Transitioning from Immaterial Labor Hegemony to Generative AI:Reassessing Hardt and Negri's Notions of"Taking Back Fixed Capital"
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri posit that as immaterial labor assumes hegemony over traditional labor forms,capital accumulation and the perpetuation of capitalist structures increasingly hinge on immaterial laborers,thus fostering conditions conducive to subjective revolutionary endeavors.Building upon this premise,they advocate for laborers to"take back fixed capital,"emphasizing the reclamation of control over products and skills inherent to immaterial labor,thereby contesting capitalist domination.However,the advent of generative AI presents formidable challenges to the feasibility of this strategy:on one hand,capitalists can commodify immaterial labor skills through generative AI,stifling resistance from laborers;on the other hand,generative AI has the potential to activate diverse countervailing factors that impede the decline in the general rate of profit,bolstering capitalist hegemony.Therefore,it is imperative to critically engage with Hardt and Negri's concepts of"taking back fixed capital"in light of the latest developments in artificial intelligence,elucidating their theoretical assumptions and practical limitations vis-à-vis technological advancements and the deployment of generative AI.