Ancestors

Written by Anthony on 2025-01-18 at 18:13

If would be interesting to see the overlap between

(a) Sectors where unionization activity and other labor unrest has appeared; and

(b) Sectors where the AI maniacs are claiming AI will soon take over jobs

My suspicion is that one of the functions of generative AI is labor discipline: frighten workers so that they stop making demands of employers for fear of losing their jobs or benefits. Labor discipline is a well-documented strategy the powers that be have been using for at least a century for exactly this purpose. Clara Mattei's excellent book and articles on this subject, which I think make this case incontrovertibly.

I don't think it's coincidental that there is so much enthusiasm for generative AI among powerful state and corporate actors despite a corresponding dislike and fear of it among working class folks: that's a common pattern in labor disciplining policies and is how they function. I also don't think it's coincidental that the generative AI rhetoric, and the latest hype cycle, kicked off in the wake of COVID-related state interventions: as Mattei argues, austerity policies are consciously brought to bear on behalf of wealthy capitalists whenever the state is forced by circumstances to take actions benefiting workers. The recent historic rise in unionization activity was met with mass layoffs (read: labor discipline), a rise in interest rates (read: financial pain inflicted on the non-wealthy) and attempts to "cool off" the economy (read: force a bunch of people to become unemployed, another labor disciplining tool). I think generative AI is, in part, an attempt to squash hope and force workers to be docile again through fear and acquiescence, which again is a labor disciplining strategy Mattei has documented is consciously brought to bear by the powers that be.

Therefore it wouldn't surprise me at all to find that (a) is nearly identical to (b), or contained within it.

[#]AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #labor #LaborDiscipline #austerity

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Toot

Written by Anthony on 2025-01-22 at 14:40

One good reason to think that generative AI is about labor discipline: Larry Summers is on the OpenAI board ( https://fortune.com/2023/11/22/larry-summers-named-board-openai-sam-altman-return-ceo-ai/ ; note the threatening headline) . In his public speaking Larry Summers is the walking embodiment of austerity economics. He bangs the labor discipline drum at every opportunity. Just one well-known example from 2022: https://fortune.com/2022/06/21/larry-summers-calls-for-high-unemployment-to-curb-inflation/

5 years at 6% unemployment or 1 year at 10%: That’s what Larry Summers says we’ll need to defeat inflation

This is coded economist-speak for: we need to force a bunch of people who currently have jobs to be fired or laid off, and keep them in that state for 1-5 years, in order to achieve an economic goal. That is the essence of austerity economics and labor discipline.

Never mind that more honest economists have identified corporate markups as the primary driver of inflation, which immediately implies that forcing people out of work would worsen inflation, not reduce it. Summers knows this, or at least has access to this research. But he's an austerity ideologue.

So. Why is this person, who has no background in artificial intelligence, on the board of a company that claims to be building artificial general intelligence? In what universe does that make any sense? Well, it makes perfect sense in the universe where one of the goals for OpenAI's technology is enhanced labor discipline. Larry Summers has a track record and professional network for achieving exactly that; he'd know how to further that mission and knows the powerful people best-situated to help.

[#]AGI #AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LaborDiscipline #Capitalism #labor #austrity

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