Automation and Autonomy: Labour, Capital and Machines in the Artificial Intelligence Industry

This book argues that Marxist theory is essential for understanding the contemporary industrialization of machine learning, which remains firmly under the control of capital despite popular theories of immaterial labor.

Format: Hardback
Length: 245 pages
Publication date: 22 June 2021
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This book makes a compelling case that Marxist theory is indispensable for comprehending the contemporary industrialization of a particular form of artificial intelligence (AI) known as machine learning. It provides a comprehensive political economic history of AI, tracing its evolution from a fringe research interest pursued by a small group of scientists in the 1950s to a central component of cybernetic capital fifty years later. Furthermore, the book delves into a political economic analysis of the scale, scope, and dynamics of the modern AI industry, encompassing a labor process analysis of commercial machine learning software production. This analysis is based on extensive interviews with workers and management in AI companies across the globe, ranging from small startups to large technology firms.

Drawing from these findings, the author develops a Marxist framework to challenge the prevailing theory of immaterial labor, which posits that information technologies enhance workers' autonomy from capital, paving the way for a post-capitalist economy. However, the author argues that this theory does not sufficiently capture the realities of high-tech digital labor in the AI industry. Digital labor in the AI sector remains firmly under the control of capital. Steinhoff contends that theories that suggest an emerging autonomy of labor are, in fact, observing the increasing automation of labor.

This book offers a valuable contribution to the study of AI and its implications for society. By providing a thorough analysis of the political economic factors shaping the AI industry, it sheds light on the ways in which capital and labor interact in this rapidly evolving field. The author's Marxist perspective provides a critical lens through which to understand the dynamics of power and inequality in the AI economy, and it offers valuable insights into the potential challenges and opportunities that arise as AI continues to transform industries and societies.

Weight: 478g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030716882
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021