Capisco bene la tua irritazione per questa naturalizzazione della tecnologia: si tratta di una vecchia strategia ideologica.
Detto questo, mi sembra che il punto davvero decisivo stia un po’ più a valle. Non basta affermare che l’IA dovrebbe servire al benessere collettivo invece che all’accumulazione privata. Questo, in fondo, lo pensano già moltissime persone. Il problema non è l’assenza di visioni, ma la scarsa capacità di realizzare anche le più fattibili (ad esempio: costruire piattaforme sociali autonome). Marx lo diceva nelle Tesi su Feuerbach: non è la coscienza che cambia il mondo; il mondo cambia quando cambiano le pratiche materiali e i rapporti sociali. Le idee “giuste” esistono quasi sempre già. Ciò che manca è la capacità politica, economica, scientifica, per renderle operative. Per questo motivo, secondo me, la domanda interessante non è tanto quale visione radicale dell’IA dovremmo formulare (ce ne sono già molte), ma quali politiche, quali ricerche, alleanze sociali e dispositivi economici potrebbero effettivamente orientarne lo sviluppo in una direzione autenticamente sociale. Altrimenti si rischia un paradosso: criticare la naturalizzazione della tecnologia per poi affidarsi, simmetricamente, alla magia performativa delle idee. Come se bastasse dire “l’IA deve servire alla collettività” perché lo faccia, o dire “basta con l’AI" (stile Tajani) possa cambiare il corso degli eventi, o enunciare “serve il CERN per l’AI” in qualche convegno faccia accadere concretamente qualcosa. Buona domenica, G. > Il giorno 15 mar 2026, alle ore 08:55, J.C. DE MARTIN via nexa > <[email protected]> ha scritto: > > E' davvero affascinante (e infuriante)... rapporto dopo rapporto, articolo > dopo articolo, è evidente la premessa ideologica di tutti questi discorsi, > nessuno escluso: l'IA viene considerata esattamente come se fosse "natura". > L'"IA", insomma, capita, l'"IA" avviene... e, avvenendo, "purtroppo" dei > lavoratori si ritrovano per strada. Tutto viene scaricato sui lavoratori, che > possono solo subire, oppure, se giovani, devono spremersi le meningi per > cercare di capire (con la palla di vetro?) quali professioni saranno - tra X > anni - meno a rischio di disoccupazione tecnologica... (tutti idraulici, > ciclo-fattorini, muratori?). Il tutto giustificato ideologicamente da chi > accorre subito a spiegare che è giusto così, che è "efficiente", che nel > lungo termine è la cosa migliore per tutti, ignorando che quello che capiterà > nel lungo termine è determinato dai rapporti di forza, non dalla fatina buona. > > In altre parole, nell'Europa e USA del 21 secolo (quello dei Thiel, Musk, > Merz, Blackrock, ecc.) si postula il diritto di mettere in campo qualsiasi > innovazione tecnologica totalmente a prescindere dalle conseguenze sociali. > In altre parole, esiste solo un diritto, per di più assoluto: il diritto di > fare profitti (qui e subito). Tutto il resto non conta. Famiglie vanno sul > lastrico? Intere città o ceti sociali si trovano senza sussistenza dall'oggi > al domani? Problemi di quelle persone, o, al limite, problema da lasciare a > quello stesso Welfare State che però gli stessi Thiel, Musk, Merz, ecc. > vorrebbero smantellare, lasciando a rigor di logica come unica opzione futura > l'eliminazione fisica dei tanti esseri umani che ormai non sono più utili per > lor signori (oppure, versione più "umana": continuino pure vivere i subumani > inutili con qualche forma di reddito di base, chiusi nelle loro stanzette con > droghe e un visore di realtà virtuale, così non danno fastidio). > > È urgente elaborare una proposta politica radicalmente alternativa. Una > visione del mondo nella quale l'IA (e in generale qualsiasi tecnologia) deve > servire a migliorare la vita della collettività, non essere quasi > esclusivamente uno strumento nelle mani di pochi per accumulare ancora più > capitale e potere sulla pelle di moltissime persone indifese? (E non parliamo > dell'IA al servizio della violenza sistematica...) > > Juan Carlos > > > On 12/03/26 14:29, Daniela Tafani wrote: >> Amazon is determined to use AI for everything – even when it slows down work >> Corporate employees said Amazon’s race to roll out AI is leading to >> surveillance, slop and ‘more work for everyone’. >> >> Varsha Bansal >> Wed 11 Mar 2026 >> >> When Dina, a software developer based in New York, joined Amazon two years >> ago, her job was to write code. Now, it’s mostly fixing what artificial >> intelligence breaks. >> >> The internal AI tool she’s expected to use, called Kiro, frequently >> hallucinates and generates flawed code, she says. Then she has to dig >> through and correct the sloppy code it creates, or just revert all changes >> and start again. She says it feels like “trying to AI my way out of a >> problem that AI caused”. >> >> “I and many of my colleagues don’t feel that it actually makes us that much >> faster,” Dina said. “But from management, we are certainly getting messaging >> that we have to go faster, this will make us go faster, and that speed is >> the number one priority.” >> >> Just days after speaking to the Guardian, Dina was laid off. >> >> Lisa, a supply chain engineer who has worked at Amazon for over a decade, >> says that AI tools at work have been helpful to her only in about one in >> every three attempts. And even then, she often finds issues and has to >> consult with colleagues to verify and correct their results, which takes up >> more time than if she’s done the task without AI. >> >> She doesn’t take issue with the AI tools themselves, but rather the >> company’s logic in pushing all employees to use them daily. “You don’t look >> at the problem and go, ‘How do I use this hammer I have?’ she said. “You >> look at it and go, ‘Is this a problem for a hammer or something else?’” >> >> Group of figures inside a glowing digital space, facing a large window that >> shows a landscape with trees and sky >> ‘I wish I could push ChatGPT off a cliff’: professors scramble to save >> critical thinking in an age of AI >> Read more >> More than a half a dozen current and former Amazon corporate employees, in >> roles ranging from software engineer to user experience researcher to data >> analyst, told the Guardian that Amazon is pressing employees to integrate AI >> across all aspects of their work, even though these workers say this push is >> hurting productivity. They say Amazon is rolling out AI use in a haphazard >> way while also tracking their AI use, and they’re worried the company is >> essentially using them to train their eventual bot replacements. All of >> this, they said, is demoralizing. The Guardian granted these workers >> anonymity because of their fear of professional repercussions. >> >> “We have hundreds of thousands of corporate employees in a wide range of >> roles across many different businesses, each of which is using AI in >> different ways to learn about what works best for their use cases,” Montana >> MacLachlan, an Amazon spokesperson, said. “While different employees may >> have different experiences, what we hear from the vast majority of our teams >> is that they’re getting a lot of value out of the AI tools that they use >> day-to-day.” >> >> This pressure comes as Amazon has laid off 30,000 workers in the last four >> months – nearly 10% of its roughly 350,000 corporate workforce. Its cuts are >> part of a wave of recent AI-connected tech layoffs, including at Block, >> Pinterest and Autodesk. Exactly how much these companies will be able to >> rely on AI to replace headcount is unclear, and each company has given an >> array of sometimes contradictory reasons for reductions. Jack Dorsey, the >> Block CEO, said outright that AI was behind his 40% staffing cuts, while >> Pinterest and Autodesk said they were redirecting investments to AI. Amazon >> has waffled in explaining how AI factors into its layoff decisions, saying >> both that it would lead to reductions, but that recent cuts weren’t >> AI-driven. The company said in February it would spend some $200bn this year >> on AI infrastructure and announced a $50bn investment in OpenAI. >> >> In a moment of rising anxiety about AI and work, the decisions Amazon makes >> around automation – and even how it talks about these shifts – will be >> consequential for not just its massive workforce, but for people in >> industries around the world. Amazon is the second-largest employer in the US >> and has long influenced workplace practices across both white collar and >> blue collar industries. >> >> “There’s a lot of talk among corporate employees about how some of these >> practices – about performance, surveillance and monitoring – are somewhat >> imported from the warehouse and the drivers space, and that it is Amazon >> expanding this model of labor to white collar workers,” Jack, a software >> engineer at Amazon for more than a decade, said. “It does feel like we’re at >> the vanguard of a new stage in employer relations with the advent of AI.” >> >> While Amazon has a reputation for being a tough place to work, the impact of >> its AI campaign has pressurized its workplace, workers said. “It’s worse >> now,” said Denny, a software engineer, who works in the retail space at the >> company. “If we don’t pivot ... then we risk becoming obsolete and being let >> go in the next layoff.” >> >> Whenever there’s a task at hand, the biggest question managers ask is >> whether it can be done faster with AI tools, according to Denny. This is >> leading employees to use AI tools just for the sake of it. Recently, someone >> in Denny’s team shared that an internal AI agent had saved him about a week >> of developer effort on a feature. But when Denny looked at the actual code >> review, he found dozens of comments from colleagues pointing out basic >> issues. The AI generated code was full of slop. >> >> “In the end, my guess is that the developer cycle is not going to change, >> and [could] even be potentially longer,” said Denny. “This pressure to use >> [AI] has resulted in worse quality code, but also just more work for >> everyone.” >> >> Denny was one of several workers who told the Guardian they’re pressured to >> use an overwhelming array of AI tools, many of which were hastily developed >> in internal hackathons and then have to spend time answering surveys about >> their experience with the tools. >> >> “I would get shown these random tools by my manager who’d be like: ‘Why >> don’t you try using this thing?’, and it was just the result of a >> hackathon,” said Denny. He says the tools are “half-baked” and unhelpful, >> and in fact add to his workload because he has to vet them. >> >> Amazon typically organizes quarterly hackathons to encourage engineers to >> develop new projects. Sometime last year, Denny recalls, the company >> primarily switched to generative AI hackathons, during which the majority of >> projects ended up being developer productivity focused tools. >> >> “We don’t mandate teams use AI tools,” said Amazon’s MacLachlan. “However, >> we believe these tools can help employees work more efficiently and automate >> time-consuming, undifferentiated tasks.” >> >> There have also been public slip-ups that seem connected to Amazon’s embrace >> of AI. According to a February FT report, Amazon recently experienced at >> least two outages because of issues with the company’s internal AI tools, >> including a 13-hour interruption to a customer-facing system in December >> after some engineers allowed its AI tool “to make certain changes”. Amazon, >> however, said that an employee, rather than AI, caused the service >> interruption. The FT reported on Tuesday that Amazon would convene engineers >> to explore “a spate of outages, including incidents tied to the use of AI >> coding tools”. >> >> “I think if you continue to push people to use AI tools in every single >> aspect, you’re going to get more errors like that,” Sarah, an Amazon >> software engineer, said. >> >> Sarah said that AI can be useful, but its potential is best realized when >> engineers decide how to use it. But at Amazon, even when AI is not suited >> for a task, she’s now expected to train it. “We have to write out detailed >> procedures so that the AI can understand it and give better output,” said >> Sarah. “Part of my new job role, it feels like, is being asked to train the >> AI to essentially replace you.” She’s early in her career and worries that >> offloading her work to AI is stunting her learning curve. >> >> Forcing employees to adopt tools, according to Ifeoma Ajunwa, founding >> director of the AI and Future of Work Program at Emory University and the >> author of The Quantified Worker, usually backfires. “Generally, employees >> are in a better position [than management] to determine what tools can aid >> productivity,” she said. >> >> Meanwhile, Amazon workers are often having to seek out training for AI best >> practices on their own. >> >> Will, a user experience researcher, said Amazon offers employees plenty of >> AI training videos on their learning portals, though most of them are >> optional. When he’s attended training sessions, “the focus is always, >> ‘here’s how to build something as quickly as possible’”. He said trainers – >> who are typically peer employees who are also AI power users – advise to >> carefully review each step before letting AI start building. At the same >> time, Will said: “I have been in several trainings where the instructor says >> you can just ask the AI to check its own work.” However, you can’t fully >> rely on AI to detect its own mistakes; that’s something human judgment is >> better suited for. >> >> “One of the biggest predictors of AI adoption and whether employees feel >> that AI increases their productivity is whether management encourages it and >> provides training,” Alex Imas, professor of behavioural science and >> economics at Chicago Booth, said. >> >> The rushed deployment of AI means an uncritical expansion of surveillance ... >> Nick Srnicek >> MacLachlan said Amazon provides different training and resources for people >> across the company, including structured options. “Employees are encouraged >> to use the tools themselves as a learning mechanism, adopting a >> learn-as-you-work approach that is proving to be one of the most practical >> and effective methods of AI adoption across the company,” she said. >> >> An AI-fueled shift to surveillance >> Along with the productivity challenges that have come with Amazon’s AI push, >> workers said it’s also making them feel surveilled. >> >> For years, each morning when Amazon employees logged in to work, an internal >> system called Amazon Connections would greet them with a message and ask for >> feedback on topics like how their teams were functioning, or how satisfied >> they felt with their work. Over the last year, these questions have >> increasingly centered less on human factors and more on AI. >> >> Maria, a former product manager who was laid off from Amazon in January, >> said questions asking her about her career or team shifted to more often >> focus on AI: “‘Are you using AI in your daily work?,’ ‘How often are you >> using it?,’ ‘Do you think that you’re a power user?,’ or ‘Is AI a priority >> in your organization?’”. >> >> Then there are more obvious indicators of surveillance. Workers said >> managers at Amazon have a dashboard where they track their team members’ AI >> use, including if they’re using certain tools and how often they do so. (The >> Information first reported this in February.) >> >> Jack, the software developer who’s worked at Amazon for more than a decade, >> said the company also launched a different dashboard, which the Guardian has >> viewed, so teams could see their generative AI adoption, engagement and >> depth of usage. “Every team treats it differently,” he said, with some >> managers using it with a goal of getting at least 80% of their team using AI >> tools weekly. >> >> Sarah said her team’s principal engineer told her and his other reports he >> checks this dashboard daily. “He’s really been pushing our AI usage,” she >> said. >> >> “Of course we want to understand what tools our teams are using and whether >> those tools are working well for them or could be improved,” said MacLachlan. >> >> The inevitable result of AI tools getting deployed at scale is surveillance, >> according to Nick Srnicek, author of Platform Capitalism and a senior >> lecturer in digital economy at King’s College London. “The rushed deployment >> of AI means an uncritical expansion of surveillance since these tools >> increasingly require detailed knowledge of personal workflows and data,” he >> said. “To make them more capable means giving management greater insight and >> control over workers’ everyday activities.” >> >> Workers also said they suspect their career advancement is increasingly >> dependent on their enthusiastic embrace of AI. >> >> “We have promotion documents which have a template with questions like, >> ‘What has this person done?’, ‘What impact did it have?’ – and now it also >> has a question asking, ‘How [did] they leverage AI?’,” said Lisa. “I think >> they want to only keep the people who support this investment [in AI] and >> are going to try and filter out people who do not support it or have >> concerns about it.” The Wall Street Journal reported in late February that >> at Amazon, “managers do consider who is all-in on AI when it comes to >> promotions”. >> >> “While we expect employees to use resources – including AI – to make work >> more engaging and improve customers’ lives, we don’t instruct managers to >> consider AI utilization as part of our evaluation process,” said MacLachlan. >> “Instead, we focus on AI adoption and sharing best practices to celebrate >> innovation and operational efficiency gains across the company.” >> >> At the same time, Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO, hasn’t been shy about his AI >> expectations for his employees. In a company-wide email last June, he >> predicted that AI-driven productivity gains would reduce the company’s >> corporate workforce, and urged workers to embrace AI. “Educate yourself, >> attend workshops and take trainings, use and experiment with AI whenever you >> can, participate in your team’s brainstorms to figure out how to invent for >> our customers more quickly and expansively, and how to get more done with >> scrappier teams,” he wrote. >> >> The unspoken math >> That same company-wide email prompted heavy internal pushback at Amazon last >> summer, with employees slamming Jassy’s leadership and speaking of the >> demoralizing impact of the company’s AI push, according to Business Insider. >> Months later, over 1,000 workers signed a petition that raised concerns >> about the company’s “aggressive rollout” of AI tools. >> >> As Amazon has laid off thousands of workers, it’s shared growing revenue >> numbers each quarter. Though Jassy has repeatedly said that these layoffs >> are neither “financially-driven” nor AI-driven, for Maria, all of this adds >> up. >> >> “If you say you automated away two hours of someone’s job, you need to >> convert that into savings on that job title,” she said, explaining the >> company’s logic behind cutting jobs. “That’s the unspoken math of what >> they’re doing.” >> >> Jack keeps thinking about comments Jassy made during a companywide all-hands >> meeting last spring. According to a Business Insider report about this >> meeting, Jassy responded to a question about running Amazon as “the world’s >> largest startup”, and said they want to be “scrappy” to “do a lot more >> things”. He also warned that their competitors are the “most technically >> able, most hungry” companies, including startups “working seven days a week, >> 15 hours a day”. >> >> “All of those things put together was an implicit threat that the people >> remaining at the company are expected to work longer and harder,” said Jack. >> It “really struck home to me that if [Amazon] can’t amass profits with >> endless growth, then it can get a little bit more by squeezing it out of the >> people working for it”. >> >> <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2026/mar/11/amazon-artificial-intelligence> >
