My book "Capitalist Artificial Intelligence, Leftist Challenges, and Possible Alternatives: Technology in the Service of Capital´-or-a Tool for Liberation?" has been published in both Arabic and English. This work focuses specifically on artificial intelligence, and more broadly on technology, in the context of class struggle in the digital age. It examines the impacts of artificial intelligence across different fields, from economy to politics, and from culture to thought, under the current capitalist system. The book aims to offer critical leftist analyses of artificial intelligence, and proposes progressive alternatives for using this technology, away from the capitalist domination that exploits it for maximizing profits and reinforcing control at the expense of manual and intellectual laborers.
The content of the book is based on the following key points:
1. The Digital Gap Between the Left and Capitalism
The digital gap between the left and capitalism presents a major challenge in the digital era, as major tech corporations and capitalist states dominate the digital space. While these powers possess the material and technical capabilities to shape all aspects of technology and artificial intelligence, the left, in most cases, remains in a position of weakness, suffering from a clear digital gap. In this context, the current state of the left is likened to an "ant facing an elephant," unable to keep up with capitalist powers in this vast and rapidly evolving field. This gap is not-limit-ed to the lack of technical tools but also reflects an unintentional weakness in the political and organizational vision necessary to use these tools in service of the leftist struggle.
2. Digital Illiteracy
Digital illiteracy does not only mean the inability to use digital tools, but also the lack of understanding of how these tools work and their impact on daily life and society. In general, leftist organizations often lack technical tools,´-or-use them in a-limit-ed and basic manner, which restricts their ability to influence public consciousness. Therefore, digital literacy within leftist organizations is not merely about teaching members how to use digital devices and applications, but also about training them to understand the structure of digital systems through critical awareness of the ideologies that govern them. These programs must focus on providing members not only with technical skills, but with the ability to grasp the political, economic, and technological contexts that shape technology, to enable its use for equality and social justice. Digital illiteracy weakens the left in the face of the challenges imposed by digital capitalism, and creates a barrier preventing it from remaining influential in the digital age. It is thus necessary to train and develop the abilities of members, leadership, coordinators, and the wider public at different levels in digital tools to enable them to confront digital domination.
3. Developing Leftist Technical Skills as a Struggle Necessity
Developing leftist capacities in the technical field has become a strategic necessity parallel to developing political, intellectual, organizational, media, and popular capacities. Just as leftist forces cannot depend on capitalist media while attempting to build their own independent media, and just as they independently develop their political thinking and organizational tools, they must also realize that their battle against digital capitalism cannot be fought using the tools of the opponent. Technological independence has become an essential pillar that complements ideological, political, and organizational independence. One cannot speak of real liberation´-or-the building of a radical socialist project while leftist organizations are subject to surveillance and control through artificial intelligence tools developed by major capitalist states and corporations. How can a liberation movement plan, organize, and develop its tools and programs while it is algorithmically governed by systems designed to weaken´-or-marginalize its discourse? The absence of independent leftist digital tools means the left remains in a defensive position, and its structures are exposed, monitored, and vulnerable to control and deletion with the press of a button. How can anyone fighting for democratic socialist change accept that their data, actions, and mass analysis are subject to algorithms designed to serve the market and digitally reproduce class domination?
4. The Role of Youth in Digital Transformation and Development
Youth represent one of the key components in advancing digital transformation within leftist organizations. They are the driving force capable of renewing the tools of political and social struggle in the digital era. In light of the rapid changes occurring in the digital world, the role of youth in reducing digital illiteracy within leftist parties is crucial. Young people form the backbone of any potential digital transformation within the left. Today, many youth possess a high ability to interact with digital tools and advanced technologies more quickly and efficiently than previous generations. Empowering youth within leftist organizations is a prerequisite for adapting to the digital age and using technological tools to counter capitalist digital hegemony. They are capable of developing new forms of struggle that improve organization, mobilization, and influence on public opinion. They can bring innovation and creativity to leftist methods of struggle. Youth can contribute actively to leading this digital shift within leftist parties, given their advanced capabilities in using technology to overcome the barriers imposed by digital capitalism. It is essential to remove all organizational and political barriers that prevent youth from joining´-or-remaining in leftist organizations, and to show significant flexibility with them in accordance with their intellectual development and democratic awareness.
