“Artificial intelligence” stands before us as a phenomenon whose effects can be seen in every area of our lives. The Turkish term “yapay zekâ” is based on the English concept of “artificial intelligence” and renders its meaning exactly. Indeed, the concept of artificial intelligence describes a computer, or a robot it controls, carrying out various activities in a manner equivalent to intelligent beings. What matters here, however, is that behind the robot or the computer controlling it there is an intelligent being who brings all of this into existence: the human being.
Having brought about the first, second and third industrial revolutions with the invention of the steam engine, electricity and the computer respectively, humanity is now experiencing the “Industry 4.0” revolution thanks to artificial intelligence technologies.
There are many debates surrounding artificial intelligence technologies. For example, when Amazon discovered that the AI-powered recruitment algorithm it was using was biased against women, it quietly took the system out of service. Many similar ethical and moral debates have long been under way.
Artificial intelligence in the context of relations of production
Artificial intelligence is having, and will have, transformative effects on relations of production too.
The debate over whether robots will make work easier by adding speed and efficiency to production, or whether they will lead to mass unemployment and destitution, forms the basis of the opposing views on digitalisation in production.
Technological progress finds the opportunity to flourish through the accumulation of capital created by the capitalist system of production, and in turn reproduces capitalism. In other words, it is possible to speak of a dialectical relationship here. The current system of production in the world advances on the basis of technical data, and in order to survive it becomes essential to use the most advanced techniques and to adapt to the latest technology. This also forms the main source of motivation for technological development.
Considered in terms of relations of production, artificial intelligence technologies can help to increase social welfare to the extent that they move beyond the sole motivation of increasing profit and come closer to an approach of meeting human needs. They can also take cultural, intellectual and artistic life to a higher level. In that case, robots doing certain tiring, even tedious, jobs would not mean mass unemployment and destitution. On the contrary, the free time that emerges would make it possible to focus more on education, culture and the arts. In this way, humanity’s family life and social life could be enriched. Yet at the point we have reached, we see that humanity is becoming more isolated and that a state of hopelessness and anxiety about the future prevails. The fact that humanity has arrived at a dangerous threshold even as modern technology works wonders is proof that there is a contradiction at play. When Julian Assange said, “The future of humanity has been reduced to the struggle of whether machines will control humans or humans will control machines”, he was referring to a fundamental problem facing humanity. Something must be wrong here…
The limits of production based on artificial intelligence and technology
Even for a business whose aim is generally to make a profit at any cost, there will be a limit to production based on artificial intelligence and robot technologies. Robots, for instance, are a godsend for business owners in the capitalist mode of production, since they do not get hungry, do not get thirsty, do not get tired, do not ask for wages or demand pay rises, do not fall ill, do not go on strike, and so on. In short, robots are perfect “workers”. But robots have one flaw too: they do not buy! If you cannot find a market to buy the goods you produce – in other words, to realise their value – you cannot expect this to be sustainable either.
Another point concerning the concept of artificial intelligence is that not all activities can be 100 per cent automated. Indeed, it is estimated that activities that can be 100 per cent automated – that is, activities that could be carried out entirely by artificial intelligence – account for around 5 per cent of all activities.
Ultimately, however, it is a reality that robotisation, automation and “artificial intelligence technologies” have the potential to put tens of millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, of people out of work.
The future will show in which direction the process evolves.