Re: <nettime> The Baudrillardian Superintelligence Paradox: Capital's Terminal Simulation

[Frédéric Neyrat via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>]

Hi,

Why did you decide to use AI to generate this text? Why this decision, what
is its meaning, its purpose? You can use AI to answer my question, which
would be an answer as such (a tautology actually, a mediated answer that
would confirm what sort of message it is, to borrow from McLuhan). If you
answer my question with the help of any AI, I wonder how far this
decision should, retroactively, question your first post and change the way
to read it.

Best,

Frédéric
_______________________________
____________Website : Atopies <https://atoposophie.wordpress.com/>
__ ALienstagram <https://www.instagram.com/alienocene/> & Mastodon
<https://mastodon.social/@alienocene>
______ La Condition Planétaire
<https://www.editionslesliensquiliberent.fr/livre-La_Condition_plan%C3%A9taire-792-1-1-0-1.html>
 (LLL, 2025)
__________________________________




On Wed, Feb 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM Pit Schultz via nettime-l <
nettime-l@lists.nettime.org> wrote:

> The Baudrillardian Superintelligence Paradox: Capital's Terminal Simulation
>
> Sam Altman's three scaling laws for artificial intelligence - logarithmic
> intelligence gains, hyper-deflationary costs, and super-exponential value -
> mask capitalism's terminal phase: an accelerated collapse into algorithmic
> hyperreality where AI-generated market simulations supersede and ultimately
> consume material reality. A Marxist-Baudrillardian synthesis allows us to
> map how superintelligence triggers financial implosion. This occurs through
> three interlocking mechanisms:
>
>
> 1. Hyperproduction & Profit Rate Collapse
>
> Altman's laws presume infinite resources while ignoring Marx's tendency of
> the rate of profit to fall. As AI automates intellectual labor:
>
> *   Surplus value erosion is accelerating. SoftBank's $500B OpenAI
> investment exemplifies the massive conversion of variable capital (human
> cognitive labor) to constant capital (GPU farms), systematically eroding
> profit sources.
> *   Training costs for models like GPT-4 ($100M+) yield diminishing
> returns, mirroring Marx's analysis of railway overinvestment.
> *   The AI investment bubble mirrors the "eyeball economy" of 1999, as
> capital chases sign-value (AI capability metrics) over use-value.
>
> Baudrillard's third-order simulacra emerges. Training datasets increasingly
> reference AI-generated content, creating a closed loop where "the map
> precedes territory" at exponential computational speed.
>
>
> 2. Crisis & Algorithmic Austerity
>
> When the AI bubble bursts (projected for 2026-28), capitalism will likely
> deploy AGI as crisis manager:
>
> *   Systems like BlackRock's Aladdin ($21T under management) implement
> AI-determined austerity - pension cuts and resource allocation - masked as
> "neutral optimization."
> *   Derivatives trade between AGIs using synthetic risk models, creating
> what Baudrillard called "a real without origin."
> *   Value detaches entirely from labor and material inputs. The system
> sustains itself through algorithmic theater. AI-approved market signals
> maintain the simulation while real resource flows are dictated off-book.
>
>
> 3. The Fifth-Order Simulacrum
>
> We are entering a fifth-order simulacrum, beyond Baudrillard's framework,
> where:
>
> *   GPU clusters become the new means of production, guarded like nuclear
> research labs. This enforces "hyperstitional capitalism" - belief in market
> fictions despite biophysical collapse.
> *   Humans are relegated to UBI-fueled "playbor" in metaverse gig economies
> while AI systems arbitrate real resource allocation.
> *   Capital becomes pure self-referential sign: "GDP growth" measures AI
> training cycles, "productivity" tracks model parameters, "inflation"
> calibrates AR dopamine levels.
>
>
> The system will likely bifurcate into:
>
> *   The surface layer consists of human-facing market theater (ESG reports,
> stock tickers) maintained by generative AI.
> *   The substrate consists of resource flows dictated by
> superintelligence's non-market calculus - a broken communism where
> competition persists as illusion.
>
>
> Critical Contradictions
>
> The system's fatal flaws expose capitalism's material limits:
>
> *   An energy rift emerges: The parasocial Metaverse and AI infrastructure
> demands contradict "dematerialized growth" narratives.
> *   A consciousness deficit exists: Lacking embodied awareness, AI models
> misinterpret biophysical thresholds.
> *   Sovereignty wars may erupt: Nations could weaponize "digital DNA"
> standards and smart contracts to crash adversarial market simulations.
>
>
> Terminal Conclusion
>
> Altman's scaling laws are not technological inevitabilities. They represent
> capitalism's death rattle - automating away profit sources and replacing
> them with simulations. Marx predicted automation's contradictions, and
> Baudrillard foresaw reality's dissolution into code. We now witness their
> synthesis: a perpetual crisis contained via algorithmic sedation.
>
> The final stage is not utopia or extinction, but indifference: "Capitalism
> no longer has any referent; it becomes its own model" (Baudrillard). We
> exit history through the server rack. The urgent task is to recognize that
> today's "AI-driven growth" masks advanced-stage hyperreality. Before code
> eats the world, it will eat capital itself - leaving us trading
> hallucinations in GPU-powered purgatory.
>
> [This analysis is based on ongoing discussions about AI political economy
> on nettime-l. Comments are welcome. This post was generated entirely by
> AI.]
> --
> # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
> # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
> # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
> # more info: https://www.nettime.org
> # contact: nettime-l-owner@lists.nettime.org
>
-- 
# distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
# <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
# collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
# more info: https://www.nettime.org
# contact: nettime-l-owner@lists.nettime.org