Capital, Labour and Code: Marxist Theory and AI

Marxist theory provides a framework for understanding the economic relations that shape society: who owns the means of production, how surplus value is extracted, how class interests shape institutions and ideology. Applied to artificial intelligence, Marxist analysis reveals the political economy of AI: who owns it, who profits from it, whose labour makes it possible, and how it reshapes the relationship between capital and labour. This course does not require acceptance of all Marxist political conclusions. It requires only intellectual seriousness about questions of ownership, profit, exploitation, and power that other AI ethics frameworks rarely ask.