5. Digital Leftist Internationals
There is a pressing need to build digital leftist internationals to confront the domination of major tech corporations and capitalist states over artificial intelligence and digital technology more broadly. These digital internationals represent a strategic necessity to resist capitalist control in the digital realm, where powerful entities dominate technological tools, reinforcing exploitation and deepening class struggle. Digital internationals refer to global leftist and progressive alliances that go beyond geographical boundaries and ideological divisions. Just as traditional leftist and labor internationals were historically necessary to confront capitalism, it has now become essential to build digital leftist alliances focused on confronting capitalism through technology, and on uniting leftist efforts through the tools and platforms of the digital era. These internationals can play a key role in fostering collaboration between leftist organizations around the world, in developing alternative, participatory, open-source technologies that ensure technology serves the people and aims to achieve social justice and equality. Such digital alliances must go beyond theoretical and ideological differences between various leftist currents, especially in this area, and focus on the shared objective: to wrest control of technology from capital and transform it into a tool of collective liberation.
6. Artificial Intelligence Under Capitalism
Despite the immense potential of artificial intelligence to improve human life, it is currently being used to serve major corporations and capitalist states. It has become an effective tool of repression and digital control. It is employed to reshape public consciousness in--dir--ectly, through algorithms that control individuals online. These algorithms influence people’s choices and ideological tendencies, turning artificial intelligence into an ideological tool reinforcing capitalist and right-wing thought, while dismantling and marginalizing leftist and progressive thinking. Moreover, artificial intelligence reinforces various forms of discrimination in accordance with capitalist values, both in the labor market and everyday life. It also contributes to environmental degradation and is exploited in criminal applications such as weapons development and warfare.
7. Leftist Alternatives for Artificial Intelligence
The alternative proposed in this book presents a progressive leftist vision for artificial intelligence, aimed at reclaiming control of this technology for the people and --dir--ecting it to serve the interests of manual and intellectual laborers. Artificial intelligence should be used not only to improve living conditions, but also to dismantle capitalist domination through open-source, transparent, leftist applications. In this vision, technology becomes collective property, governed by democratic popular oversight that guarantees its use for societal benefit. Artificial intelligence can be used to enhance collective work, promote social justice and equality, and address issues such as poverty, education, health, and gender equality, all outside the logic of profit and exploitation. It should be used to ensure fair resource distribution and equal job opportunities regardless of social´-or-economic background, even contributing to reduced working hours without cutting wages. It can also serve as an effective tool to fight discrimination, whether gender´-or-racial, by developing evaluation systems based on merit instead of bias. It can support environmental protection, promote democracy, and uphold human rights.
8. Conscious and Cautious Use of Current Artificial Intelligence
The left’s use of current artificial intelligence must be cautious and well-considered. Although this technology is a non-neutral capitalist product, it possesses great potential that can be used in support of social justice causes if approached critically and consciously. This requires a scientific and open-minded approach, viewing technology as a tool that can be invested in to support political, popular, media, and technical struggle. This must be done with full attention to transparency, data privacy, and strict human oversight of AI applications. Any leftist use of these tools must support progressive and socialist goals. They must never replace fieldwork, but rather complement and strengthen it in the path toward radical social transformation.
9. The Language of the Book, Digital Publishing, and Copyright
A simple and clear language was adopted throughout the book to ensure the widest possible access to its content. The goal is to simplify technical concepts so that they can be understood by both specialists and non-specialists. The book is published through the global platform Amazon, and also made freely available online. It is distributed electronically to make it accessible to the largest number of readers possible, with no restrictions on its use. The book is open to all, and its texts may be used freely, including reposting´-or-reusing, with attribution to the source when possible, though not mandatory.
10. Conclusion
The current digital revolution, despite its immense potential, has been engineered in favor of capitalist profit and control. But the battle has not yet been fully decided, and capitalism has not created a completely closed world. There is still room for leftist alternatives, provided that we act with awareness and long-term planning for what is a very difficult and complex struggle. Resisting capitalism, especially in its digital phase, is not only a struggle for economic and political power, but a struggle for human consciousness itself, over who controls the flow of information and knowledge, and over who reproduces collective awareness.
In conclusion, I invite you to participate in advancing the leftist alternative for technology and artificial intelligence through dialogue on the issues raised. The ideas and proposals in this book are only starting points for collective discussion within the ranks of the left. Shaping a practical and effective alternative requires wide debate among leftist organizations, movements, and progressive individuals across different countries, toward developing a clear and applicable plan of action. By offering these ideas, my goal is not to provide ready-made solutions, but to open a living discussion around current priorities. It is a call for collective contribution in developing a leftist digital vision for artificial intelligence in particular, and for technology in general, through an organized, collective, and transnational leftist effort.
You can access the book through the following links:
Free download:
English:
https://rezgar.com/books/i.asp?bid=4
Arabic:
https://rezgar.com/books/i.asp?bid=3
Other 32 languages:
https://www.google.dk/search?&q=inauthor:%22Rezgar+Akrawi%22&udm=36
Leanpub: https://leanpub.com/u/rezgarakrawi
Draft2Digital: https://books2read.com/b/mvxANj
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