That very same argument could have been (and was!) made for steam engines, electric motors, and (non-AI) computers. In 2023, we can look back and say, “Of course, as workers were displaced out of agriculture and handicrafts, they went into manufacturing and services.” But it wasn’t apparent in 1823 that such a transition would occur. Indeed, in 1848, one of the motivations for Marx to write The Communist Manifesto was his fervent belief that industrial manufacturing and services would not be able to absorb all the surplus workers, leading to significant alienation and, eventually, revolution.
That very same argument could have been (and was!) made for steam engines, electric motors, and (non-AI) computers. In 2023, we can look back and say, “Of course, as workers were displaced out of agriculture and handicrafts, they went into manufacturing and services.” But it wasn’t apparent in 1823 that such a transition would occur. Indeed, in 1848, one of the motivations for Marx to write The Communist Manifesto was his fervent belief that industrial manufacturing and services would not be able to absorb all the surplus workers, leading to significant alienation and, eventually, revolution.