‘What's striking isn't just that young adults are delaying milestones - it's that many are questioning whether those life events are achievable at all’ one financial expert said
While this is the correct analysis of automation in terms of exchange values, this misses the fact that automation also reduces the socially necessary labor-time to produce the same commodity. Overall it probably still benefits the capitalist despite the falling rate of profit, because the use value of that profit rises proportionally to the fall in its exchange value, while the exposure to risks associated with employing labor decreases.
I highly doubt this significantly changes the calculus on AI though. It improves productivity somewhat in a few white-collar fields. It will not replace most blue-collar workers any time soon, even with the technological advancements in robotics we see in China. I think the more likely explanation for the phenomena in OC is the combination of increasingly relying on exploiting immigrants and workers of the global south, and AI fits in there as a tool for surveillance of the working class.
For sure, automation represents an incredible opportunity for workers, presuming workers actually are the ones directing the development of society. It does reduce the inputs required to produce goods, which frees up time for redirection and reduction of labor overall. I was more trying to combat the idea that AI will be a magic bullet for capitalists, when really we’ve already seen the impacts of automation before. It comes in a new form, with new particularities, but it’s not fundamentally different.
While this is the correct analysis of automation in terms of exchange values, this misses the fact that automation also reduces the socially necessary labor-time to produce the same commodity. Overall it probably still benefits the capitalist despite the falling rate of profit, because the use value of that profit rises proportionally to the fall in its exchange value, while the exposure to risks associated with employing labor decreases.
I highly doubt this significantly changes the calculus on AI though. It improves productivity somewhat in a few white-collar fields. It will not replace most blue-collar workers any time soon, even with the technological advancements in robotics we see in China. I think the more likely explanation for the phenomena in OC is the combination of increasingly relying on exploiting immigrants and workers of the global south, and AI fits in there as a tool for surveillance of the working class.
For sure, automation represents an incredible opportunity for workers, presuming workers actually are the ones directing the development of society. It does reduce the inputs required to produce goods, which frees up time for redirection and reduction of labor overall. I was more trying to combat the idea that AI will be a magic bullet for capitalists, when really we’ve already seen the impacts of automation before. It comes in a new form, with new particularities, but it’s not fundamentally different.