“The essence of capitalism is to turn nature into commodities and commodities into capital. The live green earth is transformed into dead gold bricks, with luxury items for the few and toxic slag heaps for the many. The glittering mansion overlooks a vast sprawl of shanty towns, wherein a desperate, demoralized humanity is kept in line with drugs, television, AI and armed force.”―Michael Parenti, Against Empire
I’d like to return to something I mentioned briefly in my piece about Aaron Swartz. It’s the idea that we need to take back control over unfettered capitalism, business and rampant profit making. Especially with technology - make it work for the betterment, happiness and quality of life of the many, not the few.
We all have read, heard about the widening wealth and lifestyle gap between the normal working Joe and the top 1%. I’d even make that 10%. The business, wealth, laptop class.
Now with AI and its promise of technological efficiencies, it will get much worse.
Oh don’t believe firms, corporations, the Sam Altman, Gates' of the world pleading they have our best interests at heart. No. It’s simple. The ultimate goal of AI is simply wealth creation for the owners, those that control the products AI will produce or whose creation will become “easier”. AI will allow better ways to sell you stuff you don’t need (just think how AI search will work - get to know you, tease you).
But what if, instead of the layoffs and the money saved going into offshore accounts and more disparity and despair in the world, (not to mention more yachts and private jets), what if AI efficiencies went into the schedules of workers in terms of more time off, more freedom to do what they want to do?
In the video (view it in full here), Richard Wolff outlines a possible future for AI and society. It goes as follows.
AI is introduced into a company. It makes the company more efficient.
The AI means the company needs 50% less employees to achieve the same output, produce the same product.
The company can then put everyone on half time BUT paid the same salary. Essentially an hourly increase in their wage of 100%. All employees now just work 20 hours a week. The AI accounts for the rest.
The company produces the same amount of product, services, output, profit AND workers spend less time at work, are given more freedom to live, be alive, relax, enjoy.
This can be a possible world and alternative. Far fetched? Maybe. There are so many forces at work against it - the money, influence and power will try to protect its quest for more, more, more $$.
But we need to voice, discuss, explore these possibilities. Compassionate, controlled capitalism. Almost what the Scandinavian countries tried to create.
The exploitation almost imprinted in the DNA of capitalism must be arrested, slowed, stalled. Let’s start the dialogue.
“Socialism will never take root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” - John Steinbeck
Profits for the few or leisure for the many?