lithium extraction in South America depletes groundwater and displaces Indigenous communities. It also notes the uncompensated collection of user data globally for training AI models, which are then monopolized and sold at prices unaffordable to nations in the Global South.
People and planet before profits
From a Marxist perspective, the article argues that capitalism's inherent drive for profit dictates the chaotic and unplanned use of AI's vast resources. It criticizes the waste of resources on applications like targeted advertising, financial speculation, and surveillance, while essential services are lacking for millions. The piece clarifies that the criticism is not against technology itself or its energy consumption, but against the subordination of scientific progress to profit, the burden placed on poor communities, and the transformation of technology into a monopolistic tool rather than a collective asset for humanity. The core question remains who owns AI's development and who pays its true cost.
