Inhuman Power (Paperback)

James Steinhoff

ISBN 10: 0745338607 / ISBN 13: 9780745338606

Published by Pluto Press, London, 2019

About this Item

Paperback. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has seen major advances in recent years. While machines were always central to the Marxist analysis of capitalism, AI is a new kind of machine that Marx could not have anticipated. Contemporary machine-learning AI allows machines to increasingly approach human capacities for perception and reasoning in narrow domains. This book explores the relationship between Marxist theory and AI through the lenses of different theoretical concepts, including surplus-value, labour, the general conditions of production, class composition and surplus population. It argues against left accelerationism and post-Operaismo thinkers, asserting that a deeper analysis of AI produces a more complex and disturbing picture of capitalism's future than has previously been identified. Inhuman Power argues that on its current trajectory, AI represents an ultimate weapon for capital. It will render humanity obsolete or turn it into a species of transhumans working for a wage until the heat death of the universe; a fate that is only avoidable by communist revolution. An exploration of the relationship between Marxist theory and Artificial Intelligence. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780745338606

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Inhuman Power (Paperback)
• Publisher: Pluto Press, London
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0745338607
• ISBN 13: 9780745338606
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

The past several years have brought staggering advances in the field of Artificial Intelligence. And Marxist analysis has to keep up: while machines were always central to Marxist analysis, modern AI is a new kind of machine that Marx could not have anticipated.
           
Inhuman Power explores the relationship between Marxist theory and AI through three approaches, each using the lens of a different Marxist theoretical concept. While the idea of widespread AI tends to be celebrated as much as questioned, a deeper analysis of its reach and potential produces a more complex and disturbing picture than has been identified. Inhuman Power argues that on its current trajectory, AI is likely to render humanity obsolete and that the only way to prevent it is a communist revolution.
 

About the Author

Nick Dyer-Witheford is associate professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at University of Western Ontario. Atle Mikkola Kjosen is assistant professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at University of Western Ontario. James Steinhoff is a researcher in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario.