Today, “artificial intelligence” is a turning point in human life, involved in changing all aspects of life, from work to social research, from surgery to philosophy, from mass production to children’s education and the realization of democracy.

The image of intelligent robots conquering the world step by step creates both excitement and anxiety. Technology offers a promise of liberation on one hand, but on the other hand, it instills fear of a new form of enslavement. It promises people a collective participation in managing social changes, but at the same time, it scares them with the accumulation of wealth and power in the hands of powerful companies.

In any case, the more areas that come under the wings of progress, the more it emphasizes the necessity of changing outdated social relations based on the needs of the new situation.

Transformation in human society, however, like the past, is faced with fear and hope of humanity; some eagerly embrace the changes without hesitation, while others, trapped in despair, worry about the impact of these changes on issues such as mass unemployment, loneliness, and the dehumanization of societies that had brought people together through work. They are concerned about the transformation of values, norms, and sacred beliefs, and, clinging to their nostalgic past, they view the transformative and pervasive changes with pessimism and suspicion.

Everyone is waiting for artificial intelligence to find its way, to launch an automatic revolution, and to transform all jobs that are susceptible to electronic theorizing into the field of automation, causing significant changes and eliminating large groups of jobs from the current landscape.

In the eyes of the people, artificial intelligence showcases self-driving cars, automated stock trading desks, and smartphones – all of which are now somehow intertwined with every moment of human life – launching and robots replacing humans in transportation systems and managing fields such as medicine, law, and accounting.

“People, however sentimental, do the labor unions, employers, governments, and human relationships also undergo transformation due to these changes and in such times, does humanity not abandon itself to unemployment and human concerns? Can humanity organize itself in a way that appropriate social, political, and educational institutions form in accordance with automation, or will all of this lead to confusion and aimlessness?”

In the central discourse of contemporary automation, there is a concept that economist W. Leontief of Harvard University calls “technological unemployment”. In this discourse, by drawing conclusions from specific examples of automation and job loss, this phenomenon is extended to the entire economy. Eric Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee in…

The Second Era of Machines.

They argue that it is possible for human labor to soon have no buyers in today’s economy, just like “whale oil” and “horse labor”; even at a price of zero. (1).

But even if complete automation becomes a reality, the destruction of jobs that results from it will quickly show everyone that social life must be reorganized in a way that no longer includes wage labor at its center. Achieving this goal is possible through the formation of new legal institutions and organizations to monitor political power, which would replace governmental power. Societies must establish systems of wealth redistribution, such as increased taxation and free healthcare, for the entire world, and create a framework that does not rely on receiving wages solely in exchange for physical or mental labor, and where unemployment does not result in deprivation of rights and benefits. Although many oppose this idea, they believe that work is essential to human identity and dignity; work is life, work enables the reproduction of the self, and its concept cannot be separated from the concept of life. Factories and any other place where humans gather to work are part of the political and social life of humans, and their elimination has social and psychological consequences. In other words,

One of the other concerns that arises in the face of artificial intelligence, as a source of knowledge and information, is its biases in gender, race, nationality, and similar issues, which lead to the hidden reproduction of unequal and discriminatory relationships. Artificial intelligence reflects the human mind and its algorithms. A human who is situated on a broad spectrum of the world and its economic, social, and cultural positions, and creates specific positions through their discourses, and establishes new connections and disconnections, cannot be expected to work in harmony with each other and with certain standards.

A study in 2015 showed that in the image search section of Google, only 11% of the results shown for the term “CEO” were women, despite 27% of CEOs in America being female. (2) Additionally, facial recognition software, which is increasingly being used, is another potential source of racial and gender bias. A professor at MIT has discovered that three of the latest artificial intelligence gender recognition software (owned by IBM, Microsoft, and a Chinese company called Megvii) were able to accurately identify the gender of white men in photos 99% of the time, but their accuracy dropped to only 35% for women with darker skin; a problem that increases the risk of misidentifying women and minorities. (3) While today it is difficult even for experts to determine whether a program is ethical or fair, to combat this issue, solutions other than creating legal and necessary frameworks for all major stakeholders and information distribution agencies within a system of fairness control tests cannot

Alongside all the concerns that the invasion of technology and artificial intelligence brings to all aspects of human life, we must also pay attention to the bright windows that open to human freedom.

Modern technologies remove knowledge, power, and the latest achievements and information from the monopoly of the wealthy and those whose power is based on inherited property, and entrust it to the elite and intellectuals who are in the highest ranks of the social hierarchy and have no capital or privilege other than their own abilities and talents. This process leads to the distribution of power in society and disrupts the class-based order based on the two poles of “capitalist and worker” or “haves and have-nots”. It prevents the formation of exclusive information circles in the hands of specific groups and concentration of knowledge, power, and wealth, and helps to distribute awareness among everyone.

On the other hand, people all over the world who easily have access to smartphones can use them as a platform for creativity, producing images and representing their own living world. They can be present at any moment and any place to expose all the lies and oppression, and in small but influential ways, resist and disrupt the structures and agents of anti-people agendas, breaking the chains of sleep and complacency.

New social movements around the world have emerged relying on smartphones, styles, and newly discovered contexts. Virtual social networks have disrupted hierarchical structures and freed people from oppressive systems of power.

In fact, the technology that was expected to be a tool for suppression and intensified control, also blurs the control, creates new interdependencies, and involves people in the process of human thought transformation, using the digital tools and instruments they possess, and creates a unique form of democratization in societies.

Only technology could have empowered women who were under the control of oppressive regimes in non-democratic societies to break free from their limitations and make themselves visible in a world that had closed its eyes to them and forgotten them. It allowed them to speak out, break through walls of oppression and censorship, and discover vast fields of knowledge. They could define their own identities at the intersection of deprivation and oppression, alongside marginalized women, excluded individuals, and those deemed excessive and expendable by those in positions of power, who had been pushed out of the formal structures of society. With the help of a smartphone, they could have a voice, an opinion, and a presence in the global arena, and benefit from knowledge and awareness to overcome their own limitations and create local networks.

Overcoming the most concerning aspect of automation, which is mass unemployment, is possible through modern organization of social life based on reducing the role of work. Additionally, it can lead to freeing human energy for new activities that can result in physical rejuvenation and spiritual elevation, bringing a fresh air to troubled societies. These activities can include language learning, reading, forming groups for artistic and social activities, traveling, and efforts to improve the environment and address injustices, such as in agriculture and other industries.

In any case, humanity has entered into a difficult transition phase, which can bring the promise of brighter horizons; from reducing social distances and access to aspects of justice, to democracy and creating opportunities for participation in community affairs, to taking advantage of opportunities that unemployment provides for voluntary action, for the sake of the environment.

For confused minds and those trapped in the discourse of fear of technology, there is only one ray of hope, and that is the democratization of power structures and the establishment of suitable mechanisms to ensure genuine participation of people in managing their own destiny. This requires active engagement and participation from individuals.

The important thing is for humans to be present in the field of social action, instead of being lazy and passive and surrendering to the waves of despair and depression.

Notes:

1- “Banana, Aaron, Automation and Future of Work”, translated by Ayoub Rahmani and Sattar Rahmani.

Political Economy Review Website.

September 22, 2020.

2- Kasinzoo, Daniel, Discriminatory Algorithms, Five Examples of Artificial Intelligence Prejudices, Translated by Sara Yavar.

Website Midan.

“8 Bahman 1397.”

3- The same…