Precarity, Debt, and Control in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Session Submission Type: Invited Session (60 minute)

Description

As society becomes entrenched in Artificial Intelligence (AI), this panel seeks to address the underlying systemic changes at work in what David Arditi calls “digital feudalism.” Our current moment is characterized by three dominant characteristics that were present at the end of feudalism: precarious labor, increased consumption, and debt peonage. These three elements can be seen in AI as the feudal lords like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos increase our consumption through subscriptions, jobs become even more linked to precarious tasks (often feeding the AI machine), and we pay for it all using debt—sometimes debt from the very feudal lords for whom we work. As we become trapped in cycles of precarious gig work, increased consumption, and debt, capitalism accelerates and increases what Marx called the “rate of exploitation.” AI is the perfect tool to control people in digital feudalism.

Sub Unit

• Marxist Sociology Section / Precarity, Debt, and Control in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Presider

• David Michael Arditi, University of Texas-Arlington

Individual Presentations

• Avarice and Penury: Two faces of AI and debt - Alison Hearn, University of Western Ontario

• Swipe, Drive, and Owe: Debt and Control in the Gig Economy - Alexandrea J. Ravenelle, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

• Digital Feudalism or Digital Despotism: Revisiting the Materialist Conception of History in the Clouds of Surveillance Capitalism and Generative Artificial Intelligence - Timothy W. Luke, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Session Organizers

• David Michael Arditi, University of Texas-Arlington

• Jordanna Chris Matlon, American University