The Economic Possibilites of Technology
What is even the point of technology? Over two millenniums ago Aristotle envisioned technology as a liberator of human labour, “if every tool, when summoned, or even of its own accord, could do the work that befits it… if the weavers’ shuttles were to weave of themselves, then there would be no need either of apprentices for the master workers, or of slaves for the lord”. However, Aristotle was writing from a slave-based society where labour had not yet been universally commodified, as it is under capitalism. He couldn’t foresee wage labor, a system where workers produce surplus value for their employer only to receive a margin of it as wages, while the rest is realised as profit on the market. A company, instead of spreading workload amongst current workers, will fire many (increasing competition for jobs and therefore lowering wages) in the name of profit. The most famous 20th century economist expressed views similar to Aristoles. John Maynard Keynes in his 1930s essay ‘Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren’ predicted that in 2030 we would have 15 hour work weeks due to gains in our output and productivity. His forecasting and maths was all incredibly accurate, but he must’ve forgotten one little thing, capitalism…
American historian Melvin Kraznbergs first law of technology is that it is “neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral”. Technology will forever serve the interests of those who own and control it. Under capitalism technology will forever serve the interests of capital. Recently the computer scientist Goeffrey Hinton, often called ‘The Godfather of AI’ appeared on live tv. He was questioned how can we ensure the productivity gains of AI are properly distributed, he answered brazenly with one word “socialism”...
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