AI Is not the Messiah or the Liberator that You Think It Is
Reflections On AI-Capitalism, Neo-Feudalism and Their Effects on Human Values
Evolution of Technology
Not long ago, slaves used to work in the cotton fields and then we realized how inhumane it was and how we needed to reform the system. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t natural, but we’ve gone through it and replaced it with something different, something better — so, we thought. It was office work, a 9-5 job in a cubical, paper-pushing all day. Then came the hipsters, the rebels and the anarchists who considered themselves as woke and who rejected the typical 9-5 lifestyle in exchange for an impoverished and ragged hedonism. This anti-culture didn’t survive because it wasn’t founded in some concrete ideology but rather was just another mindless anarchism of the time. Slaves went back into the offices, wore suits, sat against the shiny tables and locked themselves up in glass walls and concrete blocks. Slaves started to take pride in their work and their lifestyle. They started to compete against each other for better cars and bigger houses. Then came the human assisted machines. They started to replace each manual profession one by one. Those who were the experts in their fields became redundant, lost all the material possessions they collected throughout their life. Some of the slaves were trained on the machines and were still kept by the owners. These slaves became proud and looked down upon the prior generation who lacked expertise in using the newer technology. The same cycle of competition, material possession and mindless consumption repeated itself. Then came digital automation technology. It replaced the machinists with only machines. Now even fewer slaves were kept who were trained to maintain the machines. The same cycle of materialism repeated itself. Until another monster came to the block. This is called, “Artificial Intelligence” (AI).
Dystopian Future/Present
Just like the previous technologies, AI has started to purge people by making them redundant, however, this time it has attacked the white-collar jobs and its effect is on a massive scale. Where previous technologies only affected a certain job market or a profession, this AI daemon is swallowing not only the professions but is consuming the human consciousness itself. The biases, prejudices, racism, and the systemic oppressive practices have been amplified. People who were the covert narcissists now have obtained a platform to abuse not only their immediate surroundings but to contaminate the whole human consciousness. These toxic people have quickly multiplied as an infectious disease multiplies itself, and all society has become so toxic that nobody knows what is a healthy human emotion and behavior.
We are living in a post-apocalyptic digital present. All systems have been compromised. The basic trust in systems has been lost. Every facet of human interaction involves an intermediary machine system which has mostly been developed by people with prejudices, biases and personal agendas. Even a completely transparent AI system cannot be free of prejudices and biases because it reflects the masses, and most people have biases and prejudices which get amplified when embedded in the technology.
“The inequality therefore is not just between the people who are illiterate/non-technical and the knowledgeable/learned but there is great inequality within the tech sector.”
Effects of AI on Employment
The rise of AI is creating an unequal society in terms of access to jobs and opportunities. As more and more recruitment processes are automated, ethnic minorities are being left behind, unable to compete with the AI-powered recruitment systems. This is leading to a situation where barriers to the job market have risen.
The use of AI recruitment and “screening” systems has become a new normal which are inhumane, biased, dumb, toxic and racist for any sensible human. Robotic questions with a brief window to answer means only another machine can get the answers “right”. Not only this reinforces the preference for fact-crammers and discourages the deep thinkers but it also embeds the prejudices against minorities.
AI systems reinforce the biases and prejudices by systematically recruiting people with the same mindset that was indoctrinated by the developers of the platform. This toxic cycle of reinforcing certain belief systems allows these people to maintain the status quo.
Most people in the tech field are suffering from a superiority syndrome whereby they think of themselves immune to these new technologies because they are in the driving seat and not at the mercy of its effects. However, this reminds one of the delusions of grandiosity which machinists of the earlier generation had about their perceived superiority over the manual workers. Recent developments in new AI tools are making it clear that even the tech sector is not immune to these new technologies.
“The tech geeks and nerds, who were the pariah of the society, have suddenly gained influence and power. Due to the lack of a moral compass and a value system, these nerds are doing more harm than they are benefiting the society.”
Effect of AI on Power
All these AI tools are being developed by capitalistic institutions. One must not delude oneself about what a capitalistic enterprise wants from such tools. To state the obvious: less labor, more productivity, hence more profit. The new productivity increase in “value” creation goes to the capitalist’s pocket as usual. Only thing is that there would be more than ¾ of the population who would be forced to live in poverty and unemployment.
It has already started to show its true colors. People who are in these companies, developing these tools, have become the new aristocracy. A new form of idolatry and worship has started. Millions are hypnotized by this “progress” and are blindly following the orders of these social media giants. Both the content creators and the followers are equally trapped in these predatory systems. Instead of working for a 9-5 job — which they thought as laborious, these people are now working 24/7, without compensation, for these algorithms which are consuming them like an energy source. Make no mistake, you are the product and the more some content is popular on social media, the more people are hooked. Both the content creators and the followers are in mass psychosis. This mass psychosis is being used by the demagogues for their evil agendas. There has been many instances of AI systems exhibiting racism, Nazism and Fascism. Social media mobbing against the voices of the good is nothing new but it has been accelerated with the new tech tools. It can’t get any more worse when truth becomes lie and lies become the new religion.
Neo-Feudalism and AI-Capitalism
It is true that AI has removed many door keepers, however, it didn’t happen without a cost. Now the biggest gate keeper is AI itself. As AI continues to advance, it is becoming increasingly clear that it is creating a new type of aristocracy, with a small group of rich corporate professionals, demagogues, and wealthy businessmen gaining more power and more wealth. These corporate professionals and wealthy individuals are using AI to automate many jobs and processes, controlling the visibility of people, oppressing individuals, and promoting their agenda. This is leading to widespread unemployment, alienation, societal collapse, and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.
“The content creators on social media are racing against algorithms. Rich people are showing off their wealth and getting richer. This cycle of wealth creation from wealth exhibition is the most brutal form of capitalism.”
The companies offering AI tools are a new form of feudalism. Instead of giving land and getting the harvest in return, these companies are giving platforms and getting richer by subscriptions. The inequality therefore is not just between the people who are illiterate/non-technical and the knowledgeable/learned but there is great inequality within the tech sector. The rich people with minimum to no technical background are becoming the AI elite while people with highest expertise in the field, but lacking money, are barred from employment.
The labelled data required for AI tools is another area where this neo-feudalism shows its colors. All the manual labelling work is done in the third world countries and their poverty is being exploited. In the guise of remote work, rich people from rich countries systematically exploit highly educated poor people from poor countries by making them their wage slaves.
This new form of inequality is deeply concerning, as it is creating an unjust and oppressive society. The wealthy elite are using their wealth and power to control the AI development, shape public opinion, and maintain their own privileged positions. This is leading to a situation where the rich are getting richer, while the poor are unable to even survive.
Conclusions
A strange mixture of Neo-feudalism, AI-Capitalism and Neo-Fascism is creating and reinforcing a new power dynamic in society. This has led to widening inequality, economic insecurity, political disenfranchisement, and social division, all of which are damaging to both the individuals and the society.
The rise of AI is creating a new form of inequality that is characterized by the increasing power of rich corporate professionals and the wealthy elite from finance sector. This neo-feudalism/AI-capitalism is creating an unjust and oppressive society, where the rich are getting richer, by simply showing off their wealth on social media and the poor are being forced to starve. It is up to all of us to ensure that the advancements in AI are used to benefit society, rather than damaging it. One can do this by recruiting and supporting the real humans in the AI field instead of worshiping the rich corporate/business Narcissists. It is crucial that steps be taken to address this issue and to create a more equitable and inclusive society.