What will the future of artificial intelligence and

What will the future of artificial intelligence and capitalism look like from a Marxist perspective? Marx, a 19th-century character, would not have known the “human” of artificial intelligence, but he might wonder how Marx’s ideas would deal with the high-tech 21st-century topic of artificial intelligence. Just as Einstein’s theory of relativity, born in the 19th century, is still valid, Marx’s theory is not just an old story that only works in that era. Marx established a theoretical framework that explains the way human society changes, which is called ‘historical materialism’.

Marx believed that when new productive forces emerged and collided with the existing social system, the old social order collapsed and history had advanced. For example, the dissolution of feudalism in the Middle Ages and the establishment of modern capitalism were due to the emergence of a new productive force called the mechanical great industry at the time. The feudal social system formed on the basis of agricultural productive power could no longer be maintained in the face of the emerging mechanical great industry.

Thousands of people, serfs or peasants, will remain trapped in the land of the lord, the owner of the large land, if the feudal social system persists. It is frustrating for a capitalist who has to find workers to work in a factory. Additionally, it would be challenging for capitalists to find land for factory construction and business if the vast land remained tied to the aristocracy. Even if the law and institution wanted to be changed in favor of the development of the machinery industry, only the aristocrats had the right to vote.

The entire feudal society system was unpleasant for the capitalist class who pursued commercial and industrial profits. The modern bourgeois revolution led by the capitalist class took place as factories were built in Sinabro city and people were flocking to the city. Eventually, the feudal system collapsed and the capitalist system was established, opening the current era of capitalism.

In this context, the artificial intelligence and robots we face at this moment are today’s new productive forces. While machines that emerged during the Industrial Revolution replaced human arms and legs, artificial intelligence and robots are now replacing humans themselves. It is at the point of penetrating not only simple labor but also professional and creative areas such as accounting, law, writing, and painting. From a historical materialistic point of view, the new productive power of artificial intelligence and robots is likely to collide with the capitalist system in the future.

Companies are expected to replace human jobs by expanding the use of artificial intelligence and robots to reduce costs and improve productivity. Through this, we will be able to bring quality products to the market at a much lower price than before. However, who on earth would buy things made by artificial intelligence and robots. Most people have lost their jobs and are not making money.

In capitalism, the economy circulates by purchasing goods produced by companies with the wages they receive. However, this circular structure is broken as companies introduce a large number of artificial intelligence and robots to survive market competition. If the trend continues, eventually people will lose their jobs and starve to death, and companies will fail because they have nowhere to sell their products. Marx’s historical materialistic perspective shows that the new productive forces of artificial intelligence and robots collide with the existing capitalist system. This means that they cannot coexist.

Does Marx’s theory of historical materialism predict the destruction of mankind? No. When the mechanical industry emerged as a new productive force and collided with the existing feudal system, the problem was eventually solved by the establishment of a new social system suitable for the mechanical industry, capitalism. Predicting from a historical materialistic point of view, the problem is likely to be solved by introducing a new social system that can embrace the new productive power of artificial intelligence and robots. If such an attempt fails, humanity could be destroyed.

For now, the basic income policy will come to mind. It is a policy that the government pays a certain amount of money to the people on a regular basis, and people such as Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla founder Elon Musk, OpenAI founder Sam Altman, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are also positive about basic income. From the perspective of capitalists, they believe that in order for a company not to go bankrupt, it is necessary to maintain social purchasing power with basic income. However, there is something that should not be overlooked here. It is a question of how to raise funds to consistently pay basic income.

Since most of them have lost their jobs due to artificial intelligence and robots, it would be difficult to pay taxes to the public and not just print money. It could lead to huge inflation. After all, the basic income distributed by the government to the public will eventually fall into the hands of capitalists who sell goods and services using artificial intelligence and robots. In other words, the basic income policy can only be maintained by collecting very high taxes on capitalists. In the name of artificial intelligence tax and robot tax, etc.

Capitalists will have no choice but to compromise to some extent because their products will be sold only when the people receive basic income. However, chances are high that they will not yield beyond the level where their products can be sold normally. Furthermore, since the basic income policy is basically a market-friendly policy, depending on how it is operated, it can lead to situations that harm the publicity of society.

Let’s assume a more extreme situation. The government suddenly removes the national health insurance system, eliminates national and public schools, and abolishes public services and welfare. In this way, the remaining tax is paid to the people as basic income. Now, people have to pay the cost entirely by themselves while attending private schools or private hospitals. In fact, it is a privatization policy. Services that used to be provided as universal welfare have now become products that must be purchased in currency. As such, basic income has the characteristic of expanding the capitalist market area. I’ll give you money, so you should buy goods and services in the market with that.

Therefore, it is necessary to carefully examine the context in which basic income is introduced. If basic income is introduced while reducing the public sector, it is virtually no different from a privatization policy. Perhaps because of this capitalist-friendly nature of basic income, capitalists like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Bill Gates have a positive view of it