With Jathan Sadowski, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University
February 6, 12-1:30 p.m.
Social Science Matrix, 820 Social Sciences Building, UC Berkeley
Recently, the science fiction author Ted Chiang observed that “most of our fears or anxieties about technology are best understood as fears or anxiety about how capitalism will use technology against us.”
The sudden boom of interest in artificial intelligence — driven by torrents of cash and threats to transform society from top to bottom — has clarified this relationship between technology and capitalism even further. People are more aware than ever of the power dynamics that drive systems like AI. It is now common in public discourse to see skeptical inquiry about how technologies are made, who decides their purpose, who uses them, and who they are used against.
The impacts of AI are no longer merely abstract or distant concerns. The ecological, economic, and human costs are increasingly material and immediate.
By taking seriously our social anxieties about how capital forges technologies to then wield against us, this talk outlines three key concepts that are crucial for a political economic analysis — and a ruthless criticism — of AI and capitalism. The first is innovation realism. The second is cheap data. The third is the perpetual value machine.
Join Sadowski at 12 p.m. on February 6 at BESI for a stimulating talk on this urgent subject. An open Q&A with Sadowski will follow.
About the Speaker
Jathan Sadowski is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. His work focuses on the political economy and social theory of information technology. He has an ongoing project studying the techno-politics of the insurance industry, actuarial science, and risk governance. Sadowski is the author of two books about technology and capitalism: “The Mechanic and The Luddite” (UC Press, 2025) and “Too Smart” (MIT Press, 2020). He also co-hosts the podcast “This Machine Kills.”