The Socialist Case Against Nationalizing AI
AI is not a neutral technology whose benefits need to be redistributed. It is a weapon of class war from above, designed to cheapen labor and concentrate power. Nationalizing it does nothing to change that.
Bosses and managers love AI because they envision it as a machine for transforming skilled jobs into de-skilled ones attached to a computer. Cheap, fast output reigns supreme. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)
Bernie Sanders wants to nationalize AI. In “The Case for Nationalizing Artificial Intelligence,” Dustin Guastella makes the case for Sanders’s proposal: the big AI labs should be half-nationalized, transferring 50 percent of their stock into a public fund. In a picture illustrating the article, Bernie Sanders can be seen behind a sign that says “AI must benefit workers.” That slogan, for all its vagueness, belies a dangerous misunderstanding of the political economy of AI. We’ll make the case against Sanders’s proposal — and for building a socialist movement against AI.
Artificial Intelligence Is a Weapon of Class War From Above
Artificial intelligence is, first of all, a machine for shifting income and power from labor to capital. When capitalist investors pay billions of dollars to make computers “know things,” then their purpose is to cheapen the knowledge that people have, save on wages, and turn the savings into profit.
Under capitalism, workers get paid for their marketable knowledge and skills. Knowledge grants them bargaining power — but it does so only if capital cannot find a cheaper way to acquire that knowledge. Clearly, bosses and managers love AI because they envision AI to be that cheaper way. They see AI as a machine for transforming skilled jobs into de-skilled ones that are attached to a computer.
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