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Refuting the “Useless Class” theory in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: From the Perspective of Human Subjectivity

Author(s)

Jingwen Hu

Affiliation(s)

School of Marxism, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China

Abstract

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the phenomenon of “machines replacing humans” has become widespread, bringing the “useless class theory” into public discourse. This theory’s claim that the proletariat has become useless rests on specific class and philosophical positions, conflating uselessness to capital with uselessness to society and thereby misreading the Marxist conception of human subjectivity. In the context of the AI age, whether the proletariat retains its subjectivity is a key question concerning the historical role of working people. By grounding analysis in Marxism and historical materialism, we can critically transcend the pessimistic assumptions embedded in the useless class theory and identify emergent forms of proletarian subjectivity under contemporary conditions. Ultimately, this will elucidate the historical logic of artificial intelligence and its liberating potential.

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence; Subjectivity; the Useless Class Theory; Historical Materialism

References

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