Based on the trajectory of your sentence, the complete thought likely argues that the underlying capitalist system mandates this trajectory through its imperatives of endless accumulation and competitive survival.
This perspective is well-supported by critical theorists (such as Shoshana Zuboff and Yanis Varoufakis) and recent geopolitical analysis. Under this framework, AI is not merely a tool for efficiency, but a weapon in a "class war from above" designed to automate labor, enclose human experience as a commodity, and secure behavioral compliance.
The Thesis: Cognitive Capitalism and the War for "Mind Share"
The "ruthless commercial war" you describe is structurally inevitable under the current economic paradigm. In a finite world where physical markets are saturated, the only remaining frontier for infinite growth is the human mind—specifically, our attention, preferences, and decision-making processes.
1. The Engine: Surveillance Capitalism
The driving force is what Zuboff calls "Surveillance Capitalism." In this model, human experience is essentially free raw material.
- Extraction: Tech giants act as colonial powers, but instead of extracting timber or gold, they extract behavioral data from your interactions, movements, and conversations.[1][2]
- Fabrication: This raw data is processed by AI (the "factories" of this era) to manufacture prediction products—profiles that predict what you will do now, soon, and later.
- Modification: The true commercial goal is not just knowing what you want, but changing what you do. Algorithms optimize for engagement and conversion, effectively "nudging" behavior to align with commercial goals.[3][4]
The Cycle of Cognitive Accumulation in Surveillance Capitalism
2. The Commercial War: "Winner-Takes-All"
This war is "ruthless" because the underlying capitalist dynamics have shifted from competition to domination.
- Data Monopolies: In the AI era, data is the primary barrier to entry. Companies like Google, Meta, and Microsoft must aggressively acquire data to prevent competitors from building better models. This leads to "enclosure"—fencing off the digital commons.[5]
- The AI Arms Race: On a geopolitical level, this commercial war aligns with the US-China "Technological Cold War." Dominance in AI is viewed as a proxy for national survival, justifying aggressive state-corporate mergers and the erosion of privacy rights in the name of "security".[6][7]
3. Dominating and Controlling Minds (Epistemic Colonialism)
The "control" aspect is subtle but pervasive. It is not science-fiction mind control, but epistemic colonialism—colonizing the way we know and think.
- Thinking OS: As AI systems become the primary interface for information (e.g., "Thinking OS™"), they act as a "sealed cognition substrate." If the AI controls the logic and information you receive, it effectively defines the boundaries of your thought.[8]
- Behavioral Modification: By managing the flow of information, these systems can "pull the wires which control the public mind," a concept pioneered by Edward Bernays and perfected by algorithmic feeds.[4][9]
- Agency Erosion: As decisions are offloaded to AI (from driving routes to partner selection), human agency atrophies. The system encourages "mindless rule-following" and dependency, making the populace easier to manage.[10]
Conclusion: The Systemic Imperative
The "underlying capitalist system" forces this outcome because it demands infinite growth.
- Commodification of the Self: When every physical resource is owned, the system must commodify the subjective—your fears, desires, and attention.[3][11]
- Inequality Engine: AI serves to automate "mental labor," decoupling revenue from human employment. This concentrates wealth in the hands of those who own the "means of prediction," potentially leading to a "hyper-oligarchy" where the general populace is rendered economically redundant.[12][11]
The "war" is therefore a structural necessity of a system that views human consciousness not as a sanctuary, but as a territory to be conquered and monetized.
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- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7680082/
- https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EDCmxs9QpJBSB2hvH/surveillance-capitalism-and-ai-governance-slippery-business
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2304/pfie.2004.2.3.6
- https://patternsofmeaning.com/2016/04/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8994059/
- https://economex.substack.com/p/the-new-technological-cold-war-ai
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_arms_race
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-race-isnt-just-technology-its-potentially-world-war-chip-joyce-khu2e
- https://www.reddit.com/r/quotes/comments/2tf2ne/the_conscious_and_intelligent_manipulation_of_the/
- https://www.ruthlesscriticism.com/AI.htm
- https://www.reddit.com/r/CapitalismVSocialism/comments/1ht1qwv/ai_undermines_capitalism/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0040162521000081
- https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1m69lfz/information_war_is_ongoing_and_not_equivalent_to/
- https://knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-agents-and-democratic-resilience
- http://isj.org.uk/ai-arms-race/
- https://usa.beehiiv.com/p/everything-war
- https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/03/chinas-ai-balancing-act-beating-the-us-but-keeping-control-of-tech.html
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3spgBS28Ak
- https://www.reddit.com/r/stupidpol/comments/14iizvy/the_concept_of_the_middle_class_plays_an/
- https://ic4ml.org/journal-article/the-prevalence-of-artificial-intelligence-surveillance-capitalism-disinformation-and-biased-algorithms-amplify-the-need-for-critical-skills-applied-to-media/
- https://marksist.net/node/1360
- https://academic.oup.com/minnesota-scholarship-online/book/30364
- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/opinion/sunday/surveillance-capitalism.html
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A688-I-XLug
- https://www.reddit.com/r/aiwars/comments/1hksndn/the_longer_the_ai_wars_continue_the_more_im/
- https://research.library.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1089&context=international_senior
- https://www.odgers.com/en-ae/insights/the-ai-researcher-wars-why-billion-dollar-bets-hinge-on-a-few-minds/
- https://robots.army/posts/Economic_warfare_reshapes_global_landscape/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1o359es/control_of_the_populace_as_explained_in_the_book/
- https://s92d78bb733e1903e.jimcontent.com/download/version/1684988398/module/14427144027/name/RevCom_NS%2390_WEB.pdf
- https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/2025-01/24_Meier_02.pdf
- https://www.q6th.com/blog/ai-s-ruthless-remake-of-jobs-and-bonds
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-brainwashing-and-how-it-shaped-america-180963400/
- https://www.left-horizons.com/2025/06/04/artificial-intelligence-a-technological-and-imperialist-struggle/
- https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2024/07/12/war-artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-conflict/
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