Artificial Intelligence Systems as a New Form of Productive Organisation in the Era of Computational Capitalism

The essay explores the true nature of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, proposing the concept of complex organisation as the key to interpretation. The assimilation of AI systems to one or the other of the individual components is critically analysed, as well as, more generally, the reconstructions of the phenomenon centred on the binomial personae-res. Firstly, the theories proposed so far are misled by the term AI (and seek intelligence similar to that of humans); secondly, they adapt the case in point to the conclusions they wish to draw from it. Bearing in mind what an AI system is, it can be described as a complex network of relations coordinated for a productive purpose, i.e. an organisation which receives inputs and produces outputs, closely resembling a firm. The system belongs to the person who establishes and manages the organisation, that is, exercises control over it, and consequently assumes the resulting risks.