A corporate artificial intelligence frenzy is sowing fear for workers on a massive scale. Seventy-one percent of people in the U.S., according to a Reuters poll on A.I., are concerned “too many people will lose jobs.” Wall Street and Big Tech are running a huge hype machine to back up their massive, risky investment in A.I., pledging it will drive a “productivity surge,” meaning fewer workers and more profits. But workers can take heart that, so far, it’s mostly hot air. To date, A.I. is making few profits.
For the same reason we don’t use tractors in union organizing, we also don’t use AI.
Marxism beat ludditism more than a century ago. Appealing to reaction is not the progressive stance you think it is. One can only afford to be so backwards if the aim is class collaboration ie an understanding that a concession can be made to help stablise the western proleteriat in favour of a more potent imperialism